The Mortal Instruments (The First Trilogy)- Cassandra Clare- Exciting, Enticing and Exhilarating

I have to say that I'm extremely shocked at myself for having actually read and loved this series. In my personal opinion, books that are based around vampires, werewolves, demons and, in this case, shadowhunters, are usually all the same. Yet that really isn't the case. After watching the movie (The Mortal Instruments) on the plane to Cape Town during my Christmas holidays, I longed to read the rest of the series, wanting to find out what happens to each character, and what else Clare's world of supernatural creatures had to offer. I liked this trilogy as it is kinda set in both the modern state of New York and in the ancient and sinister fictional world of Shadowhunters. I also thought that Clare manages to build and depict relationships between characters very vividly. The relationship between Clary and Jace, the two protagonists, is unlike any I've actually come across in a book. 
Clary and Jace believe that they have a forbidden love. They meet for the first time in Book One and, I know that this is a cliche, are attracted and feel an instant connection. They soon find out that there is a reason for their deep feelings. They are brother and sister. The book is somewhat based on how they feel that their relationship is incestuous and how they try to stay away from each other and just be... siblings. Yet there is more to the situation than meets the eye. All I can say is that you will be left relieved by the ending of Book Three.

This review is gonna be a little different from the others. I'm not really going to dive into what the series is about, I'm going to share my thoughts and feelings about the whole first trilogy instead.

Clare creates interesting and strong characters and so the books contain a variety of personalities. The character who I thought was most powerful and defiant was Jace, who is a charmingly sarcastic and rebellious bad-boy with an extremely smart mouth. Not only does he bring humour into the series, but the way in which his charisma and over-confidence affects the other characters also adds to its brilliance.

The books are, obviously, based on shadowhunters and their fight against Valentine, an ex member of the Clave, whose desire for power has made him wicked and cruel. He also so happens to be Clary and Jace's father, which adds to the complication of events and situations. With the fight against Valentine, comes the discoveries of unknown powers, talents, relationships and worlds. 

You might be thinking that this book is basically the copy of Twilight, with its supernatural creatures and all, but it really isn't. It isn't as melodramatic and dark as other books of the same genres. Exaggeration is not used as an effect and the fictional worlds aren't in any way over the top. This is because the characters are ordinary teenagers who somewhat manage to cancel out all the fictional stuff.

I really enjoyed reading this series and I have decided to consider reading the subsequent second trilogy even though I wasn't planning on doing so at first. Each book was the perfect book to read when I wanted to be transported to another world, very different from my own. 

Xo,
Kiki