Sunday 7 February 2016

Book Review Jan 2016

As part of our English course in TY we have been set the challenge to read as many books as possible this year. Reading provides mental stimulation, stress reduction and vocabulary expansion. I have just finished reading "The Infernal Devices" a trilogy by Cassandra Clare. 
The books are about a race of people called 'Shadowhunters', who are half angel half human creatures created by the Angels to protect the world from hell's demons. The Infernal Devices is set in the dark times of Victorian London. I have read many other of Cassandra Clare's books. This trilogy has less irony and wit experienced  in previous series The Mortal Instruments. Instead it has more of a  romantic quality you expect from a story crowded with 19th century heroes and heroines. 

There are 3 main characters in the story which cause a love triangle, Tessa who is a warlock, James Carstairs and William Herondale who are both shadowhunters. Tessa and Will love books they constantly use quotes from Dickens, The Brontes, Tennyson and other British authors from that time. While Jem loves playing the violin. Will and Jem are both differently handsome and fascinating, their appearances and their personalities couldn't be more distant yet they are almost like brothers.My favourite character is Will Herondale. He is a real romantic, dashing hero from the 19th century. His rough, wild manners hide his secretive soul. However, you can see he can be kind and caring when with Jem, and he shows glimpses of a different self when with Tessa. Once Will’s secret is revealed , it is the answer to his strange behavior and Tessa cannot help but fall in love with him, leaving Jem in the shadows. Yet there is a major plot twist at the end. The annoying thing in the book , is that fact the author is recreating Victorian England carefully and then ruining by using American style nicknames - 'Will', 'Jem', 'Tessa'. I would strongly recommend reading this trilogy. As I read the book on the kindle, I highlighted every new word I came upon. At the end of the book I went over all that was highlighted, this greatly improved my vocabulary and it aided me in my short story writing.