Tag: List of The Mortal Instruments characters

Book Review: The Fall of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles Part #7)

17334062Synopsis

“Magnus Bane watches the once-glamorous Hotel Dumort become something else altogether in 1970s New York City. Fifty years after the Jazz Age rise of the Hotel Dumort, immortal warlock Magnus Bane knows the Manhattan landmark is on the decline. The once-beautiful Hotel Dumort has fallen into a decayed thing, a ruin, as dead as a place can be. But the vampires don’t mind…”

Jen’s Review

In Part 7 of the Bane Chronicles, we find ourselves on the darkest path yet with Magnus Bane. This short story revolves around the Hotel Dumort’s vampires, including Magnus’s ex-love, Camille Belcourt, as well as formidable real-life issues, like drug addiction.

As in the previous Bane Chronicles, I enjoyed how Cassandra Clare and her co-author, Maureen Johnson, used an actual historical event to help build the story around (1977 New York Blackout). And, as always, I loved the writing itself, including the smooth dialogue and vivid descriptives. But, to be honest, I can’t say this was my favorite Magnus Bane adventure. With it being such a grim tale, his lighthearted wit, rueful charm and casual persona had to be put on a back burner (which, unfortunately, are always my favorite things when reading these short stories). “What would you want me to say to her? It’s hard to walk in after that long and just say ‘Stop attacking people. Also, how have you been since the turn of the century?’”

However, I liked the way Magnus’s kindness and compassion were highlighted throughout The Fall of the Hotel Dumort, and as sad as it was, I liked seeing his more “human” side come out at the end (I won’t go beyond that as you know how much I resent spoilers).

Go ahead and check out this next saga in Magnus Bane’s tumultuous tale!

Jen’s Rating

3 StarRead more about The Bane Chronicles here!

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Book Review – The Bane Chronicles – Part 1

At last! I have finally read the first six stories released in The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. And I’m in love with Magnus Bane more than ever. He is, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining character’s I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.

“I can’t get enough adventure. And adventure cannot get enough of me.” – Magnus Bane

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Jen’s Review

Although humor remains a key element of the The Bane Chronicles (because humor is a key element of Magnus Bane’s personality), the stories themselves grow deeper and more serious as we read along. The first, What Really Happened in Peru, was by far the most lighthearted of the bunch, with line after line of clever wit and LOL moments. “Wallowing was for elephants, depressing people and depressing elephants.” By the sixth tale, Saving Raphael Santiago, Magnus is dealing with stickier topics, such as damned souls and shunned love. “Love did not overcome everything. Love did not always endure. All you had could be taken away, love could be the last thing you had, and then love could be taken too.”

I think this gradual progression of seriousness is because Magnus himself becomes more serious (though not too serious because then he wouldn’t be Magnus Bane). As the years of his immortal life passes, it’s clear he hardens up, grows more cautious and learns countless lessons from his countless adventures and affairs and tragedies.

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“I have very few rules in life, but one of them is to never decline an adventure. The others are: to avoid becoming romantically entangled with sea creatures; to always ask for what you want, because the worst thing that can happen is embarrassment but the best thing that can happen is nudity; to demand ready money up front; and to never play cards with Catarina Loss.”

After reading these, I’ve decided Magnus Bane is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. So you should think about reading them (especially if you enjoyed The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments). But take heed: These are stories about Magnus. If you’re expecting to discover all the unsolved mysteries from The Infernal Devices or The Mortal Instruments, then think again. Although we encounter characters from those series (including Will and Tessa and their children), they’re not the focus of these chronicles. Magnus is. Personally, I like that. I believe Magnus deserves to have his story told. He’s a great character with plenty of wit, excitement and heart.

Currently, The Bane Chronicles are only available via e-book, but rumor has it that once all ten are released, they will be printed and bound into one book. Fingers crossed that’s true!

Jen’s Rating
4 Star

Read more about The Bane Chronicles here!

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Jen’s Movie Review: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Loved it! Two thumbs up! High five! Gold star! Home run!

Mortal-Instruments-City-of-Bones-Movie-Logo-wide-560x282Okay, I wanted to make my opinion clear right off the bat, because I’ve been seeing a lot of negative reviews for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and I’m annoyed and frustrated by them. From a moviegoers standpoint, I thought City of Bones was entertaining, well paced and filled with plenty of eye candy (and I’m not just talking about Jamie Campbell Bower). And from a book nerd’s perspective, I felt the movie did a great job transporting Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter tale to the big screen. Even more impressively, it tempted me to go back and re-read the entire Mortal Instrument series.

MORTAL-INSTRUMENTS-GUIDE_612x380Before I go any further, let me say two things: 1) I’m not a die-hard fan of The Mortal Instruments. I enjoyed the books, but they’re not my favorite YA series out there. I much prefer Cassandra Clare’s prequel series, The Infernal Devices. And 2) I had very, very low expectations for this movie. In fact, before the the lights went down and the opening credits began rolling, I leaned over to my sister and said, “Don’t hold your breath. I think this is going to suck.”

But it didn’t. And I was SHOCKED!

-The-Mortal-Instruments-City-of-Bones-stills-shadowhunter-chronicles-34441022-2048-1365Overall, I thought the acting was superb, the plot nicely adapted and the casting near perfect. Lily Collins was beautiful, alluring and believable as Clary, and Jamie Campbell Bower was sexy, witty and, well, Jace (I’m not ashamed to admit that I totally have a goo-goo-gaga crush on him now). These two leads were wonderfully supported by Jemima West as Isabelle, Kevin Zegers as Alec, and Lena Headey as Jocelyn. And nobody could’ve played the role of Simon better than Robert Sheehan. He was funny, endearing and mundane-ishly heroic.

In my opinion, the only miscast was Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane. Physically, he was great. Acting wise, he was stiff, dull and not at all flouncy, eccentric or magical like I imagined his character to be.

Luckily, he wasn’t in the film that much, so he didn’t ruin the whole thing for me.

As far as the actual adaption went, I thought it was well done. I know lovers of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones are probably complaining about things that were changed, added or dropped. Personally, I was a little sad I didn’t get to see Jace’s demon flying motorcycle after the battle at Hotel Dumort. However, as a book fanatic, I’ve learned a hard lesson over the years: movies are not books. They don’t have the luxury of time to cover every single detail of a 485-page book. So as long as the adaptation captures the essence of the story, hits upon the major plot points and includes the main characters, I’m happy.

And City of Bones did all of those things.

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Now, is The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones the best movie ever? Uh, no. Will it rack up a bunch of Oscars in the spring? Nooo. BUT was it fun, engaging and witty like the books? Hell yes! In fact, my sister (clueless to most YA book series like this one, and quickly bored by movies in general) was leaning forward in her seat the whole time and constantly whispering questions at me (my favorite being, “Oh God, is Simon a demon?” Ha!). And when we walked out of the theater, she admitted she had a ridiculous crush on Jace. I believe her exact words were, “Ohhh, yeahhh.”

the-mortal-instrumentsYeah…I totally agree with her 😉

I truly hope City of Bones does well enough at the box office so that its sequel, City of Ashes, will be brought to life for fans too. And I really hope people don’t listen to all the negative reviews out there. Because. They. Are. WRONG!

Look, just remember when you walk into the theater with your candy and popcorn, this movie isn’t going to be exactly like the book. They never are. So get over it, sit down and enjoy it! I mean, seriously, if you can stomach the cheesy Twilight films and the nasty adaption of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, then The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is going to be like a slice of yummy, delicious, ooey gooey chocolate cake!

Jen’s Rating:

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