torturing my husband with YA fantasy, again _ dbbc

The Disappointing Reality of The Mortal Instruments Series: A Mother's Sacrifice and the Frustration that Follows

My mom was like, unconscious or whatever, I don't think that we really get to do it. I mean, we did find out that she did it to herself in the book, in the show, and the movie. Okay, I just didn't remember that we got it in the book. This lady is the first one that reveals it to Clary that it wasn't something that was done by someone else, but rather her mom did it to herself.

She put herself into a coma or whatever, and there's nothing that a mundane doctor is gonna be able to help with. I am the only person that she entrusted with the secret of how to wake her up. So, we're kind of back square one again. Her mom is still asleep for the entire book. I told Chandler at one point, "I'm gonna lose my mind if this doesn't wake up in this book." And she didn't.

The narrator's absence was a significant part of my frustration with this book. The amount of time it took to get to the point where we find out about her mom's sacrifice was just too long. I enjoy reading at a leisurely pace, but this series has left me feeling rushed and unsatisfied. Chandler, on the other hand, is the king of listening to audiobooks on and just YouTube videos. Whatever content she consumes, she consumes it at like two or three times speed.

I don't do that ever. I really enjoy the amount of time it takes to read or listen to a book. It's not about the amount of time; it's about the experience. But, I digress. Chandler is not going to debate this with me, and we're not going to get into a argument about it.

The narrator for this audiobook was different from the one in the first book. I didn't enjoy this one as much, but maybe it's because I listened at two times speed. It would have been worse at one time speed, but I just don't love this narrator. Maybe it's not her fault that she wasn't emotionally resonant for me.

When we lose some characters in a series, it can be frustrating and emotional. I think we both lost something when we found out what happened to this lady's mom. She died because of her own sacrifice. It was a sad moment, but it also made me realize how much the series relies on these moments of revelation.

The author did a great job of building tension and suspense throughout the book. However, I didn't connect with some of the characters as much as I had hoped. There weren't enough romantic relationships to satisfy my craving for adult contemporary romance or sibling romance. The main characters are still teenagers, which was frustrating at times.

One thing that's for sure is that we will be reading the third book in the series, regardless of how disappointed we were with this one. If we decide after reading the third book that we don't want to continue with the DBVC (Downsides and Benefits of Continuing), I'll let you know. Hayden has been talking about some crazy plot twist that made her stop reading the books altogether.

That's something that needs to be addressed in a future review. Hayden seems to think it's going to be pretty bad, which is why she stopped reading. She's right; there isn't really anything else going for this series besides the answer. The author has promised some crazy revelation that's going to make you stop reading the books.

That's all I can say about that for now. I'll keep you posted if it turns out to be something significant. In the meantime, let's just agree that we're both frustrated with this book and move on to more enjoyable reads.