Publishers Weekly - Audio
This anthology of essays explores Clare’s Mortal Instruments series and its characters, offering different interpretations of the books and exploring their deeper meaning. For fans, this anthology will enrich their appreciation of the series, and for those unfamiliar with Clare’s work, it will pique their curiosity. In this audio edition, narrators Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, and Tanya Eby deliver solid, but not particularly compelling, performances. The use of multiple narrators helps distinguish each essay in the collection, but it might have been rewarding to fans if Clare had read her introduction to the book. A Smart Pop paperback. (Jan.)
School Library Journal - Audio
Gr 9 Up—Cassandra Clare, author of the "Mortal Instruments" series (S & S), has gathered a collection of essays (Amart Pop, 2013) by fellow fantasy authors analyzing the characters, setting, and themes of her popular young adult novels. "Why the Best Friend Never Gets the Girl" by Kami Garcia, author of the "Beautiful Creatures" series, describes the relationship between main characters Simon and Clary, and compares the book with major films, such as Pretty in Pink, and The Outsiders. Kendare Blake takes on incest and discusses Jace and Clary's forbidden relationship and how it infuses the stories with dramatic tension. Sarah Rees Brennan's stream-of-consciousness essay, "What Does That Deviant Wench Think She's Doing?," is by far the most engaging of the chapters. She dishes the dirt, dealing with all of the deviant drama in the "Mortal Instruments" books. The recording is admirably performed by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, and Tanya Eby who alternate chapters. Although the essays are self-indulgent and uneven in quality, die-hard fans of the series will be interested in digging deeper into Clare's fantasy world, especially with the August 2013 release of the film, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Only for libraries with extensive fantasy collections.—Lisa Hubler, Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, OH
Kirkus Reviews
A selection of essays about the Mortal Instruments series edited by the series' author offers a couple of gems and a lot that's not. Amid the mostly shallow veneration, a few entries stand out. Kate Milford's "Unhomely Places" is not so much about the Mortal Instruments series as it is a love song to New York as seen through the uncanny lens of the books. Michelle Hodkin, in "Simon Lewis: Jewish, Vampire, Hero," examines both the parallels and the contradictions of Judaism and vampirism, closely reading Simon to see the heroism in his complex combination of the two. Other essays miss the mark. Kami Garcia's "Why the Best Friend Never Gets the Girl," for example, uses John Hughes movies to explain why Simon would never date Clary; are there no recent appropriate cultural touchstones? Multiple entries heap praise upon the series for its incorporation of queer relationships and mixed-race characters, though none of those essays point out that these queer and mixed-race characters are never the protagonists. Most of the entries focus on the series' romantic aspects: incestuous tensions, one-sided crushes, brotherly love. Textual analysis sits side by side with "Malec" as a portmanteau describing the Magnus/Alec relationship, "OTP" to refer to the idea of a fan's one true pairing and Facebook relationship statuses to explain character interactions. Self-serving, but enjoyable for committed fans. (Nonfiction 15-18)
