Author: Cassandra Clare

After hearing raving reviews from my students, some of my friends and my wife, I finally picked this up in anticipation of blasting through the series. I’m no stranger to getting lost in YA worlds where even flat characters and less than stellar plot-lines still have something going on to keep me hooked.

This book, however, completely bored me.

Maybe it’s just not my cup of tea, or I’m getting old and jaded by the paranormal genre, but it was painful to get through. I even set aside my preconceptions about the writing and some of the negative reviews here in order to see what others loved about it so much.

I just couldn’t find something to love, even when I made it a point to finish it in hopes the ending would pump me up.

Nope.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of slow paced stories (and I’ve also watched Mulholland Drive four times), but the pacing here seemed to drag the further along you got.

Clare can’t hear me through her massive success and fans of this genre will love it for reasons they’re attracted to it, but for me, I’ll keep it on the shelf for somebody else.