So . . . it’s the end of March, officially spring already, and I’m just now diving into this year’s book challenge (and no—I still haven’t finished 2016). But boy, did I jump in with a vengeance.

Now, you may remember that when we came up with this year’s challenge, Rosie and I decided that we were going to be more mindful of who and what we were reading. We endeavoured to read books by people of colour, books by young women, books to make us smarter, and books that had such an impact that they’d been banned from high schools. And because I wanted to read the second and third books in Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, we also included “two books belonging to a series.”

Well, let me tell you right now that I went a little off book and a lot overboard. Not only did I not read either of the books I had planned to read, but I also chose a series that has way more than just two books and requires about 5% of my brain power. That’s right folks. I chose Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series (because the deliciously terrible Netflix show based on the series is on hiatus and I needed my fix). And, because the YA series is just as deliciously terrible (and oh so much more so), I got to work and devoured all six books (coming in at 3237 pages). And then I read the Bane Chronicles (ten “novellas”). AND THEN I cringe-read a 165,000-word fan fiction that basically just fills in the story lines of the entire series from another character’s point of view (as if I’m going to tell you which one).

In ten days.

I also slept well, ate decent meals (well, ok. I may have had cereal or popcorn a few times), went to work, went for brunch and tacos, saw Beauty and the Beast in theatres twice, and read two manuscripts. That right there is my BA in English coming in to play.

Now, since I read everything so quickly, and I read them all online, and I read the auxiliary texts interspersed with the novels, and I mixed canon with fan fiction, I can’t really tell you where one book ends and the next one starts. So for these reviews, I’m going back to my roots: short, sweet, and totally superfluous.

City of Bones

A combination of The Hunger Games (murderous teens with little-to-no parental supervision), Twilight (vampires, werewolves), and Divergent (a crew of highly trained badasses who take in and are mostly enamoured by a pretty, young, special girl with inherent and as yet untapped and undeveloped skills)—all of which I enjoyed in one medium or another. Typical start to a YA series . . . except, of course, that whole incest bit.

City of Ashes

Malec and Vampire Simon. That is all.

Oh, and the Seelie Court and the truck boat and of course Clary has the ability to create runes. Obviously.

City of Glass

Hey! You let Simon out of prison.

I don’t like Sebastian, but at least he’s not her . . . Wait. More incest? WAIT. OTHER INCEST?

MALEC!

Of course Clary saves the day. And Jace. And all of Idris. Because of course.

City of Fallen Angels

Hey, not incest! Yay! I also enjoy the effect of Simon’s religion on the weapons used against him, and that there was a consequence for Clary raising the dead (not even the Genie can bring people back from the dead). And in general, throughout the whole series I was pleasantly surprised to recognize themes of Milton’s Paradise Lost in Clare’s world of angels and demons. It reminded me that this fantasy series—as absurd as it is—is rooted in centuries-old literature that is highly respected and practically required reading for any university-level English student. I can tell you from experience that Paradise Lost is called an epic poem for a reason—Clare certainly did not shirk her homework.

Side note: dead babies. Not cool.

City of Lost Souls

Obviously, Clary is going to save the day, so my biggest take away from this entire book is that I want a magical teleporting apartment with a closet full of clothes that fit me perfectly and a training room full of weapons to hunt demons with.

Also, what the hell is with this woman and incest?

City of Heavenly Fire

In all, this was an entertaining and addictive series right to the end. I appreciate Clare’s version of a hell dimension that was essentially a mirror image to Earth that was ravaged by evil and could not be saved by too little too late. Sebastian’s reversion to Jonathan was unexpected, as was Simon’s sacrifice, and I was glad that, after two wars and several battles in six months, the whole thing wasn’t wrapped up in a convenient little bow where everyone lives happily ever after. Except, oh wait . . . it was and they do. Damnit, Clare.

The Bane Chronicles

The whole reason I started reading the Mortal Instruments series is because I religiously watch the sub-par television show, much like a bored housewife watches Days or a crazy person watches the Real Housewives. And in that terrible television show, Magnus is my favourite character by far. But it turns out he’s not that prominent of character in the books—not as compared to Clary and the Lightwoods—and I was unsatisfied with the small parts he has to play in the first and second books. So I read this. A tad long to be classified as short stories, they’re snippets of Magnus life before and during the series. Because Magnus is a bit ridiculous, so too are these novellas, but they stretch out over a few centuries and it’s fun to see how the character I’m familiar with interacted with the trends, beliefs, and taboos of the times.

In the end, I think it’s pretty clear that I enjoyed this series for what it is. There are certainly some YA fantasy series out there that are better written, that don’t hang their primary romantic relationship on incest (or the threat of it), and that don’t include demon babies (or demons of any kind), but there’s a reason this author keeps churning out novels set in the Shadowhunter universe, and why the readership keeps growing. I mean, not even a poorly received movie could deter this fandom. So I say take it for what it is and enjoy!

No. 19 and 20 (+) on my challenge. Now how am I going to fit Hollow City and Library of Souls on here?