3 Stars!!
“The sky was a road and the stars made pathways; the moon was a watchtower, a lighthouse that led you home.”
Whew! I have officially finished the MONSTER~and it feels fantastic! Another Shadowhunter story DOWN! So where do I start to review this monstrosity ?!?! Bare with me... while I activate my runes.
Let's start at the beginning- It started right where LOS left off. Having to relive that tragic moment AGAIN wasn't fun but all the character babies needed to grieve and I get that. I was there with them, in "black ink" spirit.
Soooo yeah we grieved.... for half the book it seemed like - to the point where I was done and over it. Like can we please talk about something else? Everyone is sad and it's depressing but can we fight someone or something??
In my opinion, the first half of the book seemed to just go on and on about nothing really... It didn't pick up until part 2 for me. And from that point on I was invested. Things slowly started to pick up and things started happening.
I don't really feel the need to talk much about the plot of this story- because if you are reading this review, you obviously are invested enough to know that you are getting the WRAP UP to this trilogy. Seems like so much happened but at the same time, not much.
I will talk about the Menage a Trois though- how can I review this and NOT. Can I just say that every time the book got to these three I could not help but think of Lito, Dani and Hernando from the Netflix Show Sense8 - Raise your hand if you know what Im talking about ???
Yeah… You know I'm right… (ps- if you have not watched Sense8 WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE??? GO WATCH IT!!) So … did I like this aspect?? Meh- I don't know honestly, I kind of do - but not for a YA book. Yeah I'm sure lots of teens get their groove on this way and that.. whatever- their prerogative... but as a mother, I just think this type of scene should be in an adult/new adult book.
Here is the thing. I think I am basically tip toeing around this review bc I know I'll probably be a minority- but let me just get on with my REAL FEELINGS. I have been a Shadowhunter fan since Jump Street. I have read all the books and have watched it evolve. The MI and TID books were fabulous and I absolutely loved them. I do not feel the same way about this new Trilogy. While I have my favorite characters and LOVE LOVE LOVE the family dynamic in these- I just honestly feel like a huge portion of this new series was just recycled.
This book has a lot of the original schemes and themes from the first books. As a reader, I don't want recycled plots. I need something new, I don't want to have to worry about someone we defeated in the first series to come back and haunt me again through another book OVER AND OVER again. It is just not fun or original. This was my main issue with this book. Could we not have made up some other bad guy or something - did we really have to go back to YOU KNOW WHO?? In some cases it works - but sadly, in this case- it did not work for me. Also what's with the ending?? The whole thing with Zara- Just WHY??
I really did enjoy parts of this book. I really enjoyed seeing all the REAL OGs from the past play a bigger role in this book. I am so glad that everyone's relationships got all worked out. I needed that closure, so i'm glad that part did come to pass. Also, I appreciate that Clare tackled some real world issues, and used diverse characters. The illustrations were phenomenal as well!
Overall- I feel like this book was way too long and all over the place - Kinda like this review but clearly I am not a writer :P I feel a little off after reading it to be honest. I've said this in an earlier review of Clare's books- but I will say it again, I would really love to see her write another Fantasy or something that does not depend on her love interests to build conflicts in her story. Regardless Kudos Clare - you will probably still be an Auto Buy author even after today. Because lets face it- I am here for the long haul. #shadowhunter4life
