15-year-old Clary Fray is a resident of New York City. The people who matter to her are: her single artist mum, Jocelyn; her mum’s friend and father-figure, Luke Garroway and her best friend, Simon. Life is happy trip of pursuing her own art and visiting the nightspots of Manhattan with Simon.
But everything changes one night at Club Pandemonium. She witnesses a murder. A murder committed by three teenagers who have weird symbols on their bodies and who apparently cannot be seen by anyone except her. Oddly enough, the victim isn’t visible to anyone besides her either. Suddenly matters take a grave turn when her mother goes missing without a clue.
Clary’s world is suddenly no longer a simplistic routine existence. She learns that her mother’s disappearance is no ordinary kidnapping. It is intricately linked with the presence of a group of supernatural warriors called “The ShadowHunters”. The ShadowHunters hunt demons and do their best to maintain peace amongst humans. And there is a possibility that Clary Fray could very well be one such warrior.
Fighting her growing attraction to fellow ShadowHunter, Jace Wayland....searching for her missing mother.....being thrown headlong into an ongoing battle with a resurrected villain, Valentine.....dealing with the fantastical new world flowering up before her eyes....and trying to make sense of her mixed feeling about Simon; Clary has her work cut out.
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Okay first up, Harry Potter still RULES! The world of Clary Fray, while intriguing is a bit crowded. The author displays her love for all things paranormal by stuffing the pages with vampires, werewolves, elves, faeries, angels, ancient demons, new evils and what-have-you. After some time...you just want to sift through the carnival of slitted-eyes and bared-fangs and unkempt-fur and concentrate on the main issues.
Secondly, Valentine is a poor villain. Besides channelling ol’Voldy’s rant of keeping things “pure-blood” he lacks the sheer presence which Voldemort created especially in his absence. All Valentine does is come across as a dysfunctional father who should be pouring out his woes to Dr.Phil as soon as possible.
The only concept I truly liked was that of The Runes. The crucial part that they play in the world of The ShadowHunters is enchanting. They were cleverly woven in to provide a fresh twist to an otherwise standard fantasy-read.
I think I’ll most probably be following this series to find out where the *Clary-Jace-Simon* triangle is heading. Lots of drama there to keep me hooked for a couple of lack-lustre summer afternoons.
In all, an okay read. Clary is a competent heroine who promises to rev things up in the forthcoming instalments. Jace, despite his sarcastic quips and Golden-Boy act has enough issues to make him a tragic main-lead. And Simon has the necessary mix of stability and simmering resentment to provide adequate angst to keep turning the pages.
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