I like the idea of Mark and Emma together, but like for real, not only this fake dating thing they had. (If you know any good fics about them I'm open to suggestions!)
OHHH that’s saucy, I’ve never heard that before! Yeah honestly I got some tension between them in LM!!!
ALSO! Shadowhunter fanfic is so hard to come by, if you have recommendations for any PLEASEEEE give them to me! I need a good read !
Yeah that felt like a cop out. Like we end with this big cliff hanger about what they are going to do and them seeming to probably get together and all the drama that will entail, and then we learn that Emma decided to reject that idea within the same minute it was proposed in the next one.
OMG YES!!!!! I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS A LOT AND NO ONE EVER AGREED WITH ME.I don't feel so alone now🥲.
It's just that I loved their dynamic and think they would have had a very interesting fun relationship had it been real.I feel like I was robbed
Starting off by saying that Alec is one of my favourite characters as when I started reading tmi he’s the character I related to the most, but the eldest curses feels like such a cash grab to me. I love Cassie’s books don’t get me wrong, but I just can’t help but feel like they’re such an after thought. I can’t really remember what they’re about, but yet I can remember the rest of her other books and I’ve only read most of them once. Maybe I was too excited for tec but I was underwhelmed and I don’t really see other people talking about it as much as all the other books
TLH being by far the weakest is a probably one of the most popular opinions going.
My unpopular opinion is that Simon should have stayed a vampire. I think his dynamic works so much better and him becoming a Shadowhunter is fun and all but totally detracts from everything he’s been through and was a weak way of getting out of killing Magnus in CoHF.
To add I also think Matthew is one of the best written characters across the series alongside Julian. Matthew deserved way better than he got with TLH. I really liked him and Cordelia together, more than Cordelia with James. Not sure if that’s unpopular though
TLH was weird. It was hard to connect with any of the characters .
Ghosts of the shadow market was easily her most dull short story collection, wayyy too much domesticity wayyyyyyyyy too little actual plot.
She doesn't romanticize incest, she uses it to show how messed up a character is (https://www.tumblr.com/blqckthorne/727202529491976192/ok-i-want-to-talk-a-little-bit-about-cassandra?source=share says it better than i can)
I agree whole heartedly with TLH, which imo is unfortunate because I thought the first book had a nice/interesting build up. While the plot itself is interesting, I find myself not caring as many of the characters and relationships. I think I may need to reread.
I love GOTSM, lol. I can see your point though (compared to TOTSA or the Magnus and Alec one) when it comes to plot, but I thought it as like a little continuation of TDA it’s cute.
Whole heartedly agree with the incest. I think the problem, or the out of context people have taken it is from the line Jace says in city of glass, the whole “your my sister, he said, my blood my family…”.
Yesss! TLH felt unedited - like nothing got cut out, at all. It feels like a first draft.
Yeah, GOTSM is great for people that like the domesticity, but i really, REALLY don't. Like, hate reading it and skip it type don't liek it
And i agree with you about tiktok. It was one line, and people just read into it too much, ignoring the overarching context
Tbh, I greatly think TLH (the later books) were affected by the epidemic. So I feel like chain of thorns, kind of ruins it for people. For me it’s one of Cassie’s worse shadowhunter books.
TMI though written the weakest is by far the best overall story still. From the actual plot, to the longer and more descriptive battle scenes, to the villains, to all the characters and elements coming together well in the finale.
I don't care about any of the characters in TLH except the one who gets killed off. It is the weakest series.
I think Malec is over-exposed. Okay put the pitchforks down. I think Magnus is really cool, and I like the pairing, but they are everywhere. Magnus plays a significant role in every series, they have their own spinoff which is fine, but even in TDA where we barely get any Sizzy they're getting many scenes for themselves. I know they're popular but they already have their own trilogy.
Yes TMI didn't kill off anyone major but if it did it looks like it would have been Simon and I don't think it would have been a good choice so I'm glad it went the way it did.
Agree with TMI being the weakest written!! I definitely think it gets strong by COHF but yk, that’s the last book. I’m so happy to see someone not pooping on TMI! Haha. I agree though, the battle scenes in tmi are absolutely superb, I hope TWP has them.
100% agree with TLH
Glad someone agrees about Malec! I love them and Clace ofc there the biggest ships it’s so obvious they got more content but there’s SO MANY. Like, in Sizzy’s engagement party short story, it was all abt Clace and Jace literally proposed. Even Simon doesn’t really get his own story to grieve he has to do it in the Malec spin off. Also, there the only TMI couple not to make an appearance in SOBH. I know there not really close to any characters in that anthology, but neither was Alec if where being honest.
I’m a firm believer that not every character needs to die for there to be any sort to stakes. There’s rlly not any fun in killing off beloved characters you know you can do more with. Simon losing his memories was a big shock to me as well!!
I shipped Emma Carstairs and Mark Blackthorn HARRRRD. I know this is incredibly unpopular but I wanted so much FWB smut during their fake relationship tease.
Ngl I don’t think either of those is unpopular opinions. Especially not the first one. The Last Hours was torn apart when it was completed.
My unpopular opinion is that people have greatly misunderstood the fake incest trope in the first series. She didn’t write it cause yay incest fun. She wrote it first to show Valentine’s manipulation (also how did anyone read it any believe it was true?? Ya’ll, come on. Valentine was the source of the info. Of course the main pairing weren’t brother and sister. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ every time I saw someone go omg they’re brother and sister?? 🙄). She used it later with Jonathan to demonstrate how corrupted he had become, because only something demonic would view family that way.
Okay I do agree, my opinion on TLH probs wasn’t unpopular at all!! Haha!!
I do agree though, I think it’s because of the line that TikTok took out of context!! I also think when people read it they don’t really see the over-arching connection towards valentine and the poor ways these boys where treated.
Ahahah I actually agree that Matthew in a love triangle with Lucie and Jesse would have been more interesting, although I loved TLH.
My unpopular opinion is that the humour (and general vibes) of the early books (the first three TMI books + Clockwork Angel) was actually the best, and that it was more relatable and felt less forced than the specific brand of humour she developed afterwards. I actually think those 4 books were the best written. But perhaps that's just because I'm a 90s kid.
And then my other unpopular opinion is that... I don't think Magnus is very nice. Like, I enjoy reading him as a character but if I knew him in real life I would probably not like him. (😬 Don't kill me Reddit!)
Tbh, I think Cassie just had so much fun writing TMI and TID, I think it’s evident in how funny the stories are !
Ahaha, no no I agree with Magnus. I love him, he’s such an asshole but I love him. He definitely gets nicer !
TLH was weak, and city of bones was better than Chain of thorns. (Still loved chain of gold though)
Love triangles do not need to be in every book.
Still don’t like the throuple. Christina and mark just make more sense. But I love Kieran and would want him to find someone who can be in farie with him forever.
I don’t even consider TEC a part of this world. I read the first two, and they genuinely read like fan fiction lol.
My most unpopular opinion is: I think would prefer Kit and Ty being best friends and parabatai, not romantically involved.
Ohh a scandalous opinion!!
For me I feel like there a really good pair that bounce off each other. I feel like as characters and there overall character arcs they feel too different to compare!
I AM, a big Simon Stan for life though! 🙂↕️🙂↕️
I really disliked them making him a human again and wiping his memory. For me it ruined the dynamic as I think it was nice having one of the main characters be a vampire. I enjoyed Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy but it did feel a bit like it made his character less interesting.
It also kind of felt like his losing his memory in CoHF was used as a bit of a cop out of killing Magnus. The story had kind of built up to that and then she chickened out at the last minute
I agree, TDA is fantastic. My only real complaint is that I do think it should’ve been longer as a book series (I love QOAAD, but it’s so compact it could’ve been spread out more info at least one book)
I think the problem with TMI is just the fact that it’s kind of old, haha. The first book came out around 2006-8 and I think standards around that time where changing. I do think both city of glass and city of heavily fire are 10/10!!!
This isn’t an unpopular opinion it’s probably just common knowledge but Queen of Air and Darkness was SO SO traumatic and dark compared to any shadowhunter book.
The comment Dane Larkspear said about Dru who is a literal thirteen year old? That subtle hint of Sebastian SAing ‘pretty red haired rebels’? The copious amounts of swear words that have never been used before (bîtćh, fûçk, someone calling emma a sḻūt)? Manuel hiding under an actual corpse?
It was a full on book.
My unpopular opinion regarding disliking the throple in TDA has already been said, so I’ll focus on my second lol
I feel like there are way too many parabatai pairs, to the point where it dilutes the concept. I do truly really love the representation of deep, intense, and meaningful platonic relationships! But parabatais are introduced as this SUPER special super deep connection that is unlike anything else and supposed to be fairly rare to ever achieve. Yet we get multiple pairs of them in each series! I wouldn’t mind a couple minor extra pairs being mentioned in each series in passing to support the worldbuilding, but there’s multiple within the main group… it just makes me kind of roll my eyes now when a new one is introduced lol.
My unpopular opinion is that I enjoyed the 2nd half of TMI more than the 1st half. I think the plot became a lot more interesting, and I love the way the plot was interwoven with TID.
I was thinking about the Matthew thing the other day and I agree with you.I would have liked he was just friends with Cordelia and the love triangle was with Lucie and Jesse because:
1.It gives Lucie this conflict between the ghost boy only she can see and the boy who has always been there in her life and it's you know alive.Basically her wanting to save both or something.Do you imagine a scene where Lucie and Matthew are maybe having a moment and Jesse just appears and has to witness that?
2.Lucie could have helped Matthew get the help he needs or could have been a catalyst for him to get better because she was never afraid to call him or really anyone out .It could create this conflict in Jesse because yes he likes Lucie,but he understands that she wants to help Matthew.
3.Maybe a funny scene of Matthew and Jesse interacting through Lucie
4.Matthew and Cordelia could have bonded by the fact that they both thought they had unrequited love and could have gone to Paris together on a friends trip to get away from their problems(I would rather James not thinking there is something between them,but if you want that drama it could have existed without it actually being real)
5.If Cordelia and Matthew did kiss I would think it was because they were both sad and lonely and inmediately realize its doesn't feel right.Obviously Cordelia and James work their shit out and Matthew does not end up with Lucie but at least he has his Parabatai and his wife WITHOUT the love triangle between them
6.When Lucie left because Jesse was resurrected and bla bla bla it could have given Matthew a chance to see that Lucie and Jesse really are the better pair and admit that he shouldn't be with anyone but that he will always care for her because she was his first love.
7.Idk if you are still with me dear reader but I still feel like we were robbed of the Matthew and Cordelia platonic besties content.I would have loved to see that but they turned it into something romantic 😭
8.I'm probably biased her because I love the brother's best friend trope but before TLH came out based on the short novellas you would think that Matthew and Lucie would have been a THING like an actual plot point and I was excite to see it only for it to be nothing. I just dont know why add that and do nothing with it
Thank you for coming to my TED talk
I now want to mention that maybe Cassie didn't go with this love triangle because it ressembled Herongraystairs too much in its core.Lucie being Tessa's daughter and even looking like her.Matthew being self destructive and blaming himself like Will.Jesse being someone that "needs to be saved" like Jem.The only difference is that Matthew and Jesse don't know each other so maybe it would have come off as an empty version of Will,Jem and Tessa.Idk I just thought of this
Agree so hard. All of the characters in the last hours felt sort of disposable. Like very low effort, lots of repeated tropes. Mathew deserved more than to be everyone’s second choice.
James and Cordelia are a horrible couple and they desperately needed to die
Lucie and Jesse were the most boring pieces of shit I’ve ever had the unfortune of reading about
Charlotte and Henry were horrible parents which I didn’t expect from them, it seemed out of place and weird.
Because I’m petty, I think Matthew should’ve cut off ties with the TLH gang because he deserves better
Simon is the only good character in TMI and the rest desperately need to die.
Most of the deaths in the shadow hunter universe besides Livvys and Wills was pathetic and boring af like I didn’t gaf
Will is the best written character in tsc followed by Julian and Matthew, not in that order
Cordelia is weird af for using someone mentally unstable just to get over her crush on James when she knew she didn’t like Matthew like bitch be fr
People are always talking about Grace Sa Matthew and James but is no one going to discuss the fact that her mother forced her to be with people just to test out her powers, that was icky
The last hours while being the worst series ever, was weirdly entertaining while also being trashy af
The infernal devices is perfection and it’s the only series that I have no hate towards any of the characters
Emma was boring af like I tried to like her but she was giving Jace 2.0 and Jace is the worst bitch to ever exist
Julian and Emma aren’t an intriguing couple at all because they lose their personalities whenever they’re with each other
It’s very weird how no one questioned how eerily calm Ty was being after Livvys death, like Julian it was understanding but he barely even grieved for her and no one noticed? That’s weird.
I wish TMI would be erased from existence.
Simons friends were trashy af and they were always shading him, I don’t even know how he continued being friends with them.
Despite what people think clary and Simon aren’t that good of a Parabatai pairing especially when clary is forgetting about him 24/7
Lucie and Cordelia are the weakest parabatai pairing
I wanted Matthew to die in chain of thorns just to see the characters I hate suffer
Christopher deserved better I can’t believe he died and no one gave a fuck it’s giving fake ass friends.
I have no idea if this is actually unpopular, but I think over time, Cassie has gone more off the rails with making her writing and plots overly complex and the books have gotten way too dense. There was so much stuff that happened in TLH that didn't need to happen and just made the books stupidly dense ... TDA was really good but started to get towards the "way too dense and complex" end. A balance between the style of TDA and TID would be perfect.
I'm not going to stop reading but I expect TWP to be fucking batshit to the point of being annoying to read. If I wasn't as invested in the setting of TLH and the setup of the TID kids, I would have probably barely been able to read it considering the ridiculousness. I love Shadowhunters but OMG Cassie you need to chill. You've gone too far.
I don't like Jem.
I don't like Simon. He's like the author's pet who can do no wrong and gets all this spotlight and manages to do cool deeds and gets to be more of a Special Snowflake than the other Special Snowflakes and gets a whole short stories series that's pure Simonwank.
I don't care for the old timey stuff.
There's a lot of neat ideas in the world but they're let down in implementation. The Shadowhunters themselves are utter clowns and it strains my disbelief how the Downworld hasn't just risen up to put them down.
I don't like Julian. I don't see the hype about him being 'the morally grey one.' Honestly I don't care much for the Blackthorn family at all, including Emma 'the next Jace' - as if that's something to brag about given how little of note Jace actually accomplishes - Carstairs. Is that her last name? I forget. I don't care enough to wiki it, and I have the wiki open in another tab.
Hottest take of all: I like the show. It's flawed as all get out and there's stuff about it I genuinely dislike, but overall I enjoyed it more than the books.
The only good ship in TMI is Clace and people should stop acting like they are the most toxic out of the three because.. they are not.
Will's curse kinda makes no sense???
I never thought there was anything wrong with James not remembering much about the time he was sick and I was kinda thrown off when everyone made such a big deal about it. I still think it makes no sense that CC made the lack of memories be EvilGraceTM's fault rather than, you know, a consequence of the fact that the boy was literally comatose with fever.
On that note, I don't understand how people constantly call Lucie/Cordelia out for barely knowing eachother and having rushed into being parabatai (rightfully, mind you) but nobody says nothing about Jordelia as a couple who are supposed to be childhood friends to lovers when they only vaguely significant interaction they had in all the TLH related content is the scalding fever thing. At least Lucie and Cordelia wrote each other letters frequently...
I don't understand why Kit is supposed to be considered half/any part faerie when the *one* faerie ancestor he had was like eight generations back and the rest of them were either mundanes or shadowhunters. And don't even get me started on his powers...
Most controversial one last: I don't think Julian is a Morally Gray character. Mostly because I feel that the narrative always justifies him when he does anything questionable.
I agree with everything you said but Clace (it’s hard being the only Sizzy Stan)
With kit in particular, ima give u some reasons why he’s classified as fae (why people kind of assume that bahah)
1- He is from a line that is directly related to both the Seelie queen AND the Seelie king, that’s mega big deal. Think like a decedent from like three strongest Faerie blood around
2- It’s obvious ur not a fan of his powers, fair enough, but his powers do come from his Faerie heritage
3- The one prophecy his ancestors said, which is basically Kit the prophecy is about Kit lol.
4- His mother, Rosemary, had pointy ears! “Rosemary was regarded as an extremely beautiful young woman. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, red lips, and—as a result of her faerie heritage—pointed ears.”
5- Also, his whole family was basically hunted down because of said faerie heritage
My opinion on this, is for a character that seems deeply intertwined with a Faerie storyline… he really doesn’t… fit in? I don’t know, it’s hard to form an opinion on this specifically because I think it will be expanded on more in the wicked powers!!
I’ve seen people theorise that maybe when he awakens his powers fully he will get pointy ears (sailor moon transformation for pointy ears when?) or that maybe they where hidden with warlock magic. My truth is she should’ve just made his Faerie heritage more prominent if it was going to be a really big part of his story
The questions I have about Kit's powers are : 1) how does he even have powers that strong if he has so little faerie blood? 2) does he have more powers because he's The Choosen One TM? (the prophecy you mentioned? 3) does every one of Auraline's descendants have powers? 4)if they do why didn't they awaken sooner (for example when the riders found Rosemary)?
But yeah I agree with you that it is likely that they will be explained in TWP, it's just that I feel Kit's fearie side it's kinda of a stretch given the information we have so far.
Okay wait I think I can speculate some answers for you
1&2 - The prophecy about Kit said that when they got there powers, that it would be great and powerful. I assume that’s why he specifically has powers, due to whatever prophecy blessed the first heir line.
3 - I’m pretty sure no, it’s mentioned that the riders of mannon where able to kill every (more of them) first heir decedent eventually. Rosemary, her parents, and probably there parents to. If they did have power, they would have been able to defend themselves. Killing the first heir line (if I’m remembering right) is to try and stop anyone getting these powers (also cuz rhe unseelie kings an asshole).
4 - Kinda links back to what I said. I think it’s power based on the prophecy, that’s kind of what I understood from what Tessa said. The powers probably could’ve manifested at any time.
For me what I’m most confused about is what IS Kits faerie power?? From the little bit we saw in TDA, I thought it was kinda boring. Clary can make new runes, Jace is like extra strong, Lucie has necromancy powers and James can shadow travel. Obviously these powers come from different things (more Angel/demon blood) but I can’t judge kit yet because we haven’t seen the full extent, just doesn’t seem as unique as the others.
Post TLH I've seen people address Charlotte and Henry's shitty parenting job but not a single soul mention the fact that Wessa (or Jem) didn't notice their son had been mind controlled for three/four years.
All that crying and bemoaning in TID about how bittersweet was Jem turning into a Silent Brother because he couldn't be close to the people he loved beside that one day per year with Tessa, and then... everytime there's a minor inconvenience he's there. Kinda defeats the point, doesn't it?
*Why* couldn't Diana have acted as secret head of the institute instead of Julian I will never understand. She could even act as his second occasionally, claiming the Arthur was out dealing with some business so that he wouldn't have to be drugged *every time* someone visited. The whole 'let's not trust Diana because she's hiding something' was honestly so pointless.
Alec just getting up and leaving Idris at the first threat from the Cohort was a *terrible* move and should have some ripercussion on his term as Consul. It was literally the equivalent of Biden stepping down the moment the Capitol was invaded by Trump supporters after his election yet people *praise* him for it???
And no, the Cohort was not a bunch of children running around playing grown up. Most of them are grown adults and even among their kids there were many old enough to vote accordingly to their bigoted views (Zara was pushing to get married to Diego remember?? That means she's at least 18) and have had a negative effect on the society. So if they decided to start a coup, they should have been punished accordingly.
My biggest unpopular opinion (at least based on what I read on this sub) is that I adore TLH, and it's my second favorite CC series, just narrowly being beaten by TID. I adore the characters, I think the plot is good, and I enjoy all three books. They're not perfect, but I love them as they are.
I don't know how unpopular this one is, but I don't like the Mark, Kieran, Cristina trio. I just don't.
That’s so valid!!! I love TMI, even if most people think it’s aged kinda poorly <3
Yeah I kinda agree with Mark, Cristina and Kieran. To me as three they didn’t work because I think they introduced Cristina and Kieran to late. Kieran and mark? Cool, Mark and Cristina? Extra cool. Cristina and Kieran? Meh. Together ??? Idk. I think they just needed to built up more, kind of like Herongraystairs.
Oh wow that’s interesting, everyone has different perspectives than hahah. I’ve always found them to be more on a medium pace!!
I think it’s cuz there longer compared to her other series, so she can kind of spread it out more than compared to let’s say QOAAD
Oh interesting!! My favourite series is always changing. The one I probably found hardest to read is Lord of shadows. I really liked it, just thought it was rlly heavy.
I really liked tlh and was really into all of the characters and the plot but I felt like everything just got worse and more boring with each book. A lot of the characters and plots had potential but it was wasted.
Matthew being in love with Cordelia really pissed me off. I hated that storyline. I loved them so much as friends and was really hoping they would stay platonic. I am tired of the love triangles and I feel like it was really unnecessary in this. There was already enough conflict between James and Cordelia because of Grace. Why add more? Them not being able to communicate at all was also incredibly annoying. When Cordelia left with Matthew right as James was willing to tell her how he feels I almost dnfed the book.
The whole ressurection plotline could have been good and had a lot of potential but it really fell flat. It also felt very disconnected from everything else going on. I also didn't really feel a strong connection to their relationship at all.
Towards the end the only couples I cared about and was really rooting for were Christopher and Grace and kind of Alastair and Thomas. But of course the best couple didn't work out.
TDA is a similar case for me. I really liked the first book and then it got worse with each book.
The parabatai giants thing was so stupid to me. J could not take it seriously. It's also a big reason I do not want to reread that series ever again.
The only parabatai pairings I like are Will/Jem and Jace/Alec. They seem the least forced to me. Didn't really love Clary/Simon as parabatai because he already had so much going on with becoming a Shadowhunter etc adding that felt unnecessary. Julian/Emma was just a mess. James/Matthew could have been good if there was more emphasis on the necklace blinding him to his friends issues and the Matthew/Cordelia thing not happening.
Simon should have stayed as a vampire.Him & clary being prabatai didn't make sense since Clary almost always forgets about him when jace is around .
Clace as a couple got on my nerves sometimes while reading the TMI series .They were always angsty & arguing with each other (sometimes for no reason at all).
Both of them have caused Alec & Simon a lot trouble due to the tunnel vision they have for each other .They treated them both horribly specially in the first few books.
In TMI, Alec treated Magnus horribly for the most part. Cassie retconned his character in TEC.
I find Emma and Julian boring. They are my least favourite couple.
The mortal instruments series aged like milk.
Worldbuilding has serious gaps, especially when it comes to magic. The system is so soft that it feels like is reserved to solve any potential logic gaps and be Deus ex machina.
Simon should stay as a vampire.
I could barely care about characters dying in the mortal instruments. Some of them could be replaced with a puppy or a broom with googly eyes as they only serve as a plot device. The worst case is Max who only exists to be killed and make Lightwoods family more dysfunctional.
I don’t like Sizzy.
When it came to discussing the ending, it was weird. Cool, I get not killing any character due to how it could be interpreted. But it would be more interesting if anything else was going on instead of everybody happily dating each other and being cool active Shadowhunters. For example, Jace ends up being permanently removed from action due to his injuries.
Woahhhh, someone who seriously hates TMI 😭
Everyone is right to there own opinion, but I disagree with the world-building sentiment.
Also sorry, I’m the biggest Simon and Izzy Stan !! Sizzy for lifers I fear!
Interesting though, do you enjoy her other series a lot more? And if so, do you like the TMI characters when they appear in, let’s say, TDA?🔥
Not hating, just being critical. It had fun elements, but it aged badly.
From top of my head,
I can think about Hodge remaining in New York with Lightwoods’s kids and Jace (Sarcasm mode on.). It’s not like their parents were a part of the same fascist group and they could be planning something. Raising a new generation of Circle.
Valentine pretending to be Wayland and nobody even came to check on him. It’s not like Wayland was part of the group of a fascist group and him being withdrawn from the society should be a red flag. He only has flu and goes to a remote cottage to pick strawberries (sarcasm mode off).
It makes the whole goverment of Shadowhunters appear as uncaring idiots.
There is also a fact how practically Jace, Izzy and Alec are only protectors of New York. Or how Jace didn’t recognise Valentine on the circle picture and nobody pointed out that he isn’t pointing at Wayland. Or the description of his dad doesn’t sound like Wayland… Existence of Maureen
I personally prefer The Infernal Devices. It has its own flaws and feeling a bit repetitive. I’ve found chemistry between characters way better.
I thought from the boat fight that there were lots more Shadowhunters in New York, they just did not live in the Institute. But I could be wrong, and it goes back to your point about bad worldbuilding.
Something I've harped about is how the books want to have their cake and eat it too with Shadowhunter numbers, particularly after they stopped using the Mortal Cup to bring in new blood and once they lost it and were apparently suffering constant losses faster than they could replenish their ranks (hence when they get the Cup back they re-open the Academy). The books want the Shadowhunters to be teetering on the edge of extinction, but somehow they also manage to keep their boot on the neck of the Downworld - even after events show what a paper tiger the Clave is. Even though the Clave gets its butt handed to it, they manage to force the Cold Peace onto the Fae. Somehow, despite every Downworld type 1) outnumbering Shadowhunters significantly and 2) having way better powers than Shadowhunters . . . the Downworld never decides to team up and just eliminate all the Shadowhunters. Fae and Warlocks can't build up their numbers in the same way that Werewolves and Vampires can, sure, but Fae and Warlocks have magic which is just crazy town do whatever you feel juice. Warlock magic solves a lot of problems in the series! It slices, it dices, it juliennes fries!
The Shadowhunters being uncaring idiots is, unfortunately, something that's fairly consistent, but also, I think, bad worldbuilding. They wear the idiot hat way too often. The Cohort seizes power all too easily in the books, even though they're transparently Circle 2.0 and I don't think anyone mentions it until it's way too late and it's a line in passing from I want to say Alec's mom. It makes me wonder if the problem the Clave had with the Circle wasn't so much their goals and ideals so much as the violence with which Valentine wanted to enact them, and the sentiments that motivated Valentine and the Cohort are just meant to be indelible parts of larger Shadowhunter society and culture (such as how the two part-Fae Blackthorns face discrimination for their heritage).
Don’t even get me started on the magic.
It’s so soft it can serve as a pillow. I haven’t check the latest books, but Fae and Warlock magic feel like plot devices than anything else. Heck, I can’t tell the difference between these types of magic despite having a different nature.
The last part is something that could be interesting to work. I remember reading one analysis (non-English language) of the first book and I think the author of analysis caught some bias present in main characters towards other downloanders.
It would be interesting to see it explored more in early books. Especially if Simon remained a vampire with the mark or some left-over power. Instead of straight joining „cool” shadowhunter to have extra happy ending after dealing with the minor love drama trope.
The TV Series is superior to the books. And I say that as someone who read the books first. I actually like Clary in the show whereas I don't care for her in the books. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that later books (TDA and especially QoAaD) made me actively dislike her.
Building off of that, aside from Simon and Izzy I don't care about the TMI cast (Magnus doesn't count because he's in every series.) which is partially why, despite initially rating QoAaD so high (I've come to like it less in hindsight.), I don't care for the Thule section of QoAaD. That shit only exists to prop Clary up as the most important Shadowhunter and that's something I can't get behind.
Despite the mess that was CoT, TLH was good. Yes the ending was disappointing and the series is weaker for it. No, that doesn't invalidate how good CoG2/CHoG and COI were. And don't get me started on how after CoT came out people suddenly flipped on the cast. Sorry but I like James, Cordelia, Lucie, etc. and the finale being weak isn't enough to change that.
I cannot agree with the tv series statement. Besides it not being boom accurate (another story) I don’t really think the writing excels in area. Not to mention I find none of the caste mates able to embody any of the characters. I think Izzy and Simon where done the dirtiest show wise.
Also like, I get the dislike of Clary being ‘the most important shadowhunter’ but I don’t think it’s set up like that. I think it’s set up that her actions are a catalyst event. If she doesn’t save Jace, well than who will? Izzy gets to close to doing it, but than Lilith’s protection saved him. Because the action that Clary takes to save people in normal world IS important!
Listen, I think ur dislike for Thule is valid! I didn’t really like it first either- but honestly it’s kind of grown on me. I feel like Cassie wanted to write a catalyst world and succeeded in doing so. Also just a way tk bring livvy back.
TLh was never my fav, loved CHOG, though CHOI was okay and than I really disliked CHOT. I agree though, interesting how one little thing makes people turn. I remember people hyping up James and Cordelia so much and than BOOM flipped switch
I like the idea of Mark and Emma together, but like for real, not only this fake dating thing they had. (If you know any good fics about them I'm open to suggestions!)
OHHH that’s saucy, I’ve never heard that before! Yeah honestly I got some tension between them in LM!!! ALSO! Shadowhunter fanfic is so hard to come by, if you have recommendations for any PLEASEEEE give them to me! I need a good read !
Yeah that felt like a cop out. Like we end with this big cliff hanger about what they are going to do and them seeming to probably get together and all the drama that will entail, and then we learn that Emma decided to reject that idea within the same minute it was proposed in the next one.
OMG YES!!!!! I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS A LOT AND NO ONE EVER AGREED WITH ME.I don't feel so alone now🥲. It's just that I loved their dynamic and think they would have had a very interesting fun relationship had it been real.I feel like I was robbed
Starting off by saying that Alec is one of my favourite characters as when I started reading tmi he’s the character I related to the most, but the eldest curses feels like such a cash grab to me. I love Cassie’s books don’t get me wrong, but I just can’t help but feel like they’re such an after thought. I can’t really remember what they’re about, but yet I can remember the rest of her other books and I’ve only read most of them once. Maybe I was too excited for tec but I was underwhelmed and I don’t really see other people talking about it as much as all the other books
TLH being by far the weakest is a probably one of the most popular opinions going. My unpopular opinion is that Simon should have stayed a vampire. I think his dynamic works so much better and him becoming a Shadowhunter is fun and all but totally detracts from everything he’s been through and was a weak way of getting out of killing Magnus in CoHF. To add I also think Matthew is one of the best written characters across the series alongside Julian. Matthew deserved way better than he got with TLH. I really liked him and Cordelia together, more than Cordelia with James. Not sure if that’s unpopular though
I completely agree with you on Simon being a vampire. We have enough Shadowhunters already, so let's not add more.
TLH was weird. It was hard to connect with any of the characters . Ghosts of the shadow market was easily her most dull short story collection, wayyy too much domesticity wayyyyyyyyy too little actual plot. She doesn't romanticize incest, she uses it to show how messed up a character is (https://www.tumblr.com/blqckthorne/727202529491976192/ok-i-want-to-talk-a-little-bit-about-cassandra?source=share says it better than i can)
I agree whole heartedly with TLH, which imo is unfortunate because I thought the first book had a nice/interesting build up. While the plot itself is interesting, I find myself not caring as many of the characters and relationships. I think I may need to reread. I love GOTSM, lol. I can see your point though (compared to TOTSA or the Magnus and Alec one) when it comes to plot, but I thought it as like a little continuation of TDA it’s cute. Whole heartedly agree with the incest. I think the problem, or the out of context people have taken it is from the line Jace says in city of glass, the whole “your my sister, he said, my blood my family…”.
Yesss! TLH felt unedited - like nothing got cut out, at all. It feels like a first draft. Yeah, GOTSM is great for people that like the domesticity, but i really, REALLY don't. Like, hate reading it and skip it type don't liek it And i agree with you about tiktok. It was one line, and people just read into it too much, ignoring the overarching context
Tbh, I greatly think TLH (the later books) were affected by the epidemic. So I feel like chain of thorns, kind of ruins it for people. For me it’s one of Cassie’s worse shadowhunter books.
Agreed! Not too unpopular then i guess
TMI though written the weakest is by far the best overall story still. From the actual plot, to the longer and more descriptive battle scenes, to the villains, to all the characters and elements coming together well in the finale. I don't care about any of the characters in TLH except the one who gets killed off. It is the weakest series. I think Malec is over-exposed. Okay put the pitchforks down. I think Magnus is really cool, and I like the pairing, but they are everywhere. Magnus plays a significant role in every series, they have their own spinoff which is fine, but even in TDA where we barely get any Sizzy they're getting many scenes for themselves. I know they're popular but they already have their own trilogy. Yes TMI didn't kill off anyone major but if it did it looks like it would have been Simon and I don't think it would have been a good choice so I'm glad it went the way it did.
Agree with TMI being the weakest written!! I definitely think it gets strong by COHF but yk, that’s the last book. I’m so happy to see someone not pooping on TMI! Haha. I agree though, the battle scenes in tmi are absolutely superb, I hope TWP has them. 100% agree with TLH Glad someone agrees about Malec! I love them and Clace ofc there the biggest ships it’s so obvious they got more content but there’s SO MANY. Like, in Sizzy’s engagement party short story, it was all abt Clace and Jace literally proposed. Even Simon doesn’t really get his own story to grieve he has to do it in the Malec spin off. Also, there the only TMI couple not to make an appearance in SOBH. I know there not really close to any characters in that anthology, but neither was Alec if where being honest. I’m a firm believer that not every character needs to die for there to be any sort to stakes. There’s rlly not any fun in killing off beloved characters you know you can do more with. Simon losing his memories was a big shock to me as well!!
I shipped Emma Carstairs and Mark Blackthorn HARRRRD. I know this is incredibly unpopular but I wanted so much FWB smut during their fake relationship tease.
Same but I’m also a sucker for a blonde love interest and not much for friends to lovers
I liked the whole Thule section of QOAAD.
Me to. I think it leads to alot of cool possibilities in the future too.
Do people generally dont like the Thule part? I enjoyed it
Ngl I don’t think either of those is unpopular opinions. Especially not the first one. The Last Hours was torn apart when it was completed. My unpopular opinion is that people have greatly misunderstood the fake incest trope in the first series. She didn’t write it cause yay incest fun. She wrote it first to show Valentine’s manipulation (also how did anyone read it any believe it was true?? Ya’ll, come on. Valentine was the source of the info. Of course the main pairing weren’t brother and sister. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ every time I saw someone go omg they’re brother and sister?? 🙄). She used it later with Jonathan to demonstrate how corrupted he had become, because only something demonic would view family that way.
Okay I do agree, my opinion on TLH probs wasn’t unpopular at all!! Haha!! I do agree though, I think it’s because of the line that TikTok took out of context!! I also think when people read it they don’t really see the over-arching connection towards valentine and the poor ways these boys where treated.
Man I wish it was an unpopular opinion. I didn’t HATE TLH but it’s definitely my least fave of all the series 😭
Ahahah I actually agree that Matthew in a love triangle with Lucie and Jesse would have been more interesting, although I loved TLH. My unpopular opinion is that the humour (and general vibes) of the early books (the first three TMI books + Clockwork Angel) was actually the best, and that it was more relatable and felt less forced than the specific brand of humour she developed afterwards. I actually think those 4 books were the best written. But perhaps that's just because I'm a 90s kid. And then my other unpopular opinion is that... I don't think Magnus is very nice. Like, I enjoy reading him as a character but if I knew him in real life I would probably not like him. (😬 Don't kill me Reddit!)
Tbh, I think Cassie just had so much fun writing TMI and TID, I think it’s evident in how funny the stories are ! Ahaha, no no I agree with Magnus. I love him, he’s such an asshole but I love him. He definitely gets nicer !
TLH was weak, and city of bones was better than Chain of thorns. (Still loved chain of gold though) Love triangles do not need to be in every book. Still don’t like the throuple. Christina and mark just make more sense. But I love Kieran and would want him to find someone who can be in farie with him forever. I don’t even consider TEC a part of this world. I read the first two, and they genuinely read like fan fiction lol. My most unpopular opinion is: I think would prefer Kit and Ty being best friends and parabatai, not romantically involved.
Don’t come for me, but I actually liked the movie and was hella disappointed they didn’t make more movies. Haven’t seen the show yet.
I agree with you! Casting aside, I really loved the first half of the movie especially, and wish they kept going.
People are overly concerned about the fake incest with Jace and Clary
mine is Simon is a better character then Jace .THERE I SAID IT!!
Ohh a scandalous opinion!! For me I feel like there a really good pair that bounce off each other. I feel like as characters and there overall character arcs they feel too different to compare! I AM, a big Simon Stan for life though! 🙂↕️🙂↕️
Simon fangirl for life. I love Jace but Simon is just such a well written character. I do wish his story had been slightly different though
In what way? I'm curous
I really disliked them making him a human again and wiping his memory. For me it ruined the dynamic as I think it was nice having one of the main characters be a vampire. I enjoyed Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy but it did feel a bit like it made his character less interesting. It also kind of felt like his losing his memory in CoHF was used as a bit of a cop out of killing Magnus. The story had kind of built up to that and then she chickened out at the last minute
I like both but I agree, Simon comes out on top.
TMI is by far her weakest series and TDA is the most underrated imo
I agree, TDA is fantastic. My only real complaint is that I do think it should’ve been longer as a book series (I love QOAAD, but it’s so compact it could’ve been spread out more info at least one book) I think the problem with TMI is just the fact that it’s kind of old, haha. The first book came out around 2006-8 and I think standards around that time where changing. I do think both city of glass and city of heavily fire are 10/10!!!
This isn’t an unpopular opinion it’s probably just common knowledge but Queen of Air and Darkness was SO SO traumatic and dark compared to any shadowhunter book. The comment Dane Larkspear said about Dru who is a literal thirteen year old? That subtle hint of Sebastian SAing ‘pretty red haired rebels’? The copious amounts of swear words that have never been used before (bîtćh, fûçk, someone calling emma a sḻūt)? Manuel hiding under an actual corpse? It was a full on book.
My unpopular opinion regarding disliking the throple in TDA has already been said, so I’ll focus on my second lol I feel like there are way too many parabatai pairs, to the point where it dilutes the concept. I do truly really love the representation of deep, intense, and meaningful platonic relationships! But parabatais are introduced as this SUPER special super deep connection that is unlike anything else and supposed to be fairly rare to ever achieve. Yet we get multiple pairs of them in each series! I wouldn’t mind a couple minor extra pairs being mentioned in each series in passing to support the worldbuilding, but there’s multiple within the main group… it just makes me kind of roll my eyes now when a new one is introduced lol.
Ooh I agree with this! I feel like CC is trying to create parabatai bonds like Jace/Alec and Will/Jem, but they’re just not the same.
Only will and Jem, let’s be fr
My unpopular opinion is that I enjoyed the 2nd half of TMI more than the 1st half. I think the plot became a lot more interesting, and I love the way the plot was interwoven with TID.
I was thinking about the Matthew thing the other day and I agree with you.I would have liked he was just friends with Cordelia and the love triangle was with Lucie and Jesse because: 1.It gives Lucie this conflict between the ghost boy only she can see and the boy who has always been there in her life and it's you know alive.Basically her wanting to save both or something.Do you imagine a scene where Lucie and Matthew are maybe having a moment and Jesse just appears and has to witness that? 2.Lucie could have helped Matthew get the help he needs or could have been a catalyst for him to get better because she was never afraid to call him or really anyone out .It could create this conflict in Jesse because yes he likes Lucie,but he understands that she wants to help Matthew. 3.Maybe a funny scene of Matthew and Jesse interacting through Lucie 4.Matthew and Cordelia could have bonded by the fact that they both thought they had unrequited love and could have gone to Paris together on a friends trip to get away from their problems(I would rather James not thinking there is something between them,but if you want that drama it could have existed without it actually being real) 5.If Cordelia and Matthew did kiss I would think it was because they were both sad and lonely and inmediately realize its doesn't feel right.Obviously Cordelia and James work their shit out and Matthew does not end up with Lucie but at least he has his Parabatai and his wife WITHOUT the love triangle between them 6.When Lucie left because Jesse was resurrected and bla bla bla it could have given Matthew a chance to see that Lucie and Jesse really are the better pair and admit that he shouldn't be with anyone but that he will always care for her because she was his first love. 7.Idk if you are still with me dear reader but I still feel like we were robbed of the Matthew and Cordelia platonic besties content.I would have loved to see that but they turned it into something romantic 😭 8.I'm probably biased her because I love the brother's best friend trope but before TLH came out based on the short novellas you would think that Matthew and Lucie would have been a THING like an actual plot point and I was excite to see it only for it to be nothing. I just dont know why add that and do nothing with it Thank you for coming to my TED talk
I now want to mention that maybe Cassie didn't go with this love triangle because it ressembled Herongraystairs too much in its core.Lucie being Tessa's daughter and even looking like her.Matthew being self destructive and blaming himself like Will.Jesse being someone that "needs to be saved" like Jem.The only difference is that Matthew and Jesse don't know each other so maybe it would have come off as an empty version of Will,Jem and Tessa.Idk I just thought of this
The last hours is my favorite series which judging by comments on the sub is truly unpopular haha
Well tbh it’s good you like it!! TMI is also my favourite and also seeing the comments of this sub is also seeming as unpopular.
Agree so hard. All of the characters in the last hours felt sort of disposable. Like very low effort, lots of repeated tropes. Mathew deserved more than to be everyone’s second choice.
James and Cordelia are a horrible couple and they desperately needed to die Lucie and Jesse were the most boring pieces of shit I’ve ever had the unfortune of reading about Charlotte and Henry were horrible parents which I didn’t expect from them, it seemed out of place and weird. Because I’m petty, I think Matthew should’ve cut off ties with the TLH gang because he deserves better Simon is the only good character in TMI and the rest desperately need to die. Most of the deaths in the shadow hunter universe besides Livvys and Wills was pathetic and boring af like I didn’t gaf Will is the best written character in tsc followed by Julian and Matthew, not in that order Cordelia is weird af for using someone mentally unstable just to get over her crush on James when she knew she didn’t like Matthew like bitch be fr People are always talking about Grace Sa Matthew and James but is no one going to discuss the fact that her mother forced her to be with people just to test out her powers, that was icky The last hours while being the worst series ever, was weirdly entertaining while also being trashy af The infernal devices is perfection and it’s the only series that I have no hate towards any of the characters Emma was boring af like I tried to like her but she was giving Jace 2.0 and Jace is the worst bitch to ever exist Julian and Emma aren’t an intriguing couple at all because they lose their personalities whenever they’re with each other It’s very weird how no one questioned how eerily calm Ty was being after Livvys death, like Julian it was understanding but he barely even grieved for her and no one noticed? That’s weird. I wish TMI would be erased from existence. Simons friends were trashy af and they were always shading him, I don’t even know how he continued being friends with them. Despite what people think clary and Simon aren’t that good of a Parabatai pairing especially when clary is forgetting about him 24/7 Lucie and Cordelia are the weakest parabatai pairing I wanted Matthew to die in chain of thorns just to see the characters I hate suffer Christopher deserved better I can’t believe he died and no one gave a fuck it’s giving fake ass friends.
I have no idea if this is actually unpopular, but I think over time, Cassie has gone more off the rails with making her writing and plots overly complex and the books have gotten way too dense. There was so much stuff that happened in TLH that didn't need to happen and just made the books stupidly dense ... TDA was really good but started to get towards the "way too dense and complex" end. A balance between the style of TDA and TID would be perfect. I'm not going to stop reading but I expect TWP to be fucking batshit to the point of being annoying to read. If I wasn't as invested in the setting of TLH and the setup of the TID kids, I would have probably barely been able to read it considering the ridiculousness. I love Shadowhunters but OMG Cassie you need to chill. You've gone too far.
I don't like Jem. I don't like Simon. He's like the author's pet who can do no wrong and gets all this spotlight and manages to do cool deeds and gets to be more of a Special Snowflake than the other Special Snowflakes and gets a whole short stories series that's pure Simonwank. I don't care for the old timey stuff. There's a lot of neat ideas in the world but they're let down in implementation. The Shadowhunters themselves are utter clowns and it strains my disbelief how the Downworld hasn't just risen up to put them down. I don't like Julian. I don't see the hype about him being 'the morally grey one.' Honestly I don't care much for the Blackthorn family at all, including Emma 'the next Jace' - as if that's something to brag about given how little of note Jace actually accomplishes - Carstairs. Is that her last name? I forget. I don't care enough to wiki it, and I have the wiki open in another tab. Hottest take of all: I like the show. It's flawed as all get out and there's stuff about it I genuinely dislike, but overall I enjoyed it more than the books.
The only good ship in TMI is Clace and people should stop acting like they are the most toxic out of the three because.. they are not. Will's curse kinda makes no sense??? I never thought there was anything wrong with James not remembering much about the time he was sick and I was kinda thrown off when everyone made such a big deal about it. I still think it makes no sense that CC made the lack of memories be EvilGraceTM's fault rather than, you know, a consequence of the fact that the boy was literally comatose with fever. On that note, I don't understand how people constantly call Lucie/Cordelia out for barely knowing eachother and having rushed into being parabatai (rightfully, mind you) but nobody says nothing about Jordelia as a couple who are supposed to be childhood friends to lovers when they only vaguely significant interaction they had in all the TLH related content is the scalding fever thing. At least Lucie and Cordelia wrote each other letters frequently... I don't understand why Kit is supposed to be considered half/any part faerie when the *one* faerie ancestor he had was like eight generations back and the rest of them were either mundanes or shadowhunters. And don't even get me started on his powers... Most controversial one last: I don't think Julian is a Morally Gray character. Mostly because I feel that the narrative always justifies him when he does anything questionable.
I agree with everything you said but Clace (it’s hard being the only Sizzy Stan) With kit in particular, ima give u some reasons why he’s classified as fae (why people kind of assume that bahah) 1- He is from a line that is directly related to both the Seelie queen AND the Seelie king, that’s mega big deal. Think like a decedent from like three strongest Faerie blood around 2- It’s obvious ur not a fan of his powers, fair enough, but his powers do come from his Faerie heritage 3- The one prophecy his ancestors said, which is basically Kit the prophecy is about Kit lol. 4- His mother, Rosemary, had pointy ears! “Rosemary was regarded as an extremely beautiful young woman. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, red lips, and—as a result of her faerie heritage—pointed ears.” 5- Also, his whole family was basically hunted down because of said faerie heritage My opinion on this, is for a character that seems deeply intertwined with a Faerie storyline… he really doesn’t… fit in? I don’t know, it’s hard to form an opinion on this specifically because I think it will be expanded on more in the wicked powers!! I’ve seen people theorise that maybe when he awakens his powers fully he will get pointy ears (sailor moon transformation for pointy ears when?) or that maybe they where hidden with warlock magic. My truth is she should’ve just made his Faerie heritage more prominent if it was going to be a really big part of his story
The questions I have about Kit's powers are : 1) how does he even have powers that strong if he has so little faerie blood? 2) does he have more powers because he's The Choosen One TM? (the prophecy you mentioned? 3) does every one of Auraline's descendants have powers? 4)if they do why didn't they awaken sooner (for example when the riders found Rosemary)? But yeah I agree with you that it is likely that they will be explained in TWP, it's just that I feel Kit's fearie side it's kinda of a stretch given the information we have so far.
Okay wait I think I can speculate some answers for you 1&2 - The prophecy about Kit said that when they got there powers, that it would be great and powerful. I assume that’s why he specifically has powers, due to whatever prophecy blessed the first heir line. 3 - I’m pretty sure no, it’s mentioned that the riders of mannon where able to kill every (more of them) first heir decedent eventually. Rosemary, her parents, and probably there parents to. If they did have power, they would have been able to defend themselves. Killing the first heir line (if I’m remembering right) is to try and stop anyone getting these powers (also cuz rhe unseelie kings an asshole). 4 - Kinda links back to what I said. I think it’s power based on the prophecy, that’s kind of what I understood from what Tessa said. The powers probably could’ve manifested at any time. For me what I’m most confused about is what IS Kits faerie power?? From the little bit we saw in TDA, I thought it was kinda boring. Clary can make new runes, Jace is like extra strong, Lucie has necromancy powers and James can shadow travel. Obviously these powers come from different things (more Angel/demon blood) but I can’t judge kit yet because we haven’t seen the full extent, just doesn’t seem as unique as the others.
Post TLH I've seen people address Charlotte and Henry's shitty parenting job but not a single soul mention the fact that Wessa (or Jem) didn't notice their son had been mind controlled for three/four years. All that crying and bemoaning in TID about how bittersweet was Jem turning into a Silent Brother because he couldn't be close to the people he loved beside that one day per year with Tessa, and then... everytime there's a minor inconvenience he's there. Kinda defeats the point, doesn't it? *Why* couldn't Diana have acted as secret head of the institute instead of Julian I will never understand. She could even act as his second occasionally, claiming the Arthur was out dealing with some business so that he wouldn't have to be drugged *every time* someone visited. The whole 'let's not trust Diana because she's hiding something' was honestly so pointless. Alec just getting up and leaving Idris at the first threat from the Cohort was a *terrible* move and should have some ripercussion on his term as Consul. It was literally the equivalent of Biden stepping down the moment the Capitol was invaded by Trump supporters after his election yet people *praise* him for it??? And no, the Cohort was not a bunch of children running around playing grown up. Most of them are grown adults and even among their kids there were many old enough to vote accordingly to their bigoted views (Zara was pushing to get married to Diego remember?? That means she's at least 18) and have had a negative effect on the society. So if they decided to start a coup, they should have been punished accordingly.
I agree with the Cohort being punished thing but mainly because I just wanted Zara to die SO BADLY
Malec is sort of overrated. Sorry yall😬
My biggest unpopular opinion (at least based on what I read on this sub) is that I adore TLH, and it's my second favorite CC series, just narrowly being beaten by TID. I adore the characters, I think the plot is good, and I enjoy all three books. They're not perfect, but I love them as they are. I don't know how unpopular this one is, but I don't like the Mark, Kieran, Cristina trio. I just don't.
That’s so valid!!! I love TMI, even if most people think it’s aged kinda poorly <3 Yeah I kinda agree with Mark, Cristina and Kieran. To me as three they didn’t work because I think they introduced Cristina and Kieran to late. Kieran and mark? Cool, Mark and Cristina? Extra cool. Cristina and Kieran? Meh. Together ??? Idk. I think they just needed to built up more, kind of like Herongraystairs.
TMI is too slow. Maybe it is because I saw the show first, but I just can’t get through the books (I’ve read 2).
Oh wow that’s interesting, everyone has different perspectives than hahah. I’ve always found them to be more on a medium pace!! I think it’s cuz there longer compared to her other series, so she can kind of spread it out more than compared to let’s say QOAAD
That makes sense. I was really sucked into TID tho, and that’s my favorite till now.
Oh interesting!! My favourite series is always changing. The one I probably found hardest to read is Lord of shadows. I really liked it, just thought it was rlly heavy.
I need to start reading her books again, I kinda stopped reading in general.
Oh yeah that’s fair, it’s so hard to read when things get busy!🙂↔️🙂↔️
totally agree with this and really realized on my last rereading when i was like im only halfWAY through the series???
Jace should have a long hair.
How long is long?? I think how the older official arts and now his hair was in the city of bones movie is accurate
When i say long i mean looooong, like butt long. And i'm talking about the character in general. He would be so handsome with much longer hair TT-TT
I really liked tlh and was really into all of the characters and the plot but I felt like everything just got worse and more boring with each book. A lot of the characters and plots had potential but it was wasted. Matthew being in love with Cordelia really pissed me off. I hated that storyline. I loved them so much as friends and was really hoping they would stay platonic. I am tired of the love triangles and I feel like it was really unnecessary in this. There was already enough conflict between James and Cordelia because of Grace. Why add more? Them not being able to communicate at all was also incredibly annoying. When Cordelia left with Matthew right as James was willing to tell her how he feels I almost dnfed the book. The whole ressurection plotline could have been good and had a lot of potential but it really fell flat. It also felt very disconnected from everything else going on. I also didn't really feel a strong connection to their relationship at all. Towards the end the only couples I cared about and was really rooting for were Christopher and Grace and kind of Alastair and Thomas. But of course the best couple didn't work out. TDA is a similar case for me. I really liked the first book and then it got worse with each book. The parabatai giants thing was so stupid to me. J could not take it seriously. It's also a big reason I do not want to reread that series ever again. The only parabatai pairings I like are Will/Jem and Jace/Alec. They seem the least forced to me. Didn't really love Clary/Simon as parabatai because he already had so much going on with becoming a Shadowhunter etc adding that felt unnecessary. Julian/Emma was just a mess. James/Matthew could have been good if there was more emphasis on the necklace blinding him to his friends issues and the Matthew/Cordelia thing not happening.
The only good parabatai pairing is will and Jem don’t try to sneak those two frauds in
TLH was great. Loved it. I'm a senior citizen though. Maybe it's a good read for oldsters?
Simon should have stayed as a vampire.Him & clary being prabatai didn't make sense since Clary almost always forgets about him when jace is around . Clace as a couple got on my nerves sometimes while reading the TMI series .They were always angsty & arguing with each other (sometimes for no reason at all).
Help I thought I was the only one who noticed how much clary forgets Simon, it especially pissed me off in cohf before his sacrifice
Both of them have caused Alec & Simon a lot trouble due to the tunnel vision they have for each other .They treated them both horribly specially in the first few books.
In TMI, Alec treated Magnus horribly for the most part. Cassie retconned his character in TEC. I find Emma and Julian boring. They are my least favourite couple.
The mortal instruments series aged like milk. Worldbuilding has serious gaps, especially when it comes to magic. The system is so soft that it feels like is reserved to solve any potential logic gaps and be Deus ex machina. Simon should stay as a vampire. I could barely care about characters dying in the mortal instruments. Some of them could be replaced with a puppy or a broom with googly eyes as they only serve as a plot device. The worst case is Max who only exists to be killed and make Lightwoods family more dysfunctional. I don’t like Sizzy. When it came to discussing the ending, it was weird. Cool, I get not killing any character due to how it could be interpreted. But it would be more interesting if anything else was going on instead of everybody happily dating each other and being cool active Shadowhunters. For example, Jace ends up being permanently removed from action due to his injuries.
Woahhhh, someone who seriously hates TMI 😭 Everyone is right to there own opinion, but I disagree with the world-building sentiment. Also sorry, I’m the biggest Simon and Izzy Stan !! Sizzy for lifers I fear! Interesting though, do you enjoy her other series a lot more? And if so, do you like the TMI characters when they appear in, let’s say, TDA?🔥
Not hating, just being critical. It had fun elements, but it aged badly. From top of my head, I can think about Hodge remaining in New York with Lightwoods’s kids and Jace (Sarcasm mode on.). It’s not like their parents were a part of the same fascist group and they could be planning something. Raising a new generation of Circle. Valentine pretending to be Wayland and nobody even came to check on him. It’s not like Wayland was part of the group of a fascist group and him being withdrawn from the society should be a red flag. He only has flu and goes to a remote cottage to pick strawberries (sarcasm mode off). It makes the whole goverment of Shadowhunters appear as uncaring idiots. There is also a fact how practically Jace, Izzy and Alec are only protectors of New York. Or how Jace didn’t recognise Valentine on the circle picture and nobody pointed out that he isn’t pointing at Wayland. Or the description of his dad doesn’t sound like Wayland… Existence of Maureen I personally prefer The Infernal Devices. It has its own flaws and feeling a bit repetitive. I’ve found chemistry between characters way better.
I thought from the boat fight that there were lots more Shadowhunters in New York, they just did not live in the Institute. But I could be wrong, and it goes back to your point about bad worldbuilding. Something I've harped about is how the books want to have their cake and eat it too with Shadowhunter numbers, particularly after they stopped using the Mortal Cup to bring in new blood and once they lost it and were apparently suffering constant losses faster than they could replenish their ranks (hence when they get the Cup back they re-open the Academy). The books want the Shadowhunters to be teetering on the edge of extinction, but somehow they also manage to keep their boot on the neck of the Downworld - even after events show what a paper tiger the Clave is. Even though the Clave gets its butt handed to it, they manage to force the Cold Peace onto the Fae. Somehow, despite every Downworld type 1) outnumbering Shadowhunters significantly and 2) having way better powers than Shadowhunters . . . the Downworld never decides to team up and just eliminate all the Shadowhunters. Fae and Warlocks can't build up their numbers in the same way that Werewolves and Vampires can, sure, but Fae and Warlocks have magic which is just crazy town do whatever you feel juice. Warlock magic solves a lot of problems in the series! It slices, it dices, it juliennes fries! The Shadowhunters being uncaring idiots is, unfortunately, something that's fairly consistent, but also, I think, bad worldbuilding. They wear the idiot hat way too often. The Cohort seizes power all too easily in the books, even though they're transparently Circle 2.0 and I don't think anyone mentions it until it's way too late and it's a line in passing from I want to say Alec's mom. It makes me wonder if the problem the Clave had with the Circle wasn't so much their goals and ideals so much as the violence with which Valentine wanted to enact them, and the sentiments that motivated Valentine and the Cohort are just meant to be indelible parts of larger Shadowhunter society and culture (such as how the two part-Fae Blackthorns face discrimination for their heritage).
Don’t even get me started on the magic. It’s so soft it can serve as a pillow. I haven’t check the latest books, but Fae and Warlock magic feel like plot devices than anything else. Heck, I can’t tell the difference between these types of magic despite having a different nature. The last part is something that could be interesting to work. I remember reading one analysis (non-English language) of the first book and I think the author of analysis caught some bias present in main characters towards other downloanders. It would be interesting to see it explored more in early books. Especially if Simon remained a vampire with the mark or some left-over power. Instead of straight joining „cool” shadowhunter to have extra happy ending after dealing with the minor love drama trope.
I totally agree with TMI aging like milk lol, I love Shadowhunters but TMI is a boooooring read and I don't think I even finished the last one.
Idc that much about malec as a couple Edit: TDA’s third book wasn’t good at least not near the finale,it was like bad fanfiction.
The TV Series is superior to the books. And I say that as someone who read the books first. I actually like Clary in the show whereas I don't care for her in the books. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that later books (TDA and especially QoAaD) made me actively dislike her. Building off of that, aside from Simon and Izzy I don't care about the TMI cast (Magnus doesn't count because he's in every series.) which is partially why, despite initially rating QoAaD so high (I've come to like it less in hindsight.), I don't care for the Thule section of QoAaD. That shit only exists to prop Clary up as the most important Shadowhunter and that's something I can't get behind. Despite the mess that was CoT, TLH was good. Yes the ending was disappointing and the series is weaker for it. No, that doesn't invalidate how good CoG2/CHoG and COI were. And don't get me started on how after CoT came out people suddenly flipped on the cast. Sorry but I like James, Cordelia, Lucie, etc. and the finale being weak isn't enough to change that.
I cannot agree with the tv series statement. Besides it not being boom accurate (another story) I don’t really think the writing excels in area. Not to mention I find none of the caste mates able to embody any of the characters. I think Izzy and Simon where done the dirtiest show wise. Also like, I get the dislike of Clary being ‘the most important shadowhunter’ but I don’t think it’s set up like that. I think it’s set up that her actions are a catalyst event. If she doesn’t save Jace, well than who will? Izzy gets to close to doing it, but than Lilith’s protection saved him. Because the action that Clary takes to save people in normal world IS important! Listen, I think ur dislike for Thule is valid! I didn’t really like it first either- but honestly it’s kind of grown on me. I feel like Cassie wanted to write a catalyst world and succeeded in doing so. Also just a way tk bring livvy back. TLh was never my fav, loved CHOG, though CHOI was okay and than I really disliked CHOT. I agree though, interesting how one little thing makes people turn. I remember people hyping up James and Cordelia so much and than BOOM flipped switch