TMI vs. TID Tag

Hey guys! Today I’m gonna do a tag I saw on Clockwork Bibliophile‘s blog, called the TMI/TID tag. If you haven’t yet taken a look at Clockwork Bibliophile’s blog, you should – it’s amazing!

The TMI/TID tag was originally created by Samantha’s Books. It’s basically a tag comparing The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. I love Cassie Clare, she’s one of my favourite authors, and personally, I think that TID is by far the best of her novels, so I’ll probably be a little bit biased in my choices…Anyways, let’s get on with the tag!

Oh, and spoilers for The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices ahead!

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Questions

Favourite main character: Clary or Tessa?

Definitely Tessa! Tessa was by far better than Clary, I absolutely loved her character! Not sure about you, but I got the feeling that Clary was slightly arrogant and self-centered (which I guess is alright seeing as she did pretty much save the world) but I never got that from Tessa. Plus Tessa is a badass shapeshifting warlock so…

Favourite Herondale: Jace or Will?

This is a super easy question. I might have mentioned it before, I’m not sure, but I HATE Jace. He is just so, so annoying! I genuinely cannot fathom why everybody is obsessed with him…like why!! People want to meet Jace because they’re in love with him. I wanna meet Jace so I can punch him in the face. Okay, I’m not that violent but come on. Anyone else hate Jace? Or is it just me?

Plus Will is awesome, almost as awesome as Jem. He is sassy and sarcastic and just…well, plain amazing. Mia and Lynette have heard me say this lots, but come on, who DOESN’T love Will Herondale? You can’t read The Infernal Devices and not love Will!

Favourite love triangle: Clary/Simon/Jace or Will/Jem/Tessa?

Easy. Looks like TID scores once again – Herongraystairs it is! Will, Jem and Tessa are the cutest and they actually all accept each other loving Tessa (and one another) whereas with Simon, Jace and Clary it was initially just a jealousy war. Will doesn’t mind Jem loving Tessa (well he did, but he was understanding enough) and Jem doesn’t mind Will loving Tessa.

On the topic of ships, shoutout to Malec, the cutest couple in all of Cassie Clare’s books! Malec are OTP goals.

Better villain: Sebastian or the Magister?

At last! Finally something which I can say The Mortal Instruments is better at! Sebastian was so much more evil that the Magister could ever be – the way he planned all his attacks were so, so clever! I mean, you’d’ve have never suspected that Sebastian was initially working for Valentine, what with him loving Clary and living in Idris all his life.

Better army: The Dark Army or the Clockwork Army?

I’m gonna have to say the Dark Army for this one. Both the armies were equally as strong and powerful as the other, but I think the Dark Army were just a little bit more painful to defeat, seeing as they were humans, people’s loved ones converted into dark, morbid creatures by Sebastian. It would’ve been a little more hard for Clary to kill them knowing they didn’t mean to murder, knowing the pain she would cause to their loved ones.

Best first book: City of Bones or Clockwork Angel?

Clockwork Angel without doubt. I finished the book in less then a day, along with the rest of the Infernal Devices series. I remember my mum judging me for reading the book pretty much every second I was free. I liked the City of Bones too, I just think Clockwork Angel had more going on from Book 1, you fell in love with it quicker.

Best female sidekick: Cecily Herondale or Isabelle Lightwood?

I’m going to say Izzy for this one, mainly because we didn’t get to see Cecily all that much, so I don’t know how good a sidekick she’d be. However, if she was in the books more, than I have a feeling I’d pick her over Izzy.

Best setting: The New York Institute or the London Institute?

Well it depends, really. If you mean the book New York Institute, old and classic, then I’d go there, but if you mean the New York Institute we saw in the TV Series, Shadowhunters, modern and hi-tech, then I’d have to say the London Institute. But I hope it doesn’t rain as much in the Victorian times as it does in 2016 London.

Best last book: City of Heavenly Fire or Clockwork Princess?

Clockwork Princess definitely. Like Clockwork Angel I COULD NOT put this book down. I literally sped through it and gahh the epilogue. Don’t even get me started on the pain that epilogue inflicted on me. CoHF was good too, I just think I’m Team TID more than I am Team TMI. 🙂

Better final epilogue: City of Heavenly Fire or Clockwork Princess?

Oh look there’s a whole question dedicated to the epilogue! I didn’t even realise. Well, you know my answer already, the ending of Clockwork Princess was AMAZING. Which means it was the most beautiful part of The Infernal Devices, yet the tears, ugh the tears. Cassandra Clare is one cruel author. Even if Will did die of old age. It was still painful.

I can see Clockwork Princess right next to me on my bookshelf and I’m really tempted to reread the epilogue but I’m not sure if should..it’s just too sad!

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Results

Okay so the final results are:

6.5 – 3.5

Looks like TID wins by 2.5 points! Just like I predicted. Like Shannon @ Clockwork Bibliophile said in her post, TID is definitely the superior series. It just had that much more feels in it, you know? But by the angel, I loved doing that tag! It was super fun! ➰

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I’m not going to tag anyone specific seeing as I’m not sure who has read Cassie’s books and who hasn’t, so if you want to do this tag please feel free to do so! Just put your link down in the comments, as I’d love to read your post!!

Also – credits to Yukihime-San @ DeviantArt for the cover image!

– V

Shadowhunters TV Series – Review (Part 3 of 3)

The final part of my Shadowhunters review, and the most fun part – the Easter eggs! Read Part 1 – the positives – here, and Part 2 – the negatives – here.

I’m so proud of myself. I actually spotted these easter eggs myself, which is a first. Usually I’m so caught up in what’s actually happening, that I don’t really bother to look at the little things. Ok, some of these hidden details are not-so hidden, and kinda obvious but come on, let me be happy!

Ok, so my first one would have to be the subtle, and the not so subtle mentions of the one and only Tessa Gray. Yup, it’s Tessa, from the Infernal Devices. *screams*

So the first one would be this scene, where the Shadowhunters are trying to find a warlock more powerful that Magnus, to help awaken Jocelyn. Izzy does some research and whittles it down to three warlocks. At this point I’m getting really excited – what if there’s a warlock that I know, someone from the rest of the series? I pause the screen and bam – Tessa. I had to literally press my face to the screen to check if I was seeing right. Tessa Gray. And what’s this it says? Her occupation – a scholar? *squeals* And she’s in LA? Woah, woah, woah wait. What if she went to the Los Angeles Institute? The Blackthorns and the Carstairs? *screams louder*. The only thing that ended my fangirling fit was Tessa’s hair. IT’S BLOND!! It’s meant to be brown! What’ve they done to you Tessa?

Ok now here’s the not-so subtle mention. Magnus needed reinforcements to protect the warlocks from Valentine, so he ordered someone to summon a bunch of other warlocks. One of which included Tessa. Aaaaaah!

Now here’s the theory I have. Magnus has this picture of him, Ragnor Fell and another lady, which I’m guessing is probably a warlock. Now judging from the way they’re dressed, and also just her looks….do you think she might be Tessa? Look at the picture…I mean, you have to admit that does look like Tessa (a bit)…way more than that picture of her above. Comment below to tell me who you think the third warlock is!

Now a small, not-so subtle Bane Chronicles mention.

Yuuup, it’s Imasu Morales, the charango player from Peru. Remember him? He and Magnus were together, for a while, until Imasu finally broke up with Magnus.

Well that is it for my easter eggs! Those are the ones which I found – but according to Kat McNamara the series is full of them – including props and background characters. If you noticed any other easter eggs, drop a comment below, I’d love to find out! Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed reading my review on Shadowhunters!

– V

Shadowhunters TV Series – Review (Part 2 of 3)

Hi everyone! This is Part 2 on my review for Freeform’s TV Adaptation of the Mortal Instruments. If you haven’t yet read Part 1, click here. There are spoilers in this post!! Do not proceed unless you wish to be spoiled!

Right…so it’s time for the negatives…This post IS longer than my positive post, but maybe that’s just me being nit-picky, so don’t be put off by it, and go watch Shadowhunters! But read the books first. Definitely.

 

Firstly, what’s up Simon’s band? The Champagne Enema/Rock Solid Panda (as it’s named at the time) is only a two-person band – isn’t it supposed to have four people? And guess what. It’s gets worse. Said band consists of Simon…and Maureen. Yuuup, Maureen Brown. No, I’m not kidding, this IS the same Maureen who turned into a crazy, obsessive vampire who became the leader of the New York vampires. The same Maureen who locked Simon up, who went by the name Queen Maureen. What the hell is she doing in Simon’s band! Aaah, how it annoys me when adaptations stray so far away from the books!

Also, Clary needs to be wayyy shorter. She’s supposed to be tiny and petite, but she really isn’t! She’s just an average height! And aren’t her eyes supposed to be a vibrant green? They didn’t even look green. Jace seems to be more or less like the Jace in the book, but I don’t know, I just don’t really think he works as Jace. Alec didn’t have blue eyes! Come on, get the eye colours right, people! Soon you’re gonna make a TID TV show and give Will Herondale hazel eyes or something, and that’s when the fangirls will go really mad.

The runes were a bit weird too…Firstly, the actors never really drew them. They just kinda waved their steles around in random shapes, hoping that special effects would fill everything in for them. End result – hand movements that look nothing like the runes below. Ok, fine, I guess it may be a bit hard to remember all the runes – but what I didn’t like was the fact that runes like iratzes didn’t fade away. You could just slide your stele over it, and it would literally be reapplied. Just like that. That’s not how its supposed to work! Ok, maybe I’m being slightly over dramatic, but come on, they’ve already messed up the movie adaptation, can’t they at least get it right, second attempt?

Also about Malec. As I said, I thought Malec were perfect in the TV series, but just one tiny little problem. In the boo, the Clave disapproved of relationships like their’s, therefore they thought it would be best if nobody knew about their relationship, and kept it a secret, for a while. Well, that ain’t gonna work if your first kiss is in front of the whole Institute and a bunch of people from Idris as well! Get it right, people! In the book, Magnus and Alec were much, much more sensible, and kissed in Alicante, before battle, not the minute they discovered they were in love!

Another problem with Malec is that immortality argument they have in the books, about how Magnus was immortal and therefore loved other people. Remember that argument? I know, nobody likes to think of those dark, dark days, but that argument happened wayyy later on in the books, in the latter half. Then why did the TV show have to make it happen in the first season? No. You are not gonna make Malec argue this early. No.

Also Ragnor Fell is meant to have horns and green skin. But no. He just has his horns. And Catarina Loss, she needs to have BLUE skin! But she seems to have no warlock’s mark at all, by the looks of it!

And finally, THERE WAS NO BROTHER ZACHARIAH! If you’ve read The Infernal Devices, I’m sure you’ll feel my pain. Because Brother Zachariah is very important, they can’t just…not have him! Aaagh!

Well those were my problems….they may seem really small and stupid, but come on! I don’t want them to mess up The Mortal Instruments for the second time!!

😂

– V

Shadowhunters TV Series – Review (Part 1 of 3)

Yesss! I finally got to watch Season 1 of Shadowhunters, the TV adaptation of The Mortal Instruments, one of my favourite book series. I was really excited to see this TV series – it’s the first of my book fandoms to get a TV adaptation, rather than a movie adaptation. And you may know how disastrously wrong the movie version of The Mortal Instruments was….

Anyways, I thought the TV shows were good! They were really enjoyable, and I guess I would have absolutely loved it if I hadn’t read the books…but I have, and I just couldn’t help picking out all those little mistakes and annoying details that they didn’t get right. Honestly, I’d always thought that TV series would be better adaptations compared to movies. It’s simple really, isn’t it? Why can’t directors have each season to be a book, each episode a couple of chapters? Way more logical than cramming the whole thing into a movie. Well, I was sooo wrong. They still couldn’t get it perfect…

I thought that I’d do a little book to TV analysis of Shadowhunters, picking out the bits I liked, as a reader, and the bits that they got so, so wrong. I also spotted a couple of Easter Eggs, relating to TID, The Bane Chronicles and/or The Dark Artifices. Therefore be aware that there are probably gonna be a lot of spoilers relating to the whole series on this post. I’ll split it into three posts (good bits, bad bits, and easter eggs) otherwise it would be wayy to long.

Ok, let’s start off with the good bits…there are more bad bits than good bits, but I was pretty critical and harsh, as I always am with book adaptations.
  
The casting. I mean, I know it’s not great, it isn’t exactly like I imagined it, but I like it. Except for Jace and Clary, they’re nothing at all like I thought they’d be. Other than those two, I think the rest of the cast was pretty good! They aren’t ever going to get Valentine exactly right, but I guess he was OK. And Hodge was different to what I imagined him to be, but…it makes sense to have cast him.

 
Another thing I really liked is the Institute. Reading the book, I’d always imagined it as this old place, lacking technology, with old wooden furniture – resembling some sort of ancient castle or something. Don’t ask 😂. Instead, Shadowhunters took a different take on the Institute, making it sleek and modern, with all sorts of fancy tech and touch screen computers. It’s different, yes, but it works, and I like it!

  

The Lightwood family – they were really good! I think Maryse and Robert’s actors were perfect for their roles, although they could have been more argumentative, and had more disagreements. Max was perfect, and he was so cute! However, he could have appeared more, because at the moment, it doesn’t really seem like Alec, Jace and Izzy are too close with their little brother, which they are – and when that certain moment (which we do not speak of) comes, it’ll be hard to show just how sad the Lightwoods feel. 

 And finally, Malec. Yes, Malec. Was. Perfection. It was amazing. They had a whole episode named after them!! You know, I think Malec may be sharing a position with Kaider as my OTP. I fangirl so hard, just thinking about how perfect they were! They’ve come so far *tears up*.

Well, that was that for Part 1 of my review! I hope you enjoyed it, please comment beliw and tell me what you thought on the show – and if you haven’t yet seen it, tell me what you’re looking forward to seeing! 

– V

Sizzy

Here are a few Sizzy headcanons that I love:

Simon reads Sizzy fanfic to pick up on the lines that work with Izzy

Clary and Simon made a huge plan of how Simon was going to propose to Izzy. However, on the day, Simon got too nervous and mucked it up. Izzy had to propose to him instead. But he likes to tell everyone how sauve and awesome he was.

Simon once tried to teach Izzy to how to play his favourite video game. After 5 mintues she had mastered the game and beat him twice.

Simon converted Izzy to the Star Wars fandom. The first date they went on after Simon got his memory back was to see the new Star Wars.

Comment if you have any other Sizzy headcanons, and please like!!! I hope you enjoyed these.

-M

 

Hi

Hi.

This is a bit of an intro to this category. I kinda feel like I should put it here, so I don’t have to repeat myself in every post.

Firstly, all character rights go to Cassandra Clare.

Also, many of these headcanons are off the internet. If you believe one of these headcanons is yours, then please comment and I will give you a mention in the post.

In case you don’t know, Headcanons are ideas that us fangirls like to think happened after the story. They are just written by fans, not the authors, and are therefore not necersarily true, but we like to believe they are. These are all headcanons that I personally love and believe in with all my heart. I’m sharing them in the hope that you too believe in them and enjoy them.

And I think that’s all there is to say. The posts will be very short, probably just a short headcanon on each. Please like and comment- it really makes my day. Thank you bookloverpotterhead for your comment- it really made me happy. So, enjoy!

-M

Bet You Didn’t Notice – 2. TMI (and TID) Malec

*spoiler alert*

Now, everyone loves Malec. We have had a few arguments on whether it’s better then Sizzy or not (personally Sizzy forever, but I love Malec too). Anyways, Malec is a great ship. But I doubt you noticed that there are some small Malec references in TID (I did- I take full credit for this thing- it was me who noticed it). Here is a TID quote about Malec that made me want to scream. In fact, it did make me scream. Three times.

“Black hair and blue eyes are my favourite combo.” – Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel, The Infernal Devices

Now, who does this description remind you of? That’s right- Alec!!!!!

This quote is said in The Infernal Devices by Magnus, a few hundred years before Alec was born. Freaky thought. I’ve never thought about that much before. This is before Alec’s parents were born, let alone Alec. Weird. Moving on, this quote is about the glorious Will Herondale (btw, in case you haven’t read the series, Will and Magnus do not get together. Just saying), but definitely is a sneaky Malec reference by Cassandra Clare.

And while I’m on the subject of Malec, here’s one more quote that I found rather amusing:

” “A very magnanimous statement, Gideon,” said Magnus.

“I’m Gabriel.”

Magnus waved a hand. “All Lightwoods look the same to me.”   – Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince, The Infernal Devices

I think you’ll find you disagree with this in a few years Magnus!

(A/N P.S. What does magnanimous actually mean? Please comment and tell me- I’m curious now)

So, I enjoyed these two quotes, and I hope you did too. Please comment and like: it really makes my day!

MALEC FOREVER!

-M

Bet You Didn’t Notice – 1. TMI First Chapter Character References

*spoilers ahead*

Many people think they are incredibly observant when reading books. So I wonder, how many people spotted these two references in the first chapter? (I must admit that I didn’t- a friend and fellow fangirl pointed them out to me in great excitement- thanks Tabby).

So these two references take place while Simon and Clary are at the Pandemonium Club. The first one is a definite reference, the second one can cause more debate. So here is the first one:

” “I feel,” Simon went on, “that DJ Bat is doing a singularly exceptional job. Don’t you agree?” Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

DJ BAT! For anyone who still hasn’t figured it out, Bat, Maia’s werewolf friend, worked as a DJ, and was DJ Bat!!!!!!! Now, though I much preferred Jordan (RIP JORDAN) to Bat, this is still very exciting, and is definitely Bat.

Now this one is slightly less definite- I believe Cassandra Clare is messing with us, so we’ll never know whether it is or not. Personally, I think that it is Maia, but you might think differently. If it’s not, it’s a pretty big coincidence. So, Clary bumps into a “curvy black girl” who shoots her an evil look. Now, there are many curvy black girls in the world, but given that that’s exactly how Cassandra Clare describes Maia when we meet her, and that if Bat is at Pandemonium, it’s very likely that Maia will be too, and that evil looks are very Maia, I think that must have been Maia that Clary bumped into.

What do you think? Comment and say whether you or not you noticed these, and whether you think the girl is Maia!

-M

LADY MIDNIGHT!

As all Shadowhunters (TMI fans) will know, Cassandra Clare is writing ANOTHER series to add on to her bestselling Mortal Instruments books. Lady Midnight, which is the first book in the Dark Artifices series, is coming out this Wednesday 8th March (2016)!!!

The series is held five years after the last TMI book (The City of Heavenly Fire), and will be focussing on characters Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn. We don’t know much about it yet, but what we do know is that the book is filled with demon-fighting and runes – and Mark Blackthorn, who if you remember was captured by faeries, returns to his family….

I can’t wait to find out what happens to the Blackthorns and Cartairs! Hopefully we’ll get to see Clary, Simon, Izzy, Jace, Alec and Magnus but we won’t know until we’ve read it! So head over to Amazon now and pre-order it!!

Update – We read Lady Midnight – and we loved it!! Here’s our review on it – Lady Midnight book review.

– V

The Mortal Instruments

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Clary Fray is a normal girl living a normal life in Brooklyn. But one day while at a club with her best friend Simon, Clary meets Isabelle and Alec Lightwood, along with their adopted brother Jace Herondale, and her life takes a whole new course, as she tries to figure out why only she can see them. When Jocelyn, her mother, goes missing, she must rely on these “Shadowhunters” and uncover her past, to find her mother. With romance, comedy, drama, great quotes and mythical creatures, The Mortal Instruments is a personal favourite of mine, and a must read for everyone.

This series is set in the modern day world but with a catch- “all the legends are true”. Demons enter our world from a parallel universe, and all that stands between them destroying our universe are half angel warriors named Shadowhunters.

This is a 6 book series (containing City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire). There is also the prequel (which must be read after The Mortal Instruments) called The Infernal Devices (containing Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess), the add on book, The Bane Chronicles (containing a collection of short stories about the glorious Magnus Bane), Shadowhunter Academy (currently only an ebook but will be published soon), another add on book, The Shadowhunter’s Codex, and coming out soon, two extra series, The Last Hours and The Dark Artifices. There is also a movie of book one (which isn’t very good- I don’t recommend it) and a tv series called Shadowhunters (which is good).

This is personally (one of) my absolute favourite book series. It has you hooked right from the beginning. There are so many sad moments- (I finished the last book as we parked up for a picnic on our way to our holiday. I was sobbing my heart out as we walked around. It was so amazing) and so many great quotes. Everyone should know pop over to Waterstones now and buy this book, so if your reading this now, move onto The Mortal Instruments!

-M