I read about this book in an article on the NPR website about "100 Best Ever Teen Novels." I was looking for something to read with my 17-year old mentee, who is into manga and anime, and likes books in the fantasy genre. So, instead of going with something tried and true that I knew was good, I thought we could try something I hadn't read and that she might like. Hey, NPR endorsed it, so it's got to be good, right? 
 Wrong. 
 My mentee, Angelica, liked it because the young protagonist, Clary, is brave and smart. And yes, she is, but I felt at times that she was a little too smart, especially when she was trading flirty barbs with Jace, the hero of Clare's story. Jace and Clary are in a constant back-and-forth of precocious verbal jabs. They "hate" each other at first, but of course it's obvious to the reader that they will, eventually, end up in each others' arms. 
 In addition to having a problem with two teenagers having unrealistic "witty" banter at every turn of the page, I also have a problem with the pacing with which Clare has laid out the world of her story. I felt rushed into the history, and it all felt a little too complex: the weapons, the other-worldly names for everything, the people involved...It just felt like too much, too quickly. I'd have preferred that she sprinkle the more complex elements of the magic and the fantasy throughout her almost 500 page first book, and perhaps stretch it into a series of four if she needed more room. Instead, Clare relegates her characters to reciting paragraphs of clunky dialogue exposition whenever we need a dose of history or plot catch-up. 
 Now, it's better than Twilight--no doubt, by a long shot--and Clare definitely has talent as a writer. Her literary and artistic allusions were interesting, even if they were years beyond her intended audience. You might read it and like it more than I did, or you might not. But if you'd like to give it a try, I've got the whole series in a box set that I'll give you. For free.