Book review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Okay, having read the second in the Mortal Instruments series, I now have a better clue of why that lady was wishing bad things to happen to fans of Cassandra Clare. It can be summed up in two words: romantic incest. Do I agree now and wish the author’s fans had something bad happen to them? No, but I may be biased because I had a few play cousins in my youth.
Before get to my actual review, I have to ask these women who hate every YA book with questionable relationships: why is it that boys can read the most violent stuff in books and comics, or play the most violent games, and no one would suggest it influences them, but girls must only read positive romantic relationship examples or else we think they’ll rush off into abusive relationships? Aren’t you women promoting this idea in effect saying that teen girls are too stupid to distinguish fantasy from reality, but boys are smarter and more capable of doing so? Aren’t you in fact endorsing sexism as your defense of hating books with questionable or unhealthy relationships? Do you think after reading the Mortal Instruments series, teen girls will sex up their brothers because they’re too dumb and impressionable to know better? Because I really don’t think they will, and I think wishing bad things to happen to the fans of this series is spiteful in a distinctly patriarchal kind of way.
With that mini-rant out of the way…I really rather enjoyed City of Ashes, the second book in this series, even though I saw most of the plot developments coming a mile off. It was easy to guess what roles Maia and Simon would have in Valentine’s plans, and for a supposedly charismatic super genius, Valentine’s actually pretty predictable and about as charming as a rattlesnake. He’d have been caught early on if the adult shadowhunters had listened, but I think there’s a YA rule for dark fantasy that says the adult “good guys” must behave as bigger dickheads than the villains. I think maybe this is to make the irrational decisions of the teens look sane by comparison.
The Institute is now being overseen by Imogen the Inquisitor, who reminds me of that pink-suited torture loving chick in Harry Potter, and for all the same reasons. You have to wonder why a person would be given a job as an investigator when she has a distinct inability to listen. Even after her reasons for being this way are revealed, it turns out she’s a mother in denial about what a shitty son she had, and while that’s realistic, it’s not endearing. Which is why the only nice thing I can say about her is, she had the decency to die in this book instead of returning to ruin later books with her douche-baggery.
As for Valentine, he’s really the weakest part of the book, a cutout villain who says pretty much what you’d expect, and stops just short of rubbing his hands together and going “muah-hahahahaha!” It’s a good thing his kids and their friends are so much more interesting, but much like Voldemort in Harry Potter, Valentine isn’t the real reason for reading these books. He’s just the thing that must be dealt with in the last 40 pages or so. Which makes me feel bad for him, because he needs a personality and some sense of being a real person. Instead, he feels like a walking stereotype from the Darth Dickhead School of Villainy.
There’s all kinds of romantic tension going on, and not just between Clary and Jace. There’s also sparks between Simon and Clary, Simon and Maia (a teenage werewolf with a history that made her instantly endearing to me), Alec’s unrequited love for Jace, and Alec’s relationship with Magnus, the high warlock of the city. There’s so much going on, you almost need a scorecard to keep track of it all.
Overall, I liked the story, and unlike the first book, there weren’t any sections where the dialogue felt forced. There WAS a repeated use from Clary that the names she was thinking for someone was “unprintable,” which seemed to me like a strange choice of words. It was almost like Clary was acknowledging that she was a fictional character being written, and thus knew she couldn’t think any dirtier words so she could remain safely YA.
But my problems with the writing are all very minor complaints, and I liked this book enough that I set two others aside to stay up and read the last 150 pages of this in one session. Always a good sign that something has my attention, the late night “I need to finish this book” reading binge. Which is why I’m giving City of Ashes 4 stars. I’d recommend it to fans of dark fantasy on the caveat that there is romantic incest going on up in here, and if you’re one of those people who only wants to read about healthy relationships…well, I feel sorry for you being so banal and afraid to have your precious worldview challenged with an abnormal, unhealthy relationship. As for myself, I can safely say that reading this has not increased any desire to make out with my brother…although when he acts like a jerk to me, that is kind of alluring and sexy. (>_>)
Kidding! I kid. I are a kidder. Anyway, this is a good place to stop the review, isn’t it? Yes. Ahem, goodbye.
