The Mortal Instruments Series VS The Infernal Devices Series

VS

I've been thinking about doing some different styled posts, rather than just writing reviews, so I came up with the idea of kind of comparing these two series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

These books were written by Cassandra Clare and they are both set in the same universe, the world of the Shadowhunters. 

The Mortal Instruments has six books in total: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire.  

This is a urban fantasy young adult series and this is basically a series that everyone has read and/or heard about so I don't think that I have to go into the plot. It is based around Shadowhunters, who are basically half human-half angel warriors who protect the world from demons. I love this series. I think the world is really amazing and intriguing and I love the way it was built. Every book adds on to the main premise of it, and you are always discovering new things, but they are nicely interwoven into the already existing story. I adore the characters in this book, everyone of them. I usually don't get along with main characters that are youngish girls, they tend to annoy me at one point or the other, but I really like Clary. She is a strong character. Maybe not so much at first, but she has great character development and really develops more and more with each book, and kind of ends up being really great. I love every single character in this book. I really do. Jace, Izzy, Alec... I feel like her characters are complex in a way and I just enjoy them so much. They change so much through the series and grow with it, which is great. And Magnus Bane is one of the greatest characters ever, obviously. I love the plot here. It has twists, and it's gripping and these books were definite page turners for me. I read them so quickly and I couldn't get enough. Especially City of Glass and City of Heavenly Fire, which were my favorite. This turned into one of my favorite series ever and I can't wait for the next installments. 

With that being said, I picked up the prequel series, which is set in the Victorian era and deal with the lives of the ancestors of the characters from The Mortal Instruments series. 

The Infernal Devices series consists of three books: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess. I was hesitant to pick this up, because I am not a big fan of books taking place in that era, but still everyone was saying how they actually prefer The Infernal Devices so I had to see for myself. Now, when I read the first two books, I was not impressed at all. It wasn't bad by any means, it could never be, but to me it could never have been compared to The Mortal Instruments. The thing is I don't like Tessa very much. I don't hate her, but I am not the biggest fan. But I love all the other characters so so much. I may even dare to say that I prefer them to the MI characters. Maybe. I don't know. But, I do love them. Will and Jem are amazing and have an amazing relationship which is so beautiful that it's painful. I adore them honestly, both in their own way. But for me, the plot in these books was underwhelming for me. I don't think it's very thought through, and I don't know, it seemed stretched somehow, and I just didn't find it exciting. I was not really into it that much. But, after reading Clockwork Princess and bawling my eyes out for three hours and not sleeping throughout the night, I was inclined to say that I loved the books. I think the ending of Clockwork Princess was one of the saddest and most beautifully written endings that I have ever read. Honestly, that was the best part of the whole series. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I just loved it a lot.

With all that being said, I would give The Mortal Instruments series kind of an edge, because I just didn't enjoy the plot in The Infernal Devices. But I do love the characters in both series and the world and the writing really sits well with me. 

More Than This by Patrick Ness

This is my first encounter with one of Patrick Ness' books and I really enjoyed it, hence I will be picking up The Knife of Never Letting Go next. 

This book is about a boy, who actually drowns and dies. But, he wakes up in a house in which he lived in as a child in England (which is strange, because he lived in America now), kind of battered and bruised, but somehow alive. 

That is basically all you need to know about it, and all I knew going into it. And I think that is the best way to read this book, and just let it unfold on itself, which will be surprising and unexpected. 

I really liked this book. It was more than it seemed to be at first. To me, it felt almost layered. As the book went one, it got deeper and deeper, uncovering more and more of its so-called layers. This seems as though it's one thing, but then kind of changes and reveals something unexpected. Throughout the story, you never know what is real and what is actually going on. You are left guessing and kind of choosing for yourself, because there are different options, so to speak.  I really liked that, I generally enjoy that kind of setting. This book was very thought provoking and when I finished it, I ended up thinking about it for days. It kind of lingered with me. 

With all that being said, it took me ages to finish this book. I can't even remember when I started it. I just took me a lot of time to get into it, and when I finally did I found it a bit slow. For me, this meant that at times, I felt completely detached from it. So that kind of ruined the experience for me and I even thought of putting down. I ended up sticking through it, because I did in fact like it, but it just took a lot of effort to finish it. 

Anyways, this was all in all, a really good book, and I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads. Definitely recommend this one if you like slow, thought-provoking books.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

As I've mentioned in a previous post, after reading Eleanor and Park, I wanted to read every single thing Rainbow Rowell had ever written. But then I saw that her other YA novel was called Fangirl, and I just really, really hate that word. (I did a blog post on Fangirl, you can check it out, so I won't ramble on about that whole thing again. But spoiler alert: I LOVED the book.) Anyways, as I've also mentioned, when I heard about Landline, I thought I probably couldn't relate to the characters, given the fact they are in a struggling marriage, and I am... well, nineteen. I am here to point out that I was utterly wrong. 

Landline was brilliant. Truly. I don't know why I ever doubted I would like this book since it was in fact written by Rainbow Rowell. No other writer has that effect on me. But she writes so inexplicably magical, that I am left speechless. I have to put down her books mid-sentence, just because I can't deal with all the feelings. Her characters are so undeniably realistic. They are real people. They are written in a way that no matter what, you can relate because they feel so genuine. I always feel this after reading a Rainbow Rowell book. I am a puddle on the floor, just trying to get over the fact that the book is over and just trying to sort out how is it possible to even feel so much for a book. This doesn't happen to me with books. I am not that person. But somehow, Rainbow Rowell takes all that is magical in this world, and puts it into words. And you just melt. 

I loved this story. I loved every single character in the book. Georgie and Neal's relationship was just brilliant. I loved them as a couple. I loved their kids. I loved how everything was right and wrong at the same time, all the time. I loved the fact that there was this almost SciFi aspect to the story, but it didn't felt misplaced. It was perfectly interwoven into this story, so seamlessly and almost casually.

Obviously, this book got a 5/5 stars on Goodreads (You can add me if you want to, that would be great). And if you are reluctant to read this, as I was at one time, just don't be. It's as every bit as magical as her other books.

***Also the Cath and Levi update thingy?!?! I was over the moon with it. It wasn't a big deal, but somehow it was. Cath and Levi are my favorite characters ever so I really enjoyed that bit. 

Franny and Zooey by J.D.Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books of all time. (I did a review for it!) I love it so much. I think that everyone who read it and loved it, felt inclined to read Franny and Zooey too. I didn't have high expectations for it. I didn't expect to like it as much as the Catcher in the Rye. Still, this book left me feeling really weird and unable to decide whether I like it or not. 

I cannot even give a synopsis because there is no plot here. It's a story about finding yourself and coming to terms with how the world is and who it works. And maybe also dealing with the ghosts of your siblings, dead or alive. Yeah, it seems weird. But that's how I see it. 

Zooey is very similar to Holden. That kind of personality echoes through all the male characters in the book, more or less. So, that indicates that this was in fact written by Salinger. But the writing itself, didn't seem like it was him. Or to put it better, the style of the writing had no similarities to the Catcher at all. I don't think I could've guessed that it was Salinger based on the writing alone. I didn't expect that. 

I really liked the book at the beginning. It starts out with Franny and kind of describes the challenges and troubles she's facing. And it seemed to me that I was really going to love this book. But than that whole "plot" line cuts. The whole perspective shifts in time and moves to her family house and her brother, Zooey. And this wasn't done seamlessly. It was very weird and awkward. That's the only way to describe it. 

Also, there were a lot of religious motives in the book. It kept revolving around them and I just didn't particularly enjoy it. It wasn't something I liked and I wanted to read. 

I liked this book at times a lot. Zooey's conversations with his moms and Franny were really nicely written and at those points I really loved the book and the writing and the characters. But then, it would shift again to those religious things and I was a bit put off. It seemed odd in a way.

I ended up giving this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads just because I felt really bizarre after I finished it. I don't think I would necessarily recommend this book, but I think that a lot of people would probably enjoy it. In fact, there are a lot of great reviews for it. Somehow, it just wasn't my cup of tea. 

Legend by Marie Lu

I really enjoy dystopian books, and this one was everywhere. So it was only natural for me to pick it up. I can't say I loved it. It was fun, but there were some things that I really disliked, so they affected the way I feel about this book.

Legend is a story about two very different people, with different lives and backgrounds. One of them is a boy called Day, who is an outlaw basically. There is a test that everyone must take at a certain age, and it predetermines what they are gonna do, and whether or not they would be allowed to continue to live their lives as planned. And Day failed that test. So he ran away and started doing things against the Republic, which is the "evil government" in this book. And he became the most wanted criminal.

On the other side, we have June, who is the only person in the Republic who got a maximum on that test. So she got to go to the best college in the Republic and to prepare to be a military agent of the Republic.

But their paths cross when June's brother is killed, and Day is the number one suspect. So she has to go undercover to catch him.

This was a fun book. Just a fairly entertaining read. It was nicely paced and flowed really smoothly. But I had a couple of problems with it which led to me liking the book a lot less. First of all, the story is told from both Day's and June's perspectives. And they alter. But, they seem like the exact same person. Their narrative voices are very similar. They are both perceptive, cocky and determined. At one point one of them even says they are like one person. Which I hated. It was so unnecessary and made their whole relationship really corny and stereotypical to me. That was the second problem. I didn't care for their relationship at all. It had no feelings in it. It was flat and underwhelming. And really predictable. 

Still, this was a fun and intriguing read. I was entertained by the whole dystopian aspect of the book and I am looking forward to see how it develops and what does it all mean. This was very similar to other dystopian books, which was fine, but I am still waiting to like a dystopian book as much as I liked the Hunger games or even Divergent. And this wasn't the one. Sure, it was fun enough, but for me it wasn't anything special and I wasn't blown away with it.
So I gave this book 3/5 stars on Goodreads. If you're into dystopia, you will probably enjoy it, so you can give it a go.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

These kinds of books aren't really something I usually read. I think I only read one more book that's in the historical fiction genre. So I decided to branch out, and I came across this book. It had such high praises and I was really excited to read it. It really does live up to the expectations.

Now, this book tells the story of two characters. One of them is a blind girl, Marie-Laure, who lives in Paris with her father. He is a locksmith in the Museum of Natural History, so Marie-Laure spends her days exploring the different parts of the Museum. 

The second one is a boy called Werner, who is an orphan, and he lives in a small town Zollverein, in Germany. He and his sister are fascinated by radios. Werner gets really good with them actually, and can repair and build them. The story follows these two different people, and their different destinies during the Second World War. And what the writer does, he slowly intertwines and connects these two people, in many different ways. 

I loved this book. It was amazing. It was even more than I expected. The writing is really beautiful. It's one of those books, where you really got to read every sentence and let it sink in. It's all there for a reason and you really have to get into the right mindset to read.

The only problem I had with it sometimes is that it's really, really slow paced. That's not something that I am used to in books, so at times that really put me off. I needed a lot more time to read this than I usually do, so that was something that annoyed me a bit. But not too much.

I really liked that the chapters were short. They are mostly three or four pages long. And for some reason, I really enjoy that. And they alternate between Marie-Laure's and Werner's point of view. So you're always switching between them and you see them at the same point in time. Which is great. Also the story jumps between the different years of the war, so you kind of see where they are at the end, but then you also see how they got there. And that's done exquisitely. It connects so perfectly and the whole premise of it really works.

I loved all the characters in this book. They were really nicely built in a way. Throughout the book, they change and they grow and it was really great. There is a variety of characters and they are all sharp and really interesting.

In conclusion, I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads. I would totally recommend it to anyone. Even if you are not into the genre, just bare with it and by the end you will, hopefully, love it like I did. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Well, that was a hell of a ride. From start to finish. I didn't expect this book to be so good. I picked it up because it was getting a lot of buzz. The movie came out and I really wanted to see it, so I wanted to read the book before seeing it. I really actually enjoy these kinds of books, the psychological thrillers/mysteries. I just rarely pick them up for some reason. 

So the plot of this book revolves around a married couple, Nick and Amy Dunne. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. Under suspicious circumstances. That's about as far as I can go with the plot because I don't want to give anything away. The thing I feel I can point out is that we get both of their perspectives, of their marriage and their life together. Which was pretty messed up. Their marriage was awful. And they aren't perfect. I think flawed is also an understatement. But, yeah, they aren't really likable characters, which was actually great. It's a psychological novel so the whole time you're reading, you are in their heads. And it was amazing writing. I was so involved with the story and the characters. I was on the edge the whole time. At some points, I was actually left sitting there, with my mouth wide open, not believing what I was reading. I had to reread some parts just to really let them sink in. I am so excited to read the other books from the author, because I loved the style of the writing. And I love how the story was conceptualized. It was really just great. You're not going to feel good after you finish this book. But you're still going to love it. 

So, I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads and I would recommend it to everyone. As a matter of fact, I already started to.