Spoiler Alert: May contain spoiler for the Mortal Instruments trilogy. Proceed with caution.
I pretty much love everything that Smart Pop YA does. They're the ones behind The Girl Who Was On Fire, which I simply adored. So when I discovered that they were doing a book about another one of my favorite series, The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, I was beyond excited.
A nice collection of essays that covers many different aspects of the series is contained in this collection. Allow me to speak to a few of my favorites ones:
Simon Lewis: Jewish, Vampire Hero by Michelle Hodkin: Okay, part of my love of this essay is simply because I love Michelle. I have had the opportunity to meet her twice and she is just great! I also really did enjoy her book The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. But I think this essay really stuck with me because I am a devoted Catholic. I know it's not Jewish, but my faith is also rich in history and tradition, and I love that Michelle was able to take her faith, which is clearly also very important to her, and relate/apply it in this way. When I was reading The Mortal Instruments, I was able to pick up on some of these ideas, but not all of them, and certainly not with this depth. Also, I love Cassandra Clare's introduction for this essay -- it almost comes off like she is speechless from the awesomeness this essay.
Brotherly Love by Kendare Blake: Because, yes, the brother/sister storyline -- it needed to be addressed. And Kendare did a great job with it! I learned about the Westermarck effect and I see as I'm looking at my book that I actually wrote in the margin by one point: "I never thought of this!" This storyline was definitely an interesting choice by Cassandra Clare and it was nice to read a thoughtful analysis on it.
Immortality and its Discontents by Holly Black and Kelly Link: I like that Cassie and Smart Pop chose to keep this one in an interview/discussion format. This worked so well with this essay because I, as a reader, was able to follow a thought train and see how we got from discussing one thing to something else. Also, the reality of the discussion led them all to get sidetracked sometimes, which was just fun. Kelly makes an interesting point about Magnus: "In terms of audience reaction, his sexual preferences seem much more notable than the fact that he's immortal." Interesting, right?! Good point, Kelly! Oh, and this one, too, which I love:
"...that's a big part of young adult literature, period. It's a literature of discovery and change. You, the protagonist, have to discover the world. And at the same time you have to discover what you are that you didn't know was possible. You are changed. You change the world."
Wow. Bam!
When Laws are Made to Be Broken by Robin Wasserman: I loved reading an analysis of The Clave!
What Does that Deviant Wench Think She's Doing? Or, Shadowhunters Gone Wild by Sarah Rees Brennan: I remember meeting Sarah at the RT convention in Chicago last year. (We had a deep discussion about the merits of being on Team Stefan in The Vampire Diaries.) She entertained me then, and she entertained me with this essay. I was literally laughing out loud and shaking my head and some parts of this one. And putting this one at the end? Nicely played by Cassie and Smart Pop. And this quote here:
"Love is what matters. Love is the song you hear even while you sleep, and you know you are healed, and safe, and where you belong." <3
My random favorite line of the anthology, courtesy of Diana Peterfreund: "See, Jace never learned to flirt properly because he was raised by a murderous sociopath."
If you are a Mortal Instruments fan, I would definitely recommend you picking up a copy of Shadowhunters and Downworlders!
