'The Mortal Instruments', written by Cassandra Clare, followed by 'The Dark Artifices' are bestsellers. The stories are fast moving, full of plot twists, and completely engaging.
The Mortal Instruments (TMI) are a set of 6 books, and The Dark Artifices (TDA) are a set of 3. All the books are massive, ranging from 400 to 900 pages. I found this a lot to read.
Now, I don't mind reading a lot, I would gladly spend the rest of my life reading good stories, and TMI and TDA both are great reads. What I found hard to get past was the lack of a relieving ending. I expect a story to end in a satisfying way- all the characters need to happy, all the loose ends need to be tied, all mysteries solved. Now, TMI and TDA are related. They have the same characters, though the focus shifts. There is nothing wrong about that, however I didn't get that happiness I usually get when I finish a book; especially after finishing TDA.
The Dark Artifices was a massive, time consuming read. It certainly stirred my emotions, and I spent all that time reading it so that I could have the satisfaction of seeing another group of people with all their problems solved at the end of the novel. However, TDA did not satisfy. It ended with a HUGE cliffhanger, and it makes me sure that there are more books coming. I just feel like after I didn't get my reward for reading all those pages, I wanted closure, I needed it to be over.
Now, it is important to not take me in the wrong way. I love reading, the bigger the book, the better. However, if even after reading almost 6,000 pages (TDA and TMI combined), if I don't get my ending, why did I read all that? I'm just saying, large series' are great, but it shouldn't stretch to the point of frustration. I'm getting major KOTLC vibes here.
In my opinion, a story is supposed to highlight an important part of a character's life. A story should end eventually. However, the way this is going, I feel the characters in TDA are going to be facing problems and overcoming them for the rest of their lives, as more and more books are written by Clare.
I understand it when an author has to end the story in a certain way, but that's not the case here. Clare has wantedly dropped a cliffhanger. It was absolutely possible for her to have closed the series properly while still being able to reopen it in forthcoming series; but no.
I should admit, I will definitely read any further books published in the series, but I must say, it was a dissappointment to see TDA end this way.
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