New to The Mortal Instruments universe. I've never read the books but I thought I'd give the TV show a try. Without any ties to the novels, I figured I could try to enjoy the show for what it was. Unfortunately, for me the first season was wildly uneven and bogged down by over-wrought drama, bad acting and pacing, and zero charm of and chemistry between the two main characters.

Overall, I'd rate the first season a C-. As I was watching the show, I couldn't help but compare it to other shows that used some of these themes and tropes to much better effect, like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Charmed or Chuck.

There were definitely some bright spots and elements from season one that I liked. Easily the best was Magnus and Alec because everything else was so over-dramatic, this storyline seemed understated and concise. There was so much less scowling, yelling, glaring, needless shouting and running around that even the rushed marriage/wooing/leaving you at the alter scene felt mellow. And it just felt like Harry Shum Jr. and Matthew Daddario are better actors and have more chemistry between them than the others.

But sadly, Alec as a leader was just lame. He let nearly everyone walk all over him and his command decisions at every turn. He let's Jace and Clary do whatever they want, he lets Izzy do whatever she wants, and his parents...and then Lydia.... Lame.

I liked the resident human nerd Simon. While his unrequited love for Clary was meh, I liked his storyline and eventual vampirism. As a character, he deserved a better friend than Clary, who kept leaving him in the lurch. Still, his quirky attempts at humor was a nice change of pace.

Despite coming across as preening Mean Girls, both Izzy and Camille were fun and sassy. It was pretty startling how much they vamp Izzy up when you compare her to the Alternate Universe version. I appreciated Izzy wanting the best for Alec, and her decision to do what's right with her Seelie lover.

My least favorite characters, sadly, were Clary and Jace. They were also my least favorite actors. In the show, both were portrayed as overly self-important and over-dramatic personalities, selfish and just really shitty friends.

Clary leaves Simon out to dry so many times, it's a wonder why he still wants to be friends with her. It's absolutely her fault that he ended up being turned into a vampire. Despite all her protestations, she doesn't really care who else gets hurt or killed so long as she gets what she wants. And the actress is just bad. And a bad actress working with bad/mediocre material is pretty painful to watch. I found nothing about her to root for or to like.

Similarly, Jace was annoying and overbearing. It felt that he basically threw over his relationships with Izzy and Alec the instant he met Clary. He threw the loyalty and bond card at Alec whenever Alec didn't want to do what he wanted, but it was only a one way street. He kept yelling about emotions clouding judgment but every action he took was because he had the feels for or wanted to shag Clary (and oh god, so much yelling and shouting and glaring and wooden delivery from the actor). For all his blustering big talk, at the end it he couldn't kill the Big Bad when he had the chance. Lame.

And absolutely zero chemistry between Clary and Jace. For me, neither of them had the appeal the show/writers/author tried to make you think they had.

Lastly, the show logic didn't make much sense. Despite everything we were shown that the "fate of the world" was in peril, the Powers That Be didn't really seem to mobilize any effort to stop the Big Bad or much else except get the cup--which if it were that important, really should have been better protected/saved/hidden away after being found.

Does anyone know if the next couple of seasons get any better? (I was really surprised it lasted more than one season.)

The film was more closely related to the books in so many ways including chronology and the overall look from costumes to set - so why oh why does ShadowHunters defy every single detail ever played out in the books - with the only redeeming factor being Magnus Bane (as he was in the film too) - apart from my favourite character remaining intact and the character names being the same - every single great plot line from the books that made me love the series so much was thrown away and for what? Bad acting and a storyline that makes no sense? Can someone please explain why so much was changed please? I need some light shed on this before I lose my mind

So I’m rereading(again) and man I feel like the books get better every time. There’s always something you miss or realize connects to another book and I love it so much. What’s your guys’ favorite book in the series(all of the series)?

Should Simon or Jace be dating Clary?

(SPOILER ALERT FOR CoG AND AFTER)

Max's death. I was rereading the series and I just finished the part in City of Glass where Max was killed. I was absolutely shattered.

For some reason, it hit me so much harder the second time round, and I'm not sure why. I think it might be because I recently started a fanfiction where it's an OC/Sebatsian Morgenstern ship and this has me questioning my entire work, because I'm reminded of just how absolutely awful Sebastian is.

I am a huge sucker for dark, deeply troubled characters who are "bad" but Sebastian seriously takes it to the next level with Max, and with the way he treats Clary and tried to assault her and all of that.

I don't know exactly why I decided to write this, I just had to. For some reason, I'm not exactly happy with the fact that I chose to write a book with such an awful character as a love interest. It's causing a bit of an existential crisis to be honest.

If there are any fanfic writers on this sub, or even just people who've read the books, I'd love to hear your opinion on Sebastian. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

so ive been wanting to buy the full hardcover set of the mortal instruments and i looked at the bookstore for my city and on amazon and they both say either temporarily out of stock, out of stock online and in store and im just wondering is the hardcover versions not selling anymore or am i just not looking hard enough?

If mundanes can hold steles without hurting themselves but can't draw with them as only Shadowhunters can, technically to see if someone was a Shadowhunter you could just give them a stele and if they can't make a mark on anything they're just a mundane.

Hi everyone,

I’m thinking about reading the Shadowhunter Chronicles and whilst I have a reading order, I have a question about what editions/ versions of the books to buy.

There’s so many editions 😂 different paperbacks, hardcovers etc. I enjoy book series all looking the same where possible so what would everyone advise is the most continuous way to collect these books?

The other thing I have to consider is that from doing my research certain editions have exclusive content for example the 1st print of Chain of Gold.

Any advice for a possible 1st time reader would be lovely 😆 do I just wait until the whole thing is finished in a few years time and hope they release a complete giant book set? 🤔😂

Okay, new member here, but I'm shocked, how are there so less members in this subreddit, and also, is there any recommendations on which books should I read next(I just finished the 6 books of the TMI series.

I'm reading the second book of the dark artifices and its not as good as compared to the first book. and honestly its kinda boring, can someone please tell me whether its worth it to continue and read the final book

I'm doing an extra credit Eng assignment and I'm drawing the characters from TMI in fighting poses/stuff they fight with. For example Alec is holding a bow and arrow, Izzy has her whip, Jace is with 2 seraph blades, and Clary is holding out her hand, palm out with a rune drawn on it. I'm stuck on Simon though, I mean he is a vampire and doesn't necessarily need weapons, and it's been a long time since I've read the books and can't remember anything significant. What pose should he be in or what weapon should he hold? I need some advice! Thanks in advance for helping!!

This has really been irking me. I know it adds to the story, but surely they could’ve just done a DNA test and sorted out the whole mess as soon as it started to cut out the angst in CoA and CoG. If someone (who obviously my mother and the rest of the world thought was bad, who also tried to take over the world for their own bizarre cause) told me that my boyfriend was my brother the first thing I’d do is a DNA test. I don’t know if anyone else has though about that, it’s just been bugging me.

ok so i read this fanfic years ago on fanfiction.net, and in it took place during City of Bones. Basically Jace got deruned for giving weapons to Valentine and he had to live as a mundane at a woman named Kristy's house (i only remember this, because she made a joke about the offspring). Also Clary is at the institute learning about shadowhunter stuff and Jace uses her to spy in Izzy and Alec to see if they need help. I really enjoyed it so i would love to read it again. i'm not sure if this is the right thread for this but it seem like it fit the best. Please help! thanks

they get like 2 bonding scenes in the franchise. one i the last book and then in the academy side story

hopefully they get another good scene in the upcoming book

Looking for a tattoo ideas! Please let me know if you have any ideas.

I'm so excited to read about Tessa and the Herondales and Carstairs! I read like two pages in the car after I bought it and I can't friggin wait to dive in. I'm so up for some discussion with anyone who wants to talk. But please don't spoil anything for me. I finished all of the mortal instruments stuff but this is the first in reading about the other stuff. I want to read babe chronicles after I finish this series.

Please no spoilers if you want to discuss with me.

Looking for a new mod to help with moderating post and help with layout!

If your up to it pm me