Nerd Alert!

    Hey guys!  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  I'm coming at you this week with very few ideas, so don't be surprised if I end up not posting Thursday.  That being said, I'll be doing a movie-book comparison today for The Mortal Instruments series.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in a previous post, but after finishing The Infernal Devices prequel trilogy, I had to get my hands on The Mortal Instruments and read through that series pronto.  As you might imagine, I'm already on book five of six after acquiring all six books a week ago Monday.  I can't seem to put it down and, as a result, I've watched the film version of City of Bones about three times last week in addition to checking out the TV clips for the new Shadowhunters series coming to ABC Family this January, (soon to be Freeform).  So this will be a comparison between the book series, the movie and what I've seen of the TV series thus far.  Let's get into it.

(goodreads.com)

    For those of you who don't know, I'll give a brief synopsis of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which both the movie and TV show are based off of.  Clary Fray is your typical city teenager, until she stumbles into the Pandemonium Club and her life changes forever.  She witnesses what she thinks is a brutal murder, only to discover that demons lurk in the shadows of our world.  Our only defense against these creatures are Shadowhunters, part human and part angel, who are brought up for a single purpose: to destroy demons.  Clary gets sucked into this world, while, unknown to her, her mother is captured by the same man who may hold the answers to her questions about her lost life.  After everything she's been through, Clary discovers that demons, vampires and werewolves, among other things, are very real and not part of the fairy tale her mother made her believe.  Clary has to decide whether or not she's going to accept her destiny.  This series has six books and is a great introduction to the Shadowhunter world, however, I would recommend reading the prequel trilogy The Infernal Devices before reading The Mortal Instruments to give you a better sense of the world and it's past.  I promise you won't regret it!

(youtube.com)

    For what it's worth, I thoroughly enjoyed most of the movie adaptation of the City of Bones novel.  What I loved the most about the movie was the casting.  I think they got every character spot on, including personalities and mannerisms.  It's very rare that a book-to-movie adaptation can do that, but I think this movie did it fairly well.  I thought Jace's character, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, was incredible and definitely loyal to the character of Jace in the books.  He exuded Jace everywhere, so it will be hard for someone else to take his place, (more on that when I get into the TV show).  As for Clary, I thought Lily Collins did a fantastic job, although she didn't stand out quite as much to me as Jace did.  The first three quarters of the movie were pure gold.  Even with the minor changes they did to adapt the book to screenplay, (like the scene in the greenhouse with Jace and Clary), I thought were done well and respected the book.  I actually liked some of the movie alterations better than what happened in the book.  The last quarter of the movie was a mess, I have to admit.  Although I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers, (SWOON), I didn't think he was what I had pictured for Valentine.  He looked too young in contrast to Jocelyn, (played by Lena Heady), and I didn't always believe him.  The end also seemed rushed and didn't stick with the book at all, so they lost me there.  However, when I read the books, I'm picturing this cast as I read, not the one from the TV show.

(youtube.com)

    As for the TV show, there is one thing I'm more disappointed about than anything and that's Jace.  The actor, Dominic Sherwood, has a GORGEOUS English accent and they TOOK THAT AWAY FROM HIM.  One of the reasons I loved the Jace in the movie adaptation so much is because he was stunning and attractive, partially because of his accent.  Dominic has an accent, but his character is apparently sporting a very American accent, due to them being in New York.  I will point out that not a lot of Shadowhunters are actually from the places where their institutes are located.  That being said, I was very disappointed that they didn't let Jace keep his accent for the TV show because I feel like that would give him the sort of edge he needs to really be the Jace we deserve.  I'm also not a huge fan of Clary in the TV show.  She seems headstrong and brave enough, but she also seems kind of annoying, like bold enough to go where she doesn't belong and touch everything that says, "DO NOT TOUCH."  He hair also bothers me, because it's so obviously fake, where Lily Collins' hair was more realistic.  It also looks like they changed up a lot in the first scenes of the TV show, compared to the book.  I'm already worried that the TV producers are going to change too much and deviate farther from the original path of the novel.  I still can't wait for it to come out, (I mean, check out that clip!), but I still have my doubts.

    The books have been amazing!  Since I read Harry Potter as a child, I knew how it felt to want to be something else instantly, like a wizard.  I've always wanted to be a wizard because of how much Harry Potter touched me.  I haven't felt like that in a long time.  Now, reading The Mortal Instruments, I feel like I want to be a Shadowhunter.  It's the same feeling I thought I would never have again.  This just goes to show that books have a power all their own.  But what do you think?  Are you as obsessed with Shadowhunters as I am?  Are you looking forward to the TV show?  What did you think of the movie?  Let's discuss in the comments below.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.