Sign in with Facebook
Tharindu Dissanayake's Reviews > City of Glass
City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)
by
by
"It's my cologne. Eau de Recent Injury."
It wasn't until I picked up City of Bones I had really experienced how damaging the hype could be for one's reading experience. Sure, there had been disappointments before, but not like this. Given how well received Cassandra Clare is, I had saved her for last (with the exception of Sanderson, which I'm hoping to jump in to next) but didn't expect something shockingly bland like this...
In my preview review, one of the GR friends said that this series is 'such a cliché' and I think that comment sums it up perfectly: unless this is one of your first fantasy series, the story is going to look as it lacks any originality. Take away the repetitive descriptions of the same characters' facial features, body language etc., and you have a quite short story. Speaking of characters, with the exception of Magnus Bane perhaps, were underwhelming, and it was only the fast pace and sheer entertainment that kept me going till the end.
As I'm now done with the first three books of MI, seeing there's not much improvement in second or third books, I'm doing a single review for all three at once. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but when it comes to fantasy, I like when romance is only a small part of the overall experience. Though the author had sorted things out by the end of book three, I wasn't much entertained by the way she handled any of Clary's relationships. To me, introducing 'obvious' love triangles is a way to lengthen a book unnecessarily, unless of course the author is a master in using it to better the fantasy elements themselves (which is clearly not the case here).
Though somewhat corny, the humor was somewhat acceptable, but the storytelling was not as great as I had imagined it would be based on the high rating. For me, it lacked that harmony which is essential in keeping the world building, plot, and characters in sync. At times, the narrative's viewpoint was all over the place, breaking the emotional flow.
On the plus side though, the author did manage to see me sailing through all three books of this first half of MI, and then steering towards Infernal Devices to see what's all the fuss is about there. So she's doing something right.
"Power doesn't have to be unlimited to be deadly."
It wasn't until I picked up City of Bones I had really experienced how damaging the hype could be for one's reading experience. Sure, there had been disappointments before, but not like this. Given how well received Cassandra Clare is, I had saved her for last (with the exception of Sanderson, which I'm hoping to jump in to next) but didn't expect something shockingly bland like this...
In my preview review, one of the GR friends said that this series is 'such a cliché' and I think that comment sums it up perfectly: unless this is one of your first fantasy series, the story is going to look as it lacks any originality. Take away the repetitive descriptions of the same characters' facial features, body language etc., and you have a quite short story. Speaking of characters, with the exception of Magnus Bane perhaps, were underwhelming, and it was only the fast pace and sheer entertainment that kept me going till the end.
As I'm now done with the first three books of MI, seeing there's not much improvement in second or third books, I'm doing a single review for all three at once. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but when it comes to fantasy, I like when romance is only a small part of the overall experience. Though the author had sorted things out by the end of book three, I wasn't much entertained by the way she handled any of Clary's relationships. To me, introducing 'obvious' love triangles is a way to lengthen a book unnecessarily, unless of course the author is a master in using it to better the fantasy elements themselves (which is clearly not the case here).
Though somewhat corny, the humor was somewhat acceptable, but the storytelling was not as great as I had imagined it would be based on the high rating. For me, it lacked that harmony which is essential in keeping the world building, plot, and characters in sync. At times, the narrative's viewpoint was all over the place, breaking the emotional flow.
On the plus side though, the author did manage to see me sailing through all three books of this first half of MI, and then steering towards Infernal Devices to see what's all the fuss is about there. So she's doing something right.
"Power doesn't have to be unlimited to be deadly."
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
City of Glass.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Carrot :3 (on a hiatus)
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jul 27, 2022 01:06AM
I agree that these books work best when you’re pretty new to fantasy. Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas were one of my earliest fantasy reads and I was quite young (16-17) when I read them. Also these books are heavy on the romance compared to the hard fantasy books since the target audience are teenagers. They are like 30% fantasy/plot and 70% romance 😂
reply
|
flag
This book was....a lot. For lack of a better word.
Sade wrote: "This book was....a lot. For lack of a better word."😂
Carrot ♡ wrote: "I agree that these books work best when you’re pretty new to fantasy. Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas were one of my earliest fantasy reads and I was quite young (16-17) when I read them. Also the..."Yep, that's how it was: 70-30... I don't think even the Throne of Glass series was this heavy on romance. But now that I'm just skimming through the romance and just concentrating on the other parts, it's a bit more bearable 😄😄
Oh wow Tharindu, I just love your take on your series, so on the money. I'm currently re-reading and realising that after I'm done, that's it, I'm getting rid of my Clare collection, I can use the room for better reads, you pretty much sum up the flaws of this series and its writing.
Baba wrote: "Oh wow Tharindu, I just love your take on your series, so on the money. I'm currently re-reading and realising that after I'm done, that's it, I'm getting rid of my Clare collection, I can use the ..."Yeah, the do take up a lot of space don't they?? 😄😄 But 4+ overall rating with nearly a million votes, that's unbelievable.. Hope you'll find better replacements for your new vacant library spots... Lyonesse may be? 🙃
Tharindu wrote: "Carrot ♡ wrote: "I agree that these books work best when you’re pretty new to fantasy. Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas were one of my earliest fantasy reads and I was quite young (16-17) when I re..."Well, sometimes you read them for the romance 😝
Carrot ♡ wrote: "Well, sometimes you read them for the romance 😝"Well, I guess it's all thanks to fans of romance that this got such a high rating after all 😄
Out of all the many reviews on this series, I think yours is the best said. You put into words (better than I attempted to!) just how I felt about the first three books. I only picked them up at my public library because of the high ratings I saw on this app, but I cannot say I really "enjoyed" reading them. I certainly will not be reading any further into this series, nor do I have a desire to read any more of Clare's books. Thanks for your great review!
