Honesty Hour (2)

UPDATE: I would just like to apologize for adding this (to Kyleigh) and say that the amazing image below was made by Kyleigh over from Can't Find A Bookmark. So go to her blog and tell her how amazing it is. =D Thank you Ky!

Hello everyone and welcome to another week of Honest Hour. I was looking around my room for books I could talk on when I spotted a collection on my wall that caught my eye. I'm talking about The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. Currently awaiting for the 5th book in the series to be released, I have been with this series since City of Ashes came out. Let me just give you my thoughts.

I spotted the first two books around the time that City of Ashes was released and everything was waiting for City of Glass. Thinking that the covers looked cool I decided to order the first two and when I got them I began reading them. I was immediately hooked and pre-ordered City of Glass after a chapter.

City of Bones is the first book and I can't tell you exactly how I feel when I think of these books. At least the first three. Just looking at the covers I get this warm feeling that just seems magical. I loved everything about it, It was one of my first Young Adult novels and it's what introduced me to this whole new world so of course I was loving every minute of it. The characters were amazing, the story was going to great places, the plot was being driven at full force. I loved the magical moments it had with the paranormal and even when it introduced the whole incest story-line I felt as if this book was going far places.

I read City of Ashes as soon as I was done with Bones and the feeling would not go away. It was full of these twist and turns that just had me want to read more. Just thinking about it now, I actually want to re-read the books. Just thinking about our first introduction to certain characters like Magnus and Valentine and everyone else. As soon as I finished I was ready to take on the last book.

City of Glass finally arrived and I felt like it was one of the best books I had read in a while. Granted I hadn't read many books back then but it was seriously up there. I loved the war scenes and the even though new characters were brought in they were nicely wrapped up and the ending was just great. The series had finished and I had enjoyed a beautiful ride. I couldn't wait to go back a year or two later and re-read the series and relive the moments again.

But then came the announcement of three more books. My initial reaction was happiness. I wanted to know more about these characters, but once I thought about it I felt as if it were unnecessary. When City of Fallen Angels was released, I knew I was right. First off the book was the smallest in the series and the smallest of all of her books which greatly annoyed me. Compared to the other three I would've thought a pickup of the series would be a little bit longer. But before I go into more of that, the covers, as they were released, just didn't have the same magic feel to it. It felt as if it were being forced like the story itself.

Reading City of Fallen Angels I just couldn't help think how it should have stopped. How there was no point to this. My mind immediately wandered to Cassandra Clare wanting the money which I am not ashamed of admitting and am entitled to my own opinion. Reading the book, I felt like it was an excuse not only for the money but for more sexually-tense moments between Clary and Jace.

The characters were no longer the same, the story didn't have the same feel to it. It seemed to drag on into nothingness and then conclude with an ending that seemed too fan-fictionish. Considering that Cassandra Clare was a fan-fiction writer herself, I felt that she had come too much of a long way to go back into it. But she did. There were moments where Jace and Clary would just randomly start making out and I felt that it was there just to feed the hunger of hundreds of teenage girls. Which scared me? What exactly has writing come to?

In my opinion I feel as if Clare has been listening to these many teenagers and putting in what they want, forgetting exactly what the story should hold. When I finished the book I felt like I, a reader who reads for the actual story and not for the hotness of a character, felt cheated. Even a signed copy of the book didn't help me get over the fact that I had been robbed. That my characters were changed and not for the better.

And now City of Lost Souls is going to be released soon and with the cover now out I feel as if it can only get worse. From the cover itself it looks like a novel that will be nothing but Clary and Jace and not even be remotely good but just washed down with scenes of no importance. And yes, I get this from the Fabio Wannabe Cover.

Also another thing that irked me was how Cassandra Clare said that her publisher (I think it was them if I'm not mistaken) said that no same-sex characters on the cover which is complete bogus. With the power she has, she'd be able to rally up her fans and form a petition to get Magnus and Alec or Jace and Alec or Clary and Isabelle on a cover. Authors do have power regardless of what they say. But she didn't even though Alec and Magnus are made out to be these amazing gay characters who are the gay icons of the world.

I wish I could go on but I'm afraid you'd be here all day so I leave these words for you Cassandra Clare and every other writer out there. Write because you want to not because you have to. Write for the story and never for the money. Write for yourself and not for your fans. Take two years if you have to instead of rushing this out in less than a year. Make it the perfection that it can be and not deliver some crappy book that's wish-wash. Your fans will still be there no matter how long it takes. Many authors have done it and the success was phenomenal.

Also I just have to say, if I see this Clary on one more damn cover I'm going to have to shank her.