Writing this review and the thought that Cassie may see it hurts me. But seeing as how reading this book hurt me, I think it’s fair for me to try to at least alleviate some of that pain by expressing why I didn’t enjoy most of this book.
‘The Lost Book of the White’ was my most anticipated read of 2020. Thus, I was extremely surprised by how underwhelmed and disappointed I was with this book. Did I build up my expectations too much? Probably. But the same could be said for ‘The Red Scrolls of Magic’ which I enjoyed immensely and gave a, probably biased, 5/5 stars rating.
So why was this book different? Why was my love for Magnus, Alec and their relationship not enough? Why was my yearning to see the original crew reunited not enough for me to love this book? The answer is simple, this book didn’t have enough character interactions for me to excuse the lackluster predictable plot. In most of the books in the Shadowhunter Chronicles, neither the plot nor the villains are mind blowing. They are simply there to move the story forward as we enjoy the true strength of Cassie’s work: her characters & their relationships. However, in this book there are almost no interactions between the characters. The few instances where we do get the characters interacting for more than a few lines are glorious, but these are few and far in between.
Moreover, since it’s set before ‘The Dark Artifices’ and some stories in ‘Ghosts of the Shadow Market’, this book has no stakes. In TRSOM, the characters personal conflicts were enough to keep the reader interested despite them knowing that everything would be fine. However, in this book, there was almost no time dedicated to internal conflict and no new character development. Even the characters were acting like they knew everything would be fine! They acted invincible, made risky stupid choices and didn’t seem worried at all when they were in danger. If the characters don’t seem to be even a little bit worried, how are the readers expected to be, especially when they know what happens next. Since we knew everything would be fine and we didn’t have any internal drama to focus on, this book was boring. And no book that’s largely told in Magnus Bane’s perspective should ever be boring!
Maybe reading this book after ‘Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy’and before ‘The Dark Artifices’ would make it more enjoyable. However, in my opinion, it would still be subpar. Afterall, a great story is one that can be read again & again and still be enjoyed. And this is not that.
I recommend this book to hardcore fans of The Mortal Instruments & Cassie Clare. ‘The Lost Book of the White’ does nothing to expand upon the plot of the previous stories. And it does not offer any crucial information that will be needed to understand and enjoy the other series in development: ‘The Last Hours’ & ‘The Wicked Powers’. Therefore, unless ‘The Black Volume of the Dead’ results to be a masterpiece that must be read, then I don’t think this is a must read for casual fans.
A More In Depth Review
***SPOILER ALERT***
Before I get into the multiple reasons why this book is average at best, let’s talk about the good parts of this book.
The most powerful and best moment in this book happens when the characters find out Tian is a “spy”. Magnus’s speech about the importance of Shadowhunters and their duty was beautiful, especially since it came from a character that has suffered so much at their hands.
“That… is bullshit, Ke Yi Tian. You are not just some mundane. You are a Shadowhunter. You have a duty. A responsibility. You have a high and holy purpose, do you understand me? You are the protector, of our world. Ordained by the Angel. Instilled with his fire. Given the gifts of Heaven! I know Shadowhunters, Tian. I’ve known them for centuries. I’ve seen them at their best, and at their worst. But I’ve known others, too, Downworlders, mundanes, and if there is one thing that Shadowhunters must understand, it is that they are not like other people. They love, they build, they covet wealth—when there is time. When the duty—the solemn duty, the only duty, the barrier dividing the living creatures of Earth from oblivion at the hands of literal, actual pure evil allows them to. All love is important. Your love is important. And for some people, their love can be the single most important thing, more important than even the whole world. But not for Shadowhunters. Because keeping the whole world safe is not everyone’s reason for being, but it absolutely is yours.” - Magnus
This is one of the few circumstances in which we realize how old Magnus truly is. For its only centuries of living that could have imparted him the wisdom to understand Shadowhunters better than they do so themselves. What makes Shadowhunters special is not their power, but their willingness to put the safety of the world before their own interests and desires. And this is also what differentiates good Shadowhunters from the likes of The Circle and The Cohort.
Other amazing moments in this book were Magnus’s first meeting with Ragnor and Catarina. Both of these offered much needed insight on why their friendship has been strong enough to survive centuries. It also helped the readers understand better why these three are so special. Unlike other warlocks, Ragnor, Magnus and Catarina have rejected the solitary life and instead embraced the sometimes hurtful but also full life that comes with caring for others. It’s for this reason that they’ve lived so long without becoming lost and unhinged like other immortals such as Shinyun, Camille and Malcom have. These were beautiful scenes that brought to the front the strength of Clare’s writing: the characters deep relationships with each other. They were two of the few scenes in the whole book were the characters had true heartfelt interactions for more than a few lines. And thus, these were two of the best moments in the whole book.
Another good, yet brief, scene in this book was Simon’s outburst. It was good for the reader to get closure on George’s death. Also, it was great to see Simon realize that Shadowhunters, though powerful, are not invulnerable or invincible. Even while doing nothing dangerous, a Shadowhunter can lose their life. Which must be a scary thought to beings that are used to fighting demons and facing the impossible. It was a great heartfelt moment that reminded the reader that even Shadowhunters can feel fear.
Lastly, my favorite character of the book was Isabelle. Even though, like always, she didn’t get enough scenes, Isabelle was easily the most badass character in this book. She was as strong, smart and beautiful as she has always been. She is a powerful woman that does not need a parabatai or a lover to save her and I love her for that. I mean, this is how you make an exit:
“I swear upon the power of the Angel, that I will return. I will return, and we will tear down this place. We will scatter the undead to the winds. And I will, personally, tear you into ribbons.” – Isabelle
Now, enough procrastinating, let’s discuss the less pleasant aspects of this book.
This book is best described by Alec at the beginning of Chapter 19:
“For this whole mission they’d been working on hunches, mostly Magnus’s hunches. A hunch that Peng Fang would know something about the warlocks in the Market. A hunch that the cathedral would be in Diyu and would be safe. A hunch that the Heibai Wuchang could be used to save Ragnor.”
And this is exactly one of my main problems with this book. Every one of the characters actions was guided by luck. They do not defeat the villains and win the day because of their own strength and wits. They do so because they are lucky. They are lucky that everywhere they go and every person they talk to in the Market has information on a centuries old place and weapon. They are lucky that Sammael can’t be bothered to flip his hand and kill them. They are lucky that stabbing Ragnor with the Heibai Wuchang and Alec with the thorn save Ragnor and Magnus, respectively. They are lucky that at the end Shinyun doesn’t decide to kill Magnus or the others. And so much luck is boring. I can handle a few instances in which luck and instincts help them survive. But I can’t handle when EVERY SINGLE CONFLICT is solved by luck. I like to see the heroes actually struggle and persevere by their own merits. I don’t enjoy when it seems as if they have a guardian angel guiding them through the whole process. And the writers admitting to their luck does not make up for the fact that it’s lazy writing.
Now, let’s talk about the characters. I believe that the greatest part about the Shadowhunter Chronicles are its characters and their interactions. The plot and writing of the first couple of books in The Mortal Instruments, ‘The City of Bones’ and ‘The City of Ashes’, was messy and amateurish. They both read like bad fanfictions instead of published books. However, they had something special that made readers interested enough to stick with the series until Cassandra Clare lost her greenness and developed into an amazing author. That spark was its characters. To this point, I believe that The Mortal Instruments has the best characters of the whole saga. While, The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices have much better writing and development, nothing can compare to the chemistry between the New York Shadowhunters and their allies. Moreover, TMI is the only series of the Shadowhunter Chronicles that managed to provide great villains in the form of Valentine and Sebastian. The characters in this first series were so great that they managed to survive the minefield that was Clare’s writing in the beginning of her career. Therefore, you can imagine my shock when the same characters failed to provide enjoyment in a book written after the masterpiece that is ‘The Dark Artifices’. In paper, it should have been great! How could a much more experienced and talented writer mess up a new story with her best characters? It should be impossible! Sadly, it wasn’t. Somehow, Clare and Chu managed to do the impossible and create an average, at best, book. Why? How? Easy, the characters we all fell in love with during The Mortal Instruments were not there. The Magnus & Alec, Jace & Clary and Isabelle & Simon we see in ‘The Lost Book of the White’ are merely empty husks and cliche versions of their true selves. They had some good one-liners throughout the book, but they lacked chemistry through the majority of it. Mainly, because there were very few instances in which they actually interacted with each other. Instead of talking and resolving their troubles together, the characters just kept hopping from place to place letting circumstances and luck guide them to their next destination. They seemed lost and so were we.
Another issue I had with this book is the lack of stakes. All the conflicts in this story seem inconsequential and unthreatening. The readers do not feel afraid that Magnus will have to die or become Sammael’s lacky, because they already know that he won’t. The readers do not care that Magnus has seemingly lost his best friend to Sammael because they know that somehow, he’ll be rescued by the time ‘Queen of Air and Darkness’ takes place. The author should have at least made Ragnor and Magnus make some grave mistakes while in the control of the thorn. This way the reader would be at least preoccupied by the emotional damage and repercussions they may face. But alas, nothing of consequence happened in this book.
The readers are especially unaffected by these “main conflicts” of the story because the characters themselves don’t seem worried at all. After finding out that Magnus will either die or become Sammael’s slave, Alec’s reaction is to go training and when he can’t do that he just decides to have sex. In what world would that be the appropriate reaction after the love of your life is stabbed and cursed! Also, even though “irreversibly” possessed, Ragnor’s personality seems intact and Magnus just keeps saying “they’ll find a way to safe him”. We know they’ll find a way to save both Magnus and Ragnor, but the characters don’t. They should be devastated! But despite Magnus and Alec being the two narrators of the story, we seldomly see them worry about their love one’s safety. During TRSOM, Alec and Magnus were extremely worried about how the latter’s action of founding a cult may affect them. We knew that nothing was going to come of it. But Alec’s worry for Magnus’s safety and Magnus’s worry of losing Alec was so strong that it made us worry. In contrast, since they are not worried at all during this book, we didn’t feel anything at all either.
Also, the reader does not care that Jace and Simon are worried about taking over the institute and being a Shadowhunter, respectively. The book only mentions these conflicts briefly and don’t expand upon them at all. And since we already know they’ll be fine, we find ourselves not caring at all. Thus, nothing of consequence happened during the whole book. There was no real threat, physical or emotional, to any of the characters so none of the “battles” were interesting. And as I previously stated, there were not enough glorious interactions between the characters to compensate for the lack of stakes. Consequently, this book felt like an unnecessary filler episode that wastes the reader’s time.
Now, let’s talk about our villains. Villains are not Cassandra Clare’s strongest suit. Sure, she did wonderfully with evil yet brilliant Valentine and cruel and creepy Sebastian, but besides them her villains are mostly forgettable plot devices. And I do mean forgettable since I had to google search who was the main villain in The Infernal Devices (Axel Mortmain). However, with the exception of maybe Maureen, no villains have been as unthreatening and uninteresting as Sammael and Shinyun were in this book. I liked Shinyun’s character in TRSOM. I loved that she was a strong intelligent woman whose trust had been betrayed. I found it interesting to have a villain to which Magnus could so deeply relate to. A villain that represented what he himself could have become had he not been so lucky. A villain who had trusted in the wrong people and was betrayed as Magnus has often experienced himself. I was intrigued by the possibilities of her redemption, her arc as an antihero or her return as a great main foe. I was looking forward to her becoming an independent woman who was a force to be reckon with whether she was a villain, an antihero or a hero. She was interesting and complicated and a breath of fresh air in the Shadowhunter Chronicles. However, this book ruined her character. She did not possess an ounce of intelligence or inner strength. Like Annabel, Shinyun became just another crazy woman whose actions made no sense at all.
There were some brief moments in which we saw the old Shinyun and the great potential she once had. In TRSOM, Shinyun is a character who seeks power in order to never feel as defenseless as she once felt. By the end of that book, I’d hoped she would realized that power comes from within and the bonds you make with others. However, instead of learning her lesson from Asmodeus betrayal, Shinyun makes the same mistakes again on this book with Sammael. When she breaks away from Sammael’s control and she says:
“True power is to depend on no one, on nothing. If I cannot trust anyone else to rule over me, then I will rule myself. And I will rule alone.” - Shinyun
We see a glimpse of the strong female character we got introduced to in TRSOM. Hopefully, she does become a strong foe instead of another crazy lady for the last book in the series. I really want to see the battle of ideals between her and Magnus about what power truly is and where it comes from.
Sammael is an even worse villain than Shinyun. His character does nothing at all in this book. There was not a single moment in which I was afraid of him. And honestly, the other characters didn’t seem afraid of him either. Even Shinyun and Ragnor who are supposedly his slaves don’t respect him! I was terrified of Asmodeus when he showed up in ‘City of Heavenly Fire’. Hell, I was even scared of Belial when he briefly showed up in ‘Ghosts of the Shadow Market’. But I felt nothing but annoyance when Sammael showed up. Even when he “showed” his dark side while torturing Simon, I felt no dread or fear. Just because the authors tell us that he is scary and powerful, does not make it real. You have to show the readers through actions that a character is evil and that we should fear him. And sadly, they did not and thus we couldn’t care less about him.
Moving on from villains…let’s talk about plot holes! The “slave” aspect of the thorn makes no sense. Based on what the writers tell us, by being stabbed three times, warlocks lose their will and become enslaved to Sammael. This means that he or she will not wish for anything that Sammael does not wish for himself. Therefore, how does Shinyun has plans of her own? How does she have the will to try and keep Sammael from torturing Simon? How does she have the will to take over the orb, leave Sammael and destroy Diyu? By taking more of his power, Shinyun should have been even more under Sammael’s control. I don’t understand how a person can be a slave to another’s will and still have will of their own. Shouldn’t the thorn act like the Infernal Cup? Shouldn’t Shinyun and Ragnor become warlock versions of the Dark Shadowhunters? It does not make any sense at all. The writers should have made it clearer that they were completely under Sammael’s control. This way they could make him more of a threat and inflict more emotional trauma and conflict to the Shadowhunters and warlocks. Furthermore, this would have resolved the second plot hole I want to discuss: Why won’t Magnus and the Shadowhunters try to kill Shinyun? As soon as Shinyun threatened Max’s life and stabbed Magnus, Alec and Magnus should have become enraged and at least tried to kill her. Why do they keep giving this woman more chances? Like most of this book, it does not make any sense. I cannot tell you how happy I was when Magnus finally decided to attack her. I literally wrote “F*cking finally” on my notes.
Other minor things that annoyed me:
Magnus and Alec’s relationship seemed stronger in ‘The Red Scrolls of Magic’. Even though they had so many insecurities in the previous book, they seemed to trust each other more then, than they do now that they have been together for years and have a baby together. During the beginning of the book, Magnus’s has some paranoid inner thoughts about how Alec does not trust him. He also seemed to be having anger issues. And I thought that this was because of the thorn. But then nothing came of it and Magnus just kept doing things on his own and pushing Alec away. This made no sense. By this point, their relationship should be strong enough to have overcome these petty insecurities.
Magnus and Alec sometimes show lack of concern for their child where they really shouldn’t. The main example of this is when Maryse asks Alec for a way to “neutralize” his son and he does not mention it again. I would be pissed if my mother asked me how to neutralize my child. And I would be even more pissed if my mother used to be a member of a group that literally wanted to neutralize the race of my child by killing them off.
For four books (COFA, COLS, COHF & TRSOM) we’ve seen Magnus struggle to trust anyone, including the love of his life, with the fact that he is Asmodeus son. And in this book, he tells Tian after only two days of knowing him AND after he comes out as a double agent. This cheapens Magnus and Alec’s struggles in the previous books and their character development.
But, enough with the bad stuff. Let’s discuss some foreshadowing! Firstly, the book mentions The Cohort, The Cold Peace and the lack of trust between the Shadowhunters a couple of times.
“It’s just getting worse, among Shadowhunters. Less and less trust. More and more secrets. I don’t know how far the system can bend before it breaks.” - Alec
Obviously, these mentions foreshadow the events that transpire in TDA and that we’ll continue to explore during The Wicked Powers. For new readers that read the saga in chronological order, these will be interesting pieces of foreshadowing. However, for those of us that have read TDA before this book, they are not very meaningful.
Another moment that may have been foreshadowing happened while Magnus’ and the Shadowhunters were falling. During this scene, Magnus has a dream in which Max’s face is as still as Shinyun. This, probably, symbolizes Magnus’s fear that he will not be able to raise Max well and he’ll become as bad as Shinyun. However, it could also be foreshadowing that maybe Max shares a demonic parent with Shinyun. Or maybe Max’s appearance at the Shadowhunter Academy while Magnus and Alec were there was not as coincidentally as it appeared. Maybe Shinyun was involved…
But who knows?! We will just have to wait and see.
I refuse to end this review on a bad note. So, here are some brief good and funny moments I enjoyed:
“A demon ate my keys.” - Alec
“And therefore bad for us.” – Simon
“Bad for the Earth.” – Magnus
“That’s bad for us. We live here.” -Simon
“Why do you have cat eyes?” – Clary
“I traded them with my cat. Now he has human eyes.” “The better to see you with, my dear.” “Why do you not have cat eyes?” - Magnus
“They’re Elytra demons. I think.” - Simon
“Any further insights to share about them? Other than their name? Greetings, Elytra demons! Welcome to our dimension. Your time here will be instructive but short.”
- Jace
“Maybe we could get T-shirts made…We tried to Prevent the Cold Peace.” –Simon
“Do you know what it’s like for your love to be illegal?” - Tian
“Tian. Yes!” - Alec
“Obviously yes. Big-time.” - Jace
“Now what?” – Magnus
“Now what? This is your rescue!” – Catarina
“I’ve never done this before! – Magnus
“How about we run? Good God, I’ve been rescued by an idiot!”
-Catarina
“I assume that you’re tolerating being hugged for this long because you are suffused with your love for me as your dearest friend and also your savior, and not because you are too weak to get away.” – Magnus
Alec was on his feet now. His seraph blade was in his hand. He shot a look of contempt at Sammael. “Michael” he said.
“He believed in gathering intelligence, doing research, being prepared. (To be fair, Isabelle and Jace also believed in those things; they just believed other people should do them, because they were boring.)” - Alec
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but not everything is about you, Magnus.”
– Sammael
“If you’ve decided that Sammael, of all people, is not powerful enough for you…You’re one hard-to-please lady, you know that?” – Magnus
“I am good at plans!” – Jace
“You are, actually good at plans. It’s just usually you’re yelling them behind you as you sprint toward danger.” – Magnus
“But you used your sumptuous brain and you’re all okay! Take that, pessimism guy!”
-Alec
“I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I’m here to Portal us back to Earth. The bad news is that I need Ragnor’s help, and he’s taking the stairs all the way down.” – Magnus
“There are these things called parks.” – Jace
“It’s been a long couple of days.” - Alec
And here are some great quotes!
“No gift was worth accepting chains as well.” -Magnus
“Art makes lives worth living, and so theft is the next-door neighbor to murder.” – Huang
“This is not a safe world, but then, I know of no safe worlds. You have to be strong to survive in all of them.” – Ragnor Fell
“You’re my heart, Magnus Bane. Stay unbroken, for me.” – Alec
“There is something righteous about someone who doesn’t turn away from danger, even when he should. Someone who sees suffering and will always choose to plunge into the flames.” – Catarina
“You believe in mercy. You believe in forgiveness. You believe in not doing things that you can’t take back.” – Shinyun
“And for some people, their love can be the single most important thing, more important than even the whole world. But not for Shadowhunters. Because keeping the whole world safe is not everyone’s reason for being, but it absolutely is yours.” - Magnus
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