On the day Emma Carstairs’ parents were killed, the weather was perfect.
The story has some new characters and it all began with them; Blackthorne’s family from Los Angeles Institute was attacked by Sebastian Morgenstern (Clary’s big brother) and his dark soldiers, the Endarkened (the Shadowhunters who were turned with the Infernal Cup). Sebastian successfully turned the Head of Los Angeles Institute, Andrew Blackthorne, and his daughter, Katerina Blackthorne, to be the Endarkened. Sebastian caught one of his sons, Mark Blackthorne, the twin of Helen Blackthorne (Alice Penhallow’s girlfriend in City of Glass) and half-fairy, half-Shadowhunter to be handed to Seelie Queen. As a matter of fact, there were some kids left in that institute, Julian Blackthorne, the twinnie Tiberius and Livvy Blackthorne, little Dru Blackthorne and the infant Tavvy Blackthorne, and Emma Carstairs, Julian’s best friend. Sebastian knew this but was not interested because they were still too young to be turned; instead, he planned to kill them all. But Julian and Emma called for help to Idris and got out of Los Angeles Institute with a Portal sent from Idris while running from the death.
“…but goodness is not kindness, and there is nothing crueler than virtue.”
Meanwhile, Jace and Clary still figured out ways to control the heavenly fire, caused by Glorious (Raziel’s sword), inside Jace’s body. Jace who had gotten much closer with Jordan and Simon followed Jordan’s meditation method to keep himself calm, thus leading the fire calmer. But it still didn’t show any result he wanted. He still could not feel too emotional or rage in order not to burn anything. Yes, the fire could really appear and burn what he touched so passionately. That is why Jace and Clary could not kiss too deeply. This is serious, fellas! This is the reason why there was not much intimate scene of them in this installment. =((
The other problem was Sebastian; as long as he was still around, Jace and Clary could never find their mind peaceful, let alone Clary who still couldn’t erase what her brother did to her and his obsession toward her.
Problems happening here is not only Jace’s and Clary’s. Simon struggled with his vampire’s life and now had to face a DTR—define the relationship—with Isabelle; in short, their relationship was left hung with no commitment, mainly because Isabelle didn’t seem to bother. Alec still tried to contact Magnus to apologize without harvesting anything and Maia’s attitude towards Jordan appeared too strange to ignore. But then all of them should distract their mind for awhile when news of Sebastian’s attack on every Shadowhunters’ institute around the world finally reached their very ears.
“No other family does so much for love, or feels so much guilt for it. Don’t carry the weight of the world on you, Jace. It’s too heavey for even a Herondale to bear.”
Jace, Clary, Alec, Isabelle, Jocelyn, and Luke went to Idris to attend Shadowhunters’ meeting to talk about Sebastian. Simon was left with Jordan and Maia because he was an ordinary vampire who did not have any powerful position in The Accord. Moreover, everybody thought he was safer in Brooklyn, especially with Jordan and Maia staying beside him almost 24 hours. Before leaving, Isabelle gave Simon her pendant which could sense a dark or demon’s energy that could help Simon anticipate them. But everything was not going as expected with Simon…
In Idris, there was a meeting held to talk about the attacks. The only institute left so far with people alive was Los Angeles Institute; the kids did arrive in Idris with Portal, as I told you. And they were asked to speak in front of everyone at the moment, giving their truthful witness about the situation while holding the Mortal Sword. Julian Blackthorne, as the oldest, was obliged to do that. Some of you might have known, but some might not, that holding a Mortal Sword is so suffering and Clary had proven it. Then, Julian, a 12-year-old boy, should do that and that is so unbearable, for Emma as his best friend and for Clary who had ever been there.
“All love is precious. It is why we do what we do. Why do we fight demons? Why are they not fit custodians of this world? What makes us better? It is because they do not build, but destroy. They do not love, but hate only.”
“Have you ever felt that you heart contained so much that it must surely break apart?”
“Weapons, when they break and are mended, can be stronger at the mended places. Perhaps hearts are the same.”
So the meeting was held but interrupted in the middle because of Emma who couldn’t bear to see her best friend suffer. In short, after knowing the situation, the meeting decided that they should send some of their Shadowhunters to get the Endarkened; not to destroy them, but to bring them back to Idris and to find a cure to make them as who they were. Jace, Clary, and others who had ever fought them at the Burren knew that was impossible to do. The Endarkened was not only like being possessed by devils; worse than that, they became the devils themselves, with their human bodies. Well, I don’t know how to explain this really well but the conclusion was they could never be back to who they were before. And the Clave would only risk so many Shadowhunters only for something unworthy. Jace told his father, who was also an Inquisitor about this but he didn’t seem to buy it. His father thought Jace only feared Sebastian. At the end, the Clave sent the SHadowhunters to battle the ENdarkened and get them back, with Jace and Clary insinuating between them all.
Without Clary or Isabelle’s knowledge, Simon was attacked by the Endarkened and fortunately he could have detected their presence with the pendant Isabelle gave him so he could anticipate them, along with Jordan and Maia. Simon was asked to flee while Jordan and Maia fought them but when he’s just getting out of their apartment, he was caught by some vampires by order of Maureen, the kid who was a vampire and the clan leader of LA vampire (she had killed Camille) and liked Simon really much. She caged Simon and put on him weird clothes. Simon was almost frustrated at that time, until finally a help came from someone whom he didn’t expect at all.
“You know me. I only have two reactions to bad news. Uncontrollable rage and then a sharp left turn into boiling self-hatred.”
“You’re brave and brilliant, and you’re perfect and I love you. I just love you and I always have. And the actions of some lunatic aren’t going to change that.”
After finishing the Endarkened, Jordan and Maia looked for Simon but couldn’t find him anywhere, near or far. Jordan was frustrated and quite blaming himself, but Maia couldn’t focus herself full on the matter of Simon; she was confused of whether it’s good or not to tell Jordan the thing she hid recently, that she needed to speak up as soon as things got far. But Maia did not think that was the correct time and tried to search for Simon, until suddenly a telephone came from Praetor Lupus, mentioning something about Simon. Jordan was nearly relieved but still finding it hard to fully calm, then he decided to go to Praetor Lupus to find out more and asked Maia to join him, and she approved. They went there but unfortunately, the Praetor Lupus they last saw some times ago was not the same with the One in front of them at the moment. And without their knowledge, something awful was about to catch them and Maia never found any chance to tell Jordan what’s happening with her…
So that’s it about the story. What do you think? Interested enough after reading in a glance? =)
Well, I want to share you more things that will, probably, make you interested with this book and push you to read this…
“It’s good to have people worry about you. It means they care. It’s how you know they’re good friends.”
“I wish I had a parabatai. It’s like someone who’s your family, but because they want to be, not because they have to be.”
First, the writing style; really, Clare really knows how to present her ideas, characters, plot really well! There is something with her style that always makes me couldn’t put the book down for a while and only spent my days on reading page per page (but often interrupted for other priority). She could make me feel like I was in every where the characters are. She really could describe the setting really well, really detailed, and I could picture them well too because of her description. Not to mention the way she joked in the book through every characters, how she could picture Jace, arrkkkhhh!! I love you, Clare! =)
Then, there is the characterization. I can choose my favorite characters but I can never choose my least favorite characters, because even Sebastian actually was… arkh, I will shut my mouth! Lol. I really like the characters there, perhaps because I have some of theirs and that made me easily connected with them. I really love Jace and Simon! Jace with his angelic physics, pride, yet soft heartened and often threw sarcastic jokes which made me craaazzzyyyy and Simon with his unexpected ideas and unexpected words and jokes and how actually he and Jace had cared for each other… Arkkkh the fan girl in me was awakeeeeen. They are my heroes! Lol
Clary herself was amazing! I have really sympathized with her since the beginning of this series. She was really tough and caring for the ones she loves, her mom, Jace, Luke, Simon, everyone around her and tried to protect them. I love how she could be calm and looking for solution to make the situations better. I love how she loves her mom! Lol. She was brave and authentic, confident being who she is.
Isabelle, she was so enchanting! She was bold, strong, beautiful, a speak-up person, yet quite reserved when it comes to telling she loves someone, including Simon. She really loves her family, even though she often throws harsh words towards or about her own parents. She ever made a mistake with Max and ended up regretting the action for almost her whole life, and I think that is make her like really human to me. She was not perfect but still she was really nice and I feel like wanting to be her best friend.
And I spent more than 2 paragraphs for telling you about my favorite characters lol.
By the way, I also put some interest in Emma Carstairs. She was such a cool teen girl, so brave to protect her loved ones, so caring about Julian and his brothers, even though she was quite clumsy in terms of love (and I think it’s appropriate for girls her age).
The last is the story. Some parts of the ending were like what I expected. I don’t think I need to tell you the details, perhaps an overview. The love story is like so happily ended, with a little spicy crunchy twist, and yeah, I like it. The twist is what made the ending unusual for me. I didn’t feel like Clare just put the characters together just to make us, readers, happy. I believe that it was the best for the situation happening, remembering what type of persons the main characters are. Remembering what is actually inside their mind and heart. You may say I just bluff, act like I know what’s on the characters’ mind, what’s on Clare’s mind while she was writing this, but it’s all up to you.
The way Clare put some new characters in this series is approvable. She gave them appropriate roles that showed why these characters are important for the plot, really contributing to the development of the story, not only just an eye-service to give a variation in the story’s moods.
Other thing I love from a whole series is the message about parent-son/daughter relationship. We can see here how a crazy ambition could lead a father, into madness that he made a pact with devil, gave his own son to the darkness even before he was born, how, as a man, Valentine also has made other family and his own broken into pieces. At the end, he got nothing but doomed.
How a mother, to protect her own daughter from their dark past, had to run and run along with her daughter without telling her the truth and carried the sorrow inside her own head.
How a boy could turn into evil because his father had made him be to fulfill what his father called ‘destiny’. A boy, so innocent he should be, turned to the most vicious and heartless man in the world. He was taught love as it is to destroy, hence never he knew what love actually is, how to love someone, and it is just so sad.
I feel so sorry that I hope if I could be given a chance to be a mother, parents, never would I hurt my kids like that. And I thank God that I have the most perfect family I could ever get in this world. =)
Then almost last, and of course not the least : There are two most touching scenes that, I figure, have a deep message about love; First one is when Clary finally told Jace she was raging inside towards Sebastian not only because what’s happening but also for he almost raped her. Jace was so angry and feeling like cutting Sebastian into pieces, how he wanted to be ‘not useless’ for Clary in this situation, and how Clary thought what he said was enough for her. Then when Clary asked him whether he would think of her any different, Jace, without a doubt, answered no. I think it was romantic, how someone sees you so invaluable that even though there is something potentially ‘decreasing’ some parts of you, causing a flaw in you, the man does not care about it and has a willing to go on with you.
The second one is when Jace told Clary how she had changed himself so much, that the cold and perfectionist Jace who always tries to be perfect to be loved (Valentine’s dogma lol), could finally become the quite light-headed Jace that believes there should be forgiveness in love for the flaws in the process of reaching the perfection because Clary showed him so. Yeah, something like that. I am quite like Jace in term of this thing, like I always want to look ‘everything is okay’ with me, that ‘I’m good’ so that everyone will not feel that I am bothering, thus they will feel comfortable near me or even love me hanging around and with them. I never let myself make mistake but if I do, I will blame myself so highly and feel so much guilty. And reading this scene just encourages me to look for an appropriate people that could help me know the world.
By the way, there is also a surprise for you who might have little interest in Brother Zachariah, one of Silence Brother. There is also a character from The Infernal Devices (a prequel of The Mortal Instruments) appearing in this last installment and it kinda pushed me to read that series too. Perhaps I should give it a try. I really like the world created in this novel.
To be more complete, I like Clare’s. I thank her to write this story and inspire me=)
Book Lover. Story Creator 