“The Mortal Instruments” series by Cassandra Clare is a six book series written in present day New York. The first book in the series is “City of Bones.”

The series revolves around Clary Fray, a 16-year-old girl, who lives in Brooklyn with her mother, Jocelyn Fray. After witnessing an event no one else saw in an all-ages club called Pandemonium, Clary is brought into a world that most people can not see.

In this world, there are Downworlders (fairies, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves), demons, angels, and Shadowhunters. Shadowhunters are part angel, part human, and their role is to kill the demons that come into their world. Most Shadowhunters live in a hidden country, called Idris, where the Clave, the Shadowhunter’s government, resides. The few Shadowhunters that live outside Idris live in Institutes across the world.

Clary and her new friends in this new world have to protect everything they love from Valentine Morgenstern, a Shadowhunter bent on destroying the Clave and all of the Downworlders.

I have personally read this series multiple times, and every time, I find a new reason to enjoy it. There is foreshadowing throughout and many plot twists. I also enjoy the way the plot connects to many events that are happening now.

The characters are very realistic. Almost all of the characters go through internal struggles, while many other series only have the main character and a few major side characters go through internal struggles. As the characters are so realistic, I was able to quickly grow attached to them.

There is also a television show, “Shadowhunters”, that is loosely based on the book series. The show can be viewed on Freeform and is currently filming the third season.

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy with a splash of romance. If you enjoyed “A Court of Thorns and Roses“ and “Throne of Glass“, you would enjoy this series as well.