2.5 stars

Well, I was hoping this would be the best of the three books, as I only really bothered with the second to get to the third, but I found it dull and boring. I ended up skim reading some of it. It was just samey samey as some of her other books.

Whatever has happened to Nora Roberts? This is the second trilogy she's written recently that's been poor.

A good start to the new series from Cassandra Clare. This is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series, and you should really read at least one of those first, as I'm not sure if the world of the Shadowhunters would be totally understandable if you haven't. There's less teenage angst so far in this series and it's perhaps not quite as gripping initially, but still well worth a try. On the whole I thought it was a better first book than the first one in the Mortal Instruments series. The portrayal of Victorian London is also very good, although I'm pretty sure the she got her street geography muddled at one point (The Strand lies to the west of Fleet Street, not east!)

Reread 22-25 October 2014 and still good. Much, much better than the later Mortal Instruments books.

So good I reread it within 6 months.