Lost in Translation: ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’
So I’ve just come to the end of the first book in ‘The Mortal Instruments’ series, ‘City of Bones.’ One of the things that struck me whilst reading was how similar both the book and the film are. I figured that seen as I’d already seen the film and because the book was so similar to it, that instead of a review I’d do a comparison of the features of both of them and talk about what worked well for the different depictions. As always, beware of spoilers for ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ ahead.
While on the subject of casting, the movie either did a really great job with its choices or fell short. Personally, I felt that Jamie was a brilliant choice to play Jace, He physically fit the description, and displayed his character's ego and tortured past excellently. Similarly, Lily Collins, playing Clary, was also a fantastic choice. In fact, the only point she fell short was the Clary, in the books, is not very good looking and is described as ‘simple’. Unfortunately, because of the way filmmaking is, only good/ above average looking actors get cast but this didn’t distract from Lily’s amazing performance. As well as this, the Clary of the film was a lot more like your typical heroine, unlike in the book. Take for example before the final battle, in the book Clary asks Luke if they find Valentine (Jonathon Rhys Meyers), ‘can we kill him,’ taking the role of a more typical anti-hero rather than the protagonist Collins plays in the movie. This was most likely caused by the 12 age restriction on the film and the writers ultimately wanting to create a character for people to easily look up to and aspire to be like, which is understandable.
Perhaps the worst choice for a character in the book is the antagonist, Valentine. In the book, he is described as having white hair and older looking whereas in the film he was the opposite of this. This became a problem in the film when he is convincing Jace he is his father. Jace, as he tells us, is a ‘natural blonde’, which in the book makes sense because the younger Valentine is described as a lighter blonde. In the film, however, Valentine had black hair and Jocelyn (Lena Headey), Clary’s mother, had red hair, like she did in the book. This made it seem like he was obviously lying, making Jace’s trust in him unrealistic.
That being said there were also characters in the novel that were ultimately cut from the film. Many of these characters were just mentioned in passing, for example, Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Isabelle’s (Jemima West) parents. The most important character that was removed from the film was Raphael. Raphael is one of the Vampire Clary and Jace encounter when they rescue Simon from The Hotel Dumort. He tricks them into going into the hotel so he can kill them. In order to save Simon, Jace makes a deal which states he cannot hurt Raphael, but it was phrased in such a way that it suggested that this lasted for as long as Jace lives. I have a feeling this is going to come back to haunt Jace in a later book if he is in a fight with Raphael and can’t kill him because of this decision
.
Like most novels, characters in ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ were more detailed than their movie counterparts This is because in a book there are no worries about time, so the writer can spend longer on characterisation. The first instance of this happening is with Jace, a grossly underdeveloped character in the film. In the novel, Jace was much meaner and displayed a lot more prejudice towards humans and Downworlders, in particular, Simon. At one point Jace says to Simon, who has been pining over Isabelle, ‘Go ahead and ask her – then she can turn you down and the rest of us can get on with our lives while you fester in miserable humiliation. […] Hurry up, Mundie boy, we’ve got work to do.’ This heavily reminded me of Draco calling Hermione a ‘mud-blood’ in ‘Harry Potter’. Although Jace did show some rivalry towards Simon in the film it was nowhere close to this extreme
Having said that, this lack of characterisation may have been caused by the decision to remove ‘Jace’s father’s killers’ from the book. Of course, at the end of the book, we find out that these weren’t the killers, at least according to Valentine who claims to be his father. In the book, they first appear when Jace, Clary and Simon are in Luke’s (Aidan Turner) house. These characters showed Jace’s dark side as he struggles not to attack them.
Another character who was changed in the book, although not as drastically was Magnus Bane (Godfrey Gao). The only difference I could find that was made for him was in his reluctance to help Clary find out the truth as well as the removal of his generosity for her mother. In the book he talks about his business and Clary’s amnesia was just a contract. In the movie, however, he seemed to have more of a connection with Clary and Jocelyn, buying her painting when no one else one. I highly doubt that the Magus of the book would extend this kindness.
One of the ways a book will always outshine its movie adaptations is through its specification within its world. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the filmmaker often fails to include certain names or explanations. This was certainly the case for ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ in its descriptions of the demons. In the movie, we are told that there are humans, angels, Nephilim demons, vampires and werewolves and are not given an explanation as to where these creatures come from other than demons come through portals. In the book, however, this is expanded upon a lot more, for example, we find out that not all demons come from the same world, Vampirism and lycanthropy are demon diseases, and we are told about different types of demons as well as other magical creatures, such as the forsaken and fairies. These explanations are crucial to building a believable fully-formed world, although movies are restricted by budget and time constraints.
The first case of this we encounter is when we see the first forsaken, a concept which was removed from the film entirely. In the movie, we are told that if a human is given a mark, which the Nephilim use to enhance themselves, then they will die. In the book, however, they turn into the forsaken, a zombie-like creature. It is understandable why the creators removed these from the story as they were aiming the film at younger audiences. This would have added a dark concept to the film, particularly when, at the end of the book, Valentine starts abducting humans and turning them into Forsaken. Another similar example can be seen through the character of Abbadon, who is a greater demon, who is taken directly from The Book of Revelation in the Bible and whose name means angel of death. He is a greater demon, another detail which isn’t specified in the film.
A second example is when Clary is attacked by a demon in her home. In the movie, this demon was a kind of hellhound, whereas in the book it was a Raven, which I imagined to be a kind of giant centipede. This change was made one because a hell hound is more widely known in mythology and two to scare the audience more. I don’t believe this was a budget choice seen as both demons would have had to be computer generated.
Clary, as a character, however, was much more believable in the film than she was in the book. This was because in the movie we can clearly see Clary’s surprise and terror on being thrown into the world of shadow hunting. She collapses in the rain after learning of Luke’s ‘betrayal’ whereas in the book Clary seemed to accept it quickly. Perhaps this was because the book is written in the third person and Clary was simply internalising it but almost all films are the third person as well so this seems unlikely. I feel as though the film outshone the novel in this aspect. She also appeared a lot less forgiving in the film. When up against Jace’s abrasiveness towards Simon in the novel Clary doesn’t defend him or herself much. She certainly did not seem like the strong character Lily Collins plays.
Speaking of Luke’s apparent ‘deception’, this was one of the many parts of his character that the film got wrong. In the film, it is blatantly obvious that Luke says he ‘doesn’t care’ about Clary to protect her. He even calls out her name in order to explain to her after Valentine's men catch her spying on him. In the book, however, this is better executed as Luke refuses to talk to Clary on the phone and Clary is not discovered spying on Luke. If I hadn’t have seen the film first I would have thought that he was telling the truth, that he really was just taking care of Clary for the Mortal Cup, one of the three Mortal Instruments.
The Mortal Instruments themselves are given more attention in the book as well. In the film, we are only told about the cup, which is used to create more shadow hunters, whereas in the novel we are told about the other two, the sword and the mirror, as well as where they are. Although we are not given the information on what they do this links back to the idea of building a believable world with all the information. The film should not have mentioned the three Mortal Instruments if we were not going to be given any more information on what or where they are.
More information was also given on werewolves in the book, unlike the film. This was again most likely because of age restrictions are seen as a lot of the information we are given is violent and mature. For example, in the movie, Luke already has an established pack when he has to rescue Clary, however, in the novel he has to kill the pack leader before claiming them as his own. This provided an interesting juxtaposition to who would normally be seen as the most caring character as he is the only one that has killed someone who wasn’t a demon. He even kills ‘Jace’s father’s killers’ at the end of the book. On top of this, the rest of Luke’s backstory is given, as well as his involvement with Valentine.
This was not the only location that was changed, however. The portal which in the film is in The Institute was moved to Miss Dorothea’s (C. C. H. Pounder) house. As well as this the explanation behind it changed. In the movie, The Institute was ‘built around’ it whereas in the book it was made by Miss Dorothea. This essentially makes no sense other than maybe saving some time in having the characters travel from The Institute and Miss Dorothea’s house. The location of the final battle was also changed from The Institute to real life location, Roosevelt Island. This was most likely done because of the film's budget. It would be difficult for them to get permission to film on the island, or even recreate it when they can just change the location to a pre-made set.
The movie also changed the plot of the film, as well as Valentine's motivation for what he was trying to do. Firstly, Valentines motif in the film revolves around him creating a stronger breed of Shadowhunters by using demon blood in the Mortal Cup. In the book, however, Valentines Motif seems to symbolise a more Nazi ideology. He wants Shadow Hunters to be the only race on the planet as he sees them as purer than even humans. As well as this Valentine's followers, The Circle, who Clary even calls a ‘Fascist Organisation' at one point in the book, were given clearer motivation for being with him, in that they wanted to stop having to fight demons. Again it was probably due to the age of the audience that this was changed.
Secondly, the plot of the movie largely revolves around Clary finding her mother and The Mortal Cup. Although these story lines are still in the book, there is also the story line of the accords, which is only mentioned once in the films, when the werewolves break into the Institute, an event mind you that also doesn’t happen in the book. The accords are an agreement between Downworlders and Nephilim to keep the peace between factions. Ultimately, I feel like the filmmakers decided to remove this to keep the audiences interested. The viewers likely would not have been gripped if the film spent half an hour explaining a treaty, however, the lack of this explanation also contributed the film not getting a sequel. As well as this, the removal of other mystical creatures like the Forsaken, as previously mentioned, may have made it harder to explain why the accords are needed.
The film instead swapped out these explanations for scenes of violence. Take for example the scene in the Hotel Dumort. Jace, Clary, Isabelle and Alec go to rescue Simon who has been taken hostage by vampires, which already differs as it is only Clary and Isabelle in the novel and technically speaking Simon wasn’t kidnapped but mistaken for another vampire. In the film, they find Simon and are on their way out when they are immediately attacked by vampires, whereas in the novel Jace and Clary don’t find Simon as the Vampires come to them first. They then try negotiating before the Vampires move to attack and the werewolves help them escape, as in the film. I feel as though both events were as exciting but in a film action sequences are better because of the visual aspect.
After the circle fell, a curse was placed on the leader of the New York Institute, Hodge (Jared Hodge), which meant he isn’t able to leave the Institute. At least this was the case in the book as the movie it is heavily implied that Hodge is an Agoraphobic, the fear of leaving your home. To me, this just seemed like an incredibly pointless thing to change as Hodge appears as a desperate and traitorous character no matter if the curse is real or not.
The major detail in this part of the film that was changed involved Simon. In the book, during Magnus Bane’s party, Simon drinks a potion which turns him into a rat, whereas in the movie it just knocks him unconscious. This was changed most likely due to the extent of the fantasy. Ultimately the film tried to ground itself in realism and having this transformation may have confused the audience. The book also had other instances like this, like the vampire’s motorcycles which could fly because they run on Demon energies. This even confused me a little and seemed like a very convenient way for Jace and Clary to escape. Hopefully, these will either be explained or removed in later books. It was also unclear whether or not Simon was bitten by a vampire in the book like he was in the film. Personally, I think he was and we will see the effects in another book.
Another interesting detail of both the book and the film is how it challenges gender and sexual stereotypes. In particularly gender stereotypes are challenged through Isabelle. Part of the lore of the world of City of Bones is that women have only recently become shadowhunters, with the last generation being the first ones. Previously, if a shadowhunter did had a female baby, the child would be expected to cook and clean for the male shadowhunters while they battled. We are told this by Jace in the book when he says, ‘it’s only recently that women have been shadowhunters along with men […] I think [Isabelle’s mother never taught her how to cook because she was afraid that if she did, Isabelle would be relegated to the kitchen permanently’.
We also see sexuality challenged by her brother, Alec. In both the book and the film he pins Clary against a wall when she mentions his obvious feelings towards Alec. Although homosexuality is not banned in the world of shadowhunters it is heavily frowned upon seen as shadowhunters are dying. Both his and Isabelle’s representations bring diversity to both representations which are great for a young adult book.
One of my favourite scenes in the film occurs halfway through the movie when Jace kisses Clary for the first time and they return down to Clary’s room to spend the night together. Before they can open the door, however, they are met by Simon. In the book, it made more sense that he should be in Clary’s room as they had spent the day together and he had fallen asleep in there. In the movie, however, it seemed as if he was waiting for them to return which, on top of him drawing in Clary’s notebook, took away any sympathy we might have for his character.
As well as this we got to see Simon fight a lot more in the book than in the film. In the novel, it is revealed that he practised archery for ten years which comes is useful when the characters are fighting Abbadon. He quickly grabs a bow and shoots the demon down. Although this does give his character more depth and a greater role in the story, it is unrealistic as well as convenient. I have mentioned in reviews before that I hate it when a previously unheard piece of information is brought to light which conveniently solves a problem in the plot, which is exactly what this is. It is a result of bad planning from an author who has put the characters in a situation they cannot get out of.
Finally, at the end of the book, it is ‘revealed’ that Valentine is Jace’s and Clary’s father. This is something which I felt worked better in the film as Jace seemed more reluctant to believe his father. As the novel primarily follows Clary we don’t get to see Valentine first telling Jace and so it seemed to the reader as if he believed him straight away. Despite it obviously not being true in the film it presented Jace as a much stronger and resilient character rather than a child who is desperate for his real family back.
To conclude, I was pleasantly surprised at how similar the book and the film were, however, considering the movie wanted a sequel, the details it changed made it difficult for this to happen. As far as later books go I think Raphael will return and I do not believe Jace and Clary are real siblings. Clary even thinks at the end of the book that they do not look alike at all. I feel as though the series is going to go the same way as ‘Throne of Glass’ in that although a love triangle is being set up now, between Clary, Jace and Simon, a new character will appear midway through the series who Clary is going to be with. I will be reviewing later books in the series as and when I read them. As always feel free to leave a comment on what you thought of the book and film as well as any ideas on things you think I should review next time. If you want me to do more reviews like this in the future then let me know down in the comments and be sure to share this post on social media.
Thanks for reading.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
One thing that immediately struck me about the book and the film was just how similar the dialogue was, with some passages being a word for word translation. For example, in a deleted scene from the movie, Simon (Robert Sheehan) points out two girls that are staring at Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) to which he replies ‘Of course they are, I’m stunningly attractive.’ Scenes like this, as well as many others in the film, are great as they bring life to the characters. Although some fans Jamie may not be the best actor for Jace these lines ultimately make us see the character he is trying to portray more easily.
Perhaps the worst choice for a character in the book is the antagonist, Valentine. In the book, he is described as having white hair and older looking whereas in the film he was the opposite of this. This became a problem in the film when he is convincing Jace he is his father. Jace, as he tells us, is a ‘natural blonde’, which in the book makes sense because the younger Valentine is described as a lighter blonde. In the film, however, Valentine had black hair and Jocelyn (Lena Headey), Clary’s mother, had red hair, like she did in the book. This made it seem like he was obviously lying, making Jace’s trust in him unrealistic.
That being said there were also characters in the novel that were ultimately cut from the film. Many of these characters were just mentioned in passing, for example, Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Isabelle’s (Jemima West) parents. The most important character that was removed from the film was Raphael. Raphael is one of the Vampire Clary and Jace encounter when they rescue Simon from The Hotel Dumort. He tricks them into going into the hotel so he can kill them. In order to save Simon, Jace makes a deal which states he cannot hurt Raphael, but it was phrased in such a way that it suggested that this lasted for as long as Jace lives. I have a feeling this is going to come back to haunt Jace in a later book if he is in a fight with Raphael and can’t kill him because of this decision
.
Like most novels, characters in ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ were more detailed than their movie counterparts This is because in a book there are no worries about time, so the writer can spend longer on characterisation. The first instance of this happening is with Jace, a grossly underdeveloped character in the film. In the novel, Jace was much meaner and displayed a lot more prejudice towards humans and Downworlders, in particular, Simon. At one point Jace says to Simon, who has been pining over Isabelle, ‘Go ahead and ask her – then she can turn you down and the rest of us can get on with our lives while you fester in miserable humiliation. […] Hurry up, Mundie boy, we’ve got work to do.’ This heavily reminded me of Draco calling Hermione a ‘mud-blood’ in ‘Harry Potter’. Although Jace did show some rivalry towards Simon in the film it was nowhere close to this extreme
Having said that, this lack of characterisation may have been caused by the decision to remove ‘Jace’s father’s killers’ from the book. Of course, at the end of the book, we find out that these weren’t the killers, at least according to Valentine who claims to be his father. In the book, they first appear when Jace, Clary and Simon are in Luke’s (Aidan Turner) house. These characters showed Jace’s dark side as he struggles not to attack them.
Another character who was changed in the book, although not as drastically was Magnus Bane (Godfrey Gao). The only difference I could find that was made for him was in his reluctance to help Clary find out the truth as well as the removal of his generosity for her mother. In the book he talks about his business and Clary’s amnesia was just a contract. In the movie, however, he seemed to have more of a connection with Clary and Jocelyn, buying her painting when no one else one. I highly doubt that the Magus of the book would extend this kindness.
One of the ways a book will always outshine its movie adaptations is through its specification within its world. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the filmmaker often fails to include certain names or explanations. This was certainly the case for ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ in its descriptions of the demons. In the movie, we are told that there are humans, angels, Nephilim demons, vampires and werewolves and are not given an explanation as to where these creatures come from other than demons come through portals. In the book, however, this is expanded upon a lot more, for example, we find out that not all demons come from the same world, Vampirism and lycanthropy are demon diseases, and we are told about different types of demons as well as other magical creatures, such as the forsaken and fairies. These explanations are crucial to building a believable fully-formed world, although movies are restricted by budget and time constraints.
The first case of this we encounter is when we see the first forsaken, a concept which was removed from the film entirely. In the movie, we are told that if a human is given a mark, which the Nephilim use to enhance themselves, then they will die. In the book, however, they turn into the forsaken, a zombie-like creature. It is understandable why the creators removed these from the story as they were aiming the film at younger audiences. This would have added a dark concept to the film, particularly when, at the end of the book, Valentine starts abducting humans and turning them into Forsaken. Another similar example can be seen through the character of Abbadon, who is a greater demon, who is taken directly from The Book of Revelation in the Bible and whose name means angel of death. He is a greater demon, another detail which isn’t specified in the film.
A second example is when Clary is attacked by a demon in her home. In the movie, this demon was a kind of hellhound, whereas in the book it was a Raven, which I imagined to be a kind of giant centipede. This change was made one because a hell hound is more widely known in mythology and two to scare the audience more. I don’t believe this was a budget choice seen as both demons would have had to be computer generated.
Clary, as a character, however, was much more believable in the film than she was in the book. This was because in the movie we can clearly see Clary’s surprise and terror on being thrown into the world of shadow hunting. She collapses in the rain after learning of Luke’s ‘betrayal’ whereas in the book Clary seemed to accept it quickly. Perhaps this was because the book is written in the third person and Clary was simply internalising it but almost all films are the third person as well so this seems unlikely. I feel as though the film outshone the novel in this aspect. She also appeared a lot less forgiving in the film. When up against Jace’s abrasiveness towards Simon in the novel Clary doesn’t defend him or herself much. She certainly did not seem like the strong character Lily Collins plays.
Speaking of Luke’s apparent ‘deception’, this was one of the many parts of his character that the film got wrong. In the film, it is blatantly obvious that Luke says he ‘doesn’t care’ about Clary to protect her. He even calls out her name in order to explain to her after Valentine's men catch her spying on him. In the book, however, this is better executed as Luke refuses to talk to Clary on the phone and Clary is not discovered spying on Luke. If I hadn’t have seen the film first I would have thought that he was telling the truth, that he really was just taking care of Clary for the Mortal Cup, one of the three Mortal Instruments.
The Mortal Instruments themselves are given more attention in the book as well. In the film, we are only told about the cup, which is used to create more shadow hunters, whereas in the novel we are told about the other two, the sword and the mirror, as well as where they are. Although we are not given the information on what they do this links back to the idea of building a believable world with all the information. The film should not have mentioned the three Mortal Instruments if we were not going to be given any more information on what or where they are.
More information was also given on werewolves in the book, unlike the film. This was again most likely because of age restrictions are seen as a lot of the information we are given is violent and mature. For example, in the movie, Luke already has an established pack when he has to rescue Clary, however, in the novel he has to kill the pack leader before claiming them as his own. This provided an interesting juxtaposition to who would normally be seen as the most caring character as he is the only one that has killed someone who wasn’t a demon. He even kills ‘Jace’s father’s killers’ at the end of the book. On top of this, the rest of Luke’s backstory is given, as well as his involvement with Valentine.
This was not the only location that was changed, however. The portal which in the film is in The Institute was moved to Miss Dorothea’s (C. C. H. Pounder) house. As well as this the explanation behind it changed. In the movie, The Institute was ‘built around’ it whereas in the book it was made by Miss Dorothea. This essentially makes no sense other than maybe saving some time in having the characters travel from The Institute and Miss Dorothea’s house. The location of the final battle was also changed from The Institute to real life location, Roosevelt Island. This was most likely done because of the film's budget. It would be difficult for them to get permission to film on the island, or even recreate it when they can just change the location to a pre-made set.
The movie also changed the plot of the film, as well as Valentine's motivation for what he was trying to do. Firstly, Valentines motif in the film revolves around him creating a stronger breed of Shadowhunters by using demon blood in the Mortal Cup. In the book, however, Valentines Motif seems to symbolise a more Nazi ideology. He wants Shadow Hunters to be the only race on the planet as he sees them as purer than even humans. As well as this Valentine's followers, The Circle, who Clary even calls a ‘Fascist Organisation' at one point in the book, were given clearer motivation for being with him, in that they wanted to stop having to fight demons. Again it was probably due to the age of the audience that this was changed.
Secondly, the plot of the movie largely revolves around Clary finding her mother and The Mortal Cup. Although these story lines are still in the book, there is also the story line of the accords, which is only mentioned once in the films, when the werewolves break into the Institute, an event mind you that also doesn’t happen in the book. The accords are an agreement between Downworlders and Nephilim to keep the peace between factions. Ultimately, I feel like the filmmakers decided to remove this to keep the audiences interested. The viewers likely would not have been gripped if the film spent half an hour explaining a treaty, however, the lack of this explanation also contributed the film not getting a sequel. As well as this, the removal of other mystical creatures like the Forsaken, as previously mentioned, may have made it harder to explain why the accords are needed.
The film instead swapped out these explanations for scenes of violence. Take for example the scene in the Hotel Dumort. Jace, Clary, Isabelle and Alec go to rescue Simon who has been taken hostage by vampires, which already differs as it is only Clary and Isabelle in the novel and technically speaking Simon wasn’t kidnapped but mistaken for another vampire. In the film, they find Simon and are on their way out when they are immediately attacked by vampires, whereas in the novel Jace and Clary don’t find Simon as the Vampires come to them first. They then try negotiating before the Vampires move to attack and the werewolves help them escape, as in the film. I feel as though both events were as exciting but in a film action sequences are better because of the visual aspect.
After the circle fell, a curse was placed on the leader of the New York Institute, Hodge (Jared Hodge), which meant he isn’t able to leave the Institute. At least this was the case in the book as the movie it is heavily implied that Hodge is an Agoraphobic, the fear of leaving your home. To me, this just seemed like an incredibly pointless thing to change as Hodge appears as a desperate and traitorous character no matter if the curse is real or not.
The major detail in this part of the film that was changed involved Simon. In the book, during Magnus Bane’s party, Simon drinks a potion which turns him into a rat, whereas in the movie it just knocks him unconscious. This was changed most likely due to the extent of the fantasy. Ultimately the film tried to ground itself in realism and having this transformation may have confused the audience. The book also had other instances like this, like the vampire’s motorcycles which could fly because they run on Demon energies. This even confused me a little and seemed like a very convenient way for Jace and Clary to escape. Hopefully, these will either be explained or removed in later books. It was also unclear whether or not Simon was bitten by a vampire in the book like he was in the film. Personally, I think he was and we will see the effects in another book.
Another interesting detail of both the book and the film is how it challenges gender and sexual stereotypes. In particularly gender stereotypes are challenged through Isabelle. Part of the lore of the world of City of Bones is that women have only recently become shadowhunters, with the last generation being the first ones. Previously, if a shadowhunter did had a female baby, the child would be expected to cook and clean for the male shadowhunters while they battled. We are told this by Jace in the book when he says, ‘it’s only recently that women have been shadowhunters along with men […] I think [Isabelle’s mother never taught her how to cook because she was afraid that if she did, Isabelle would be relegated to the kitchen permanently’.
We also see sexuality challenged by her brother, Alec. In both the book and the film he pins Clary against a wall when she mentions his obvious feelings towards Alec. Although homosexuality is not banned in the world of shadowhunters it is heavily frowned upon seen as shadowhunters are dying. Both his and Isabelle’s representations bring diversity to both representations which are great for a young adult book.
One of my favourite scenes in the film occurs halfway through the movie when Jace kisses Clary for the first time and they return down to Clary’s room to spend the night together. Before they can open the door, however, they are met by Simon. In the book, it made more sense that he should be in Clary’s room as they had spent the day together and he had fallen asleep in there. In the movie, however, it seemed as if he was waiting for them to return which, on top of him drawing in Clary’s notebook, took away any sympathy we might have for his character.
As well as this we got to see Simon fight a lot more in the book than in the film. In the novel, it is revealed that he practised archery for ten years which comes is useful when the characters are fighting Abbadon. He quickly grabs a bow and shoots the demon down. Although this does give his character more depth and a greater role in the story, it is unrealistic as well as convenient. I have mentioned in reviews before that I hate it when a previously unheard piece of information is brought to light which conveniently solves a problem in the plot, which is exactly what this is. It is a result of bad planning from an author who has put the characters in a situation they cannot get out of.
Finally, at the end of the book, it is ‘revealed’ that Valentine is Jace’s and Clary’s father. This is something which I felt worked better in the film as Jace seemed more reluctant to believe his father. As the novel primarily follows Clary we don’t get to see Valentine first telling Jace and so it seemed to the reader as if he believed him straight away. Despite it obviously not being true in the film it presented Jace as a much stronger and resilient character rather than a child who is desperate for his real family back.
To conclude, I was pleasantly surprised at how similar the book and the film were, however, considering the movie wanted a sequel, the details it changed made it difficult for this to happen. As far as later books go I think Raphael will return and I do not believe Jace and Clary are real siblings. Clary even thinks at the end of the book that they do not look alike at all. I feel as though the series is going to go the same way as ‘Throne of Glass’ in that although a love triangle is being set up now, between Clary, Jace and Simon, a new character will appear midway through the series who Clary is going to be with. I will be reviewing later books in the series as and when I read them. As always feel free to leave a comment on what you thought of the book and film as well as any ideas on things you think I should review next time. If you want me to do more reviews like this in the future then let me know down in the comments and be sure to share this post on social media.
Thanks for reading.
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