I don't know where to begin or how to describe this series.
I cannot begin to tell you how worth reading this series is. I cannot put into words the love I felt at reading these books and being lost within the pages, whilst I read these they switched places with reality. The book became my reality and the world around me seemed fictional. The world connected with me in a way that is so very rare, most of the time in a book I feel like a bystander witnessing the events but not in the Shadowhunter world. I have always felt with Cassandra Clare that I am a part of the book, a character as well, I am submerged into that world.
I am trying very hard here not to ramble and to collect my thoughts in a logical way. It has been a few days since I finished the series and I have been figuring out what the exact reasons for me liking it were. Firstly I think I like the writing style. I hadn't realised before, but with action/adventure type novels I prefer them to not be written in the first person. This is because most of the time it means that the main character isn't going to die - so the fact that The Infernal Devices is written in the third person added a lot more mystery to the plot.
Also, the setting. The three books are all set in Victorian London. I liked this for many reasons: firstly, I know London quite well and this made it easy to imagine and get lost in Victorian times; I also love the contrast between Shadowhunters and society as the gap is a bit more drastic than in the modern setting of The Mortal Instruments series, it allows Cassandra to tackle the shock that Tessa has to overcome when she fist discovers the Shadowhunter world, including the fact that girls can be violent and wear trousers.
I loved the plot! The clockwork creatures that they have to battle are actually really SCARY. I was never truly scared of the demons in The Mortal Instruments but here these creatures that are neither a product of heaven and hell are horrible! As well as the baddies, I loved the fact that we didn't know what creature Tessa was. It added another layer of plot and always kept you wondering.
I think this book was so much more exciting to read after having read The Mortal Instruments series because we learn the origins/backgrounds of a lot of characters featured in that series. let me just say after reading The Infernal Devices, I NEED City of Heavenly Fire!
I think I might have even liked this series more that The Mortal Instruments (SHOCK HORROR!) I think it an amazing series that kept me gripped the whole time. It is well worth reading and the ending didn't disappoint and if you want to know who I ship Wessa or Jesssa my answer is BOTH!
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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