Sarah's Library

Great book!! My first Cassandra Clare book. I just happened to see it on the new and recently returned books shelf. I loved the dark and grimy late 19th century London setting. Very atmospheric, almost a character in the book like Tessa or Will. I look forward to the rest of this series and to reading the original series too.

31/5 - Just finished a reread in order to write a more comprehensive review. Enjoyed it just as much (but, not more) this time as I did when I first read it. I picked up a few more nods toward The Mortal Instruments series that I don't remember noticing when I read it six years ago (I don't remember knowing where Church came from, for example).

I really didn't like Jessamine, she just seemed to be a horrible person more interested in looking good than anything else, even her own life almost. She showed some slight improvement in the last 50 pages, but it was too late by then my impression of her had already been formed. I didn't understand Will at all, his withdrawal from Tessa after

. Why is he treating her like that? Is it because she's some kind of

  and he doesn't want to 'want' her? Definitely intrigued to continue with the next book.
Why did Clare write two series with such similar characters/character dynamics? The fact that in both books there were two boys and a girl at the institute before a second girl comes along? The fact that Isabelle is like a slightly more mature version of Jessamine and Will is practically Jace with some hair dye. The fact that the institute is empty except for our main characters (where do all the other Shadowhunters live, if it's not in the institute?). Those bad plot choices are what led me to giving this four stars instead of five.