(Not so) Quick Review: Shadowhunters and Downworlders

Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, epic urban fantasy set in a richly imagined world of shadowhunters, vampires, werewolves, fairies, and more, has captured the imaginations and loyalty of hundreds of thousands of YA readers. Originally a trilogy (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass), the series has extended to six titles, plus a prequel trilogy, the Infernal Devices, and a planned sequel series, the Dark Artifices. A feature film is planned for 2013.
Shadowhunters and Downworlders, edited by Clare (who provides an introduction to the book and to each piece), is a collection of YA authors writing about the series and its world.

Authors Who Contributed:
Holly Black / Kendare Blake / Gwenda Bond / Sarah Rees Brennan / Rachel Caine / Sarah Cross / Kami Garcia / Michelle Hodkin / Kelly Link / Kate Milford / Diana Peterfreund / Sara Ryan / Scott Tracey / Robin Wasserman

Quick Review:

This is something for real Shadowhunter fans - when it comes to the contemporary kind! The essays in this book are all about The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices are mentioned once, I believe, so if you're looking for essays discussing Clockwork Angel or Clockwork Prince, Shadowhunters and Downworlders is not for you. Also, you should be a really obsessive fan or read it in bits and pieces as trying to devour the whole book in a few days like I did might leave you with a little bit of an overdose...

 I raced through the book in the beginning...I mean, how awesome is it to have people discuss one of your favorite series? Adult people, even. I felt like I was in a book club meeting - also because every essay - except the one by Sarah Reese Brennan, maybe (although that was the one I liked best!) - was written in a sophisticated language. Anyway, this writing style also requires...attention! I tried to read this book at 7 in the morning, half asleep in the bus. Yeah, didn't work so well, but that's not really a negative. What was a negative, though, was the repetition. It's understandable and only logical, of course, that with a project like that things get redundant. Simon, as an example, got analysed quite a few times and thatbored me after a while. The same thing happened with other characters, topics...I had to review the book so I read it as a whole. Maybe I would have appreciated it more if I read one essay at a time, then something else.

At last, I have to mention one side effect that this book had at me, though. I felt like I had to reread the Mortal Instruments again-the authors were all so enthusiastic about the books that they infected me all over again!