On: Shadowhunters: The Revival of a YA Urban Fantasy

A few years ago, I decided to read the first book in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare. My main motivation was that the movie was about to be released on DVD. I had wanted to watch it while it was in theaters but didn't have the time to read the book. So, I proceeded to read not only the first book, but the second, third, fourth and fifth! Then, I waited patiently for the release of the 6th and final book. While I waited, I watched the movie and to be honest, I was pretty neutral on it. I felt like certain aspects of the story were well portrayed and I liked the casting for Simon, Jace, and Clary, the 3 main characters of the show. However, the movie didn't do so hot and a sequel was trashed. After having watched the movie at least 10 times, I read the Infernal Devices, a series that takes the same universe from the Mortal Instruments, but is set in 1800's London. With the release of the final book in the series, I considered the story of Jace and Clary to be mostly done (a third series, the Dark Artifices is in the works and the first book was released this year. More on that later). 

But! I was wrong. Freeform picked up the series for a TV Show and the first season just wrapped up so I'm here to talk reactions/thoughts/general musings on the show. Now, in the world of the Mortal Instruments, there is a "Shadow World." The shadow world consists of all manner of legendary creatures - werewolves, vampires, warlocks, and fairies, referred to as "Downworlders." They're very real, but are able to hide themselves in plain sight. Along with the Downworlders, there are demons that wreak havoc in the human world if left to their own devices. To keep the Downworlders in line, kill demons, and protect mundanes (aka mortals), Shadowhunters also exist in this world. Half human, half angel, Shadowhunters are a race of incredibly strong, supernatural beings that hold tight to their traditions and interestingly enough, have a general disdain for both downworlders and mundanes. They're not tied to any specific religion, but train ever since they're young to fight demons. They use wand-like glass objects called seraph blades, to burn runes into their skin (kind of like getting a tattoo) which gift them with various powers depending on the rune - among these are swiftness, the ability to see across long distances, endurance, and healing. The Mortal Instruments follows the story of Clary Fray, a young girl who one day finds out that her mother was a Shadowhunter and that everything she thought she knew, was a lie. 

The Bletchley Circle

One of my many hobbies that I haven't written about in this blog yet is my love for British tv shows. I watch quite a lot of American television series as well, but some of my favorites are British, such as Sherlock and Doctor Who. I recently came across The Bletchley Circle while scrolling through Netflix and thought I would at least watch the first episode to see if I liked it. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that there are only 7 episodes in the entire series as it was canceled after the second series (first series has 3 episodes, the second series has 4). Nevertheless, I decided to watch the rest of the episodes because I was greatly intrigued by the series from the first episode alone.

The Bletchley Circle is a tale of four women who worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War II. All staff were made to sign the Official Secrets Act which prevented them  from speaking about what they did during the war. Susan, the main character, constantly refers to having done, "clerical work" during the war, as a clear reference to her inability to speak about being a codebreaker. At the end of the war, the four women each continued their lives in their own ways. Seven years later, Susan, a woman who is not only extremely intelligent but very adept at determining and predicting patterns, thinks that she knows how to find the culprit of a recent string of kidnappings and murders in London. She reaches out to her former colleagues: Millie, the spunky one who is fiercely independent and is Susan's best friend; Lucy, the youngest of the group with a photographic memory and Jean, who still has many connections from her time supervising the girls at Bletchley Park and uses these to gather more information to help their investigation.