rrkreads

3.5

This book starts well, in fact till about 3/4th of the book it's unputdownable. It's super-fast, interesting and well written. I couldn't care much for the characters though, I disliked Clary or Jace as the main characters. Luke was likable but the rest of the characters were unremarkable. This is a proper YA fantasy which is to say I probably would have liked it better in my teenage years than now. This book distinctly reminded me of my age and how I am not the target audience of this book. So if I am not raving about this book it's partly because of that.

This book has a lot of themes similar to Harry potter. Saved by mother/her love. Close relative/friend a werewolf. An institute/learning center. A muggle in the Harry Potter world is a mundane here. Somebody even turns into a mouse just as in Harry Potter! But the similarities end right there.

While Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone (Btw Harry potter is Middle grade it's not even YA) is intriguing enough to warrant a read multiple times, this might not even entice me to read it a second time. The supposed twist near the end is what killed this book for me. I detested the twist and I was surprised by the ending, not in a good way but in a way where I was turning the pages to see if they are torn out/are missing. The ending felt incomplete and was dissatisfying. I agree this is a part of a series, but even in a series, every book has a logical ending. A story is completed with some cliffhanger/s left for the readers to continue from in the next book. But this book's ending was anti-climactic and very disappointing so much so that I am not sure if I'll continue with the next book in the series.

Two conflicting opinions are playing into my decision of continuing with this series. One, this book felt quite juvenile to me, even by YA standards. Second, I have heard and continue hearing good things about this series in Social media. So, I have decided to put this series on the backburner for now. I am planning to read quite a few series in 2020. (Expect a post on it soon!) hence I currently don't have the bandwidth for this series but it still will be on my TBR list owing to its popularity and cult status.

For a full review on this book, check out my post @ https://rrkreads.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/book-review-city-of-bones-and-beyond-the-black-door/