palace of pages

I might have an unhealthy obsession... with Jamie Campbell Bower, so I did buy this book off of good old thriftbooks.com. I thought the synopsis was interesting as well. I’ve read about 6 chapters so far and here’s what I think.

Alright. Well. Um. Okay. The writing is alright? No. It’s bad, I’m sorry. I hate to say this, but there are times when it is confusing, hard to read, and just doesn’t make sense. I had to go back and reread the same page three times and I was only on the first chapter. 

BUT THERE’S STILL HOPE. I decided to trudge on, you know what I found? Jace Wayland. He’s the reason I’m still reading. I usual take caution with fantasy books because of how confusing they can get, but there are parts of this story that are actually pretty cool. Though, the descriptions aren’t always well-written.

And for the dialogue. My gosh. I have never cringed harder at words on a page. I understand that the author is trying to give insight as to how this whole Shadowhunters thing goes down, but no one talks to each other like that. 

“He means other demons... You know what demons are, don’t you?” 

Shoot me now, I’m sorry, but what? This boy was literally talking to a demon that he knew was a demon. It’s almost as if our Shadowhunters know that Clary is in the storage closet with them. This happens over and over again in the dialogue. Dialogue that would not happen in real life because why are you repeating things that everyone in the conversation already knows? 

And apparently this storage room/closet is a really big room and not a... closet. That was the part I had to go back and read a million times because I could not wrap my head around the fact that they somehow couldn’t see her. Or hear her walk in? Lack of description. She seems like the clumsy type.

ON TO CLARY. Goodness gracious. I—well—how do I even start this. Interestingly enough, I thought our girl was better than your typical, basic y/n you can find in almost every Wattpad story, but no. She’s your typical, basic y/n. She’s “ugly” because she’s short with a face full of freckles. Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Also, the way she treats her mom is so... white? Yes, white. Very white. I understand the argument between the two of them, but blowing off her calls? Who do you think you are at fifteen?

Actually, a lot about this book is white. I could tell the author was white. When I read “curvy black girl” and “maple-syrup skin” I was about ready to throw this book out the window. Very ready. Still ready. 

I’m really liking Simon right now. Dude never fails to make me laugh. I was cracking up when what’s-his-name didn’t expect Simon barge through the doors and yelled, “Jesus!” to which Simon says, “Actually, it’s just me. Although, I’ve been told the resemblance is startling.” 

But when he asked her how she wanted her coffee and Clary said, “Black. Like my soul.” I was about ready to throw up.

It’s obvious, not to mention cliché, that he’s the jealous best friend who secretly has a crush on Y/n—I mean Clary—but Clary can’t see that cause she could never expect anyone to see her in a romantic way because she’s so plain and different and boring. Not exactly looking forward to Simon’s reaction after Clary and Jace get together.

Oh God. Clary and Jace get together. And then they... and then... you know what, I’m gonna pretend I don’t already know that part.

Do I like Clary so far? I can’t say I do. And if Jace would stop lecturing people every FIVE FREAKING SECONDS I would really like him too. I’m a sucker for a good enemies-to-lovers trope, so if I trudge on, I might end up liking it? Slim chance. I’ll read it because I’m imagining Jace as JCB though. 

Also, the quotes at the beginning are so unnecessary to me. This book is targeted towards young teens who have no idea what any of that even means. Adds to the pretentiousness of the book. There is a lot of that here.

 Our classic dystopian. The entire Legend series is one that’s near and dear to my heart. I’ve read this about three times over and counting.

When I was ten years old, I went on a bit of a dystopian craze. In the midst of that, I stumbled upon these books, Legend. I will forever love ten year old me for that. 

THE FIRST LINE IS SO GOOD. Day is one of my favorite book characters ever. The world-building is very well done. I love the details of it and how it’s run. In my opinion, it’s the perfect take on a future-set United States. Our characters, June and Day are unforgettable. How could you not love them? Day with his street smarts, witty comebacks and good looks paired with June’s calculated, calm and poised nature? Perfection. They balance each other out rather well and I love how their dynamic is not the cliché “bad boy” + “good girl” thing. They are both very tough and smart characters.

The plot is very intriguing and I love the way June and Day meet. He doesn’t know that she’s the Republic’s undercover prodigy who’s first assignment to hunt him down. All for a murder of her brother that he was FRAMED for, but she doesn’t know that yet. Well done Marie Lu, well done.

I do feel that the romance in the story was a bit rushed, especially towards the end. There are times when the writing falls into this monotonous daze that has our character’s sounding like robots and not real people. I wish there was a better distinction between their two voices, the narration in the POVs is quite similar. 

Also, this might just be a me thing, but I really enjoy what one might call “deep” writing. I want to think, ponder, awe in amazement at the philosophies of life, but this book is pretty straightforward. This happens, then this happens, then this happens. One action after another. It gets kind of tiring, I wish our characters showed more emotion. Like I said, there are times where they’re just kind of... robots. The characters could have been even better developed if they were given more distinctive voices. I love the way Day talks, but it’s really not enough. Their personalities are really unique and compliment each other well, but the narration between the two point of views doesn’t do it justice.  

There could have been more character quirks to give us a better insight of our characters, make them appear more human. You know? Quirks maybe other than Day’s limp and June’s striking ability to know the exact measurements of every object she comes across without a ruler. You sure that train car was exactly 450 feet wide, June?

Random side note, the foreshadowing in this book is either really well done or really poorly done. No in between. I was completely shocked when I was reading a chapter of Day’s POV and he says something like, “For a moment, I can’t remember anything. Not even my name.” < jaw literally dropped.

And he most definitely rehearsed that whole speech about the meaning of his name in case people ever asked. Fight me. It’s beautiful though, love him. 

Back to the romance, I’m glad it’s not the main focus of the book because as much as I love these two, their romance is not very well written. Their first kiss was amazing, but after that, it goes downhill. I just feel like it was too rushed and forced. The second June finds out Day didn’t kill her brother she falls madly in love with him? And yeah, Day just watched his brother get shot but hey—June looks really hot tonight!