WARNING: My review will contain a spoiler, so if you're planning on reading this book for the VERY FIRST TIME, please skip over my review. Thank you.

It's a decent urban fantasy read. I remember liking it back in high school. Never a super fan, but it helped me pass the time and really stimulated my imagination. This was also the first book I ever read that had the topic of incest brought up as a plot point - a popular point of contention when discussing the series and it's author (Cassandra Clare) today. Granted, when I was younger I knew nothing of the controversy at the time - only finding out why it's somewhat controversial in early 2023. BUT without that context, I found the use of the incest plotline interesting enough at the time, and the book as received both a live-action movie that did poorly, and a TV series that's actually well-liked; so at this point the incest plotline has kinda wore itself out and isn't much of a spoiler anymore unless you're new to the series entirely (in which case, good luck not getting spoiled about the incest thing). It's definitely a one and done trick which later books will have you second guessing since it's the mystery behind the incest plotline is actually pretty well done. But yeah, it only works on a first read of the book PROVIDED you have no spoilers going in, and now that I know more about Cassandra Clare's background in writing - it's probably best if you have no idea who she is and where she stands on incest as a trope in fiction... In hindsight, knowing what I know about Cassandra Clare regarding incest sours the story for me just a little bit; though not enough for me to swear off the series or say it's something I hate now.

It just has a slight squick effect when you know what you know about Cassandra Clare and the topic of incest...

The incest plot is definitely a thing done well if you wanna come up with your own "maybe we're siblings, maybe we're not, but I also still love you" plot lines in your own work of fiction, but it's kind of beaten dead horse for The Mortal Instruments franchise since - again - the story has received both a good and bad adaptation already, so it's not as obscure as it used to be, and more people know the plot, and henceforth: the answer to the incest plot.

Other than that? The world is a magical kitchen sink, but it was enough to entertain me in high school - again, it definitely stimulates the imagination. A secret magic society hidden around New York was definitely new to me at the time. Really it's kind of baby's first urban fantasy in NYC, but it's not terrible. I liked it just fine, though I mainly remember the NYC elements more in the first book and it's subsequent live-action adaptations. ( )