Andrea
It's been a while since I've read the first one so I went into this one with next to no memory of what happened in the first book. Yet the action picks right up and it is very easy to follow along. It was interesting, exciting and very easy to read. The words flow so seemlessly and I haven't felt like that since Harry Potter. This was a very good book, and I can't wait to get the next ones. My only problem was with Clary's... unconventional relationship with Jace... but thanks to Google I was able to get over it in anticipation. A very good read! ;)
Considering the movie adaptation is in my top favourite movies of all times, I went into this book expecting great things. That isn't to imply the book wasn't good, it was in fact quite enjoyable. However, it had many differences to the movie and I couldn't help but feel cheated of great moments. There were scenes in the movie that I absolutely loved that never occurred in the book. But to remain fair to the book I will rate it separately from my feelings for the movie. I felt the book was reasonably well paced, and engaging throughout. I felt that the characters were believable if somewhat underdeveloped. And I liked the overall plot. My only critique would be that sometimes the characters felt secondary to the story, almost as if they were an afterthought to the immediate situation. And I felt that there were many unnecessary scenes that did not further the story in any way or seem to have any real purpose.
Overall, a quick read for mild distraction.
I felt like this was one of those books where you know there is something meaningful you're supposed to grasp from it (or some personal revelation you're supposed to glean from the pages) but you don't know what it is. This book gave me that feeling. I felt like it had an almost pointless feel to it.
Having said that, there were so many touching moments that really just took my breath away or left me feeling warmed by humanities ability towards kindness amidst all the pain, brutality and chaos. There were some scenes that I know I will carry with me always and revisit often in quiet moments of contemplation. And maybe that's what the book was supposed to do.
I should also admit that I found the first 100 pages slow and they didn't really grab me right off. I think this was largely due to the jumbled, incoherent beginning when the narrator introduces so many things out of sequence. It was a little difficult to keep track. But after the first 100 pages things start to flow much better.
All in all, I thought it was a good read (wink) and worth the trouble to read at least once. I'm not sure I would read it again though. It was really depressing.
4.5
Full body sobs. I cried so hard my mom came to check on me and then I just held her and cried and begged her not to die. This one wrecked me.
I was actually incredibly intrigued by this story. It was heart pounding and then heartbreaking. I really enjoyed Mariane's sincere narrative and painful reminiscence of a terrifying time.
