Kimaya Rana
Okay, first of all, making a choice was exceptionally difficult for me. Being an avid reader, whenever I read a book, I get transported to a completely different universe. I do not remain Kimaya Rana anymore. I become the protagonist, I feel what she feels. As if my heart and soul are merged with the protagonist. The love, the hope, the fierce passion and the pain, I experience it all. For what feels like a short period (actually hours), I get so immersed in the book that the rest of the world, every single person, every single problem, every single voice falls away into the darkness, and there’s just me and the book. Absolute Peace!
I have always admired one character more than any other – Clary Fairchild from Cassandra Clare’s ‘The Mortal Instruments – TMI’. It is a part of the ‘Shadowhunter Chronicles’ series.
The number of books I have read in my entire life is in hundreds. I have adored reading ever since I was a child. But, TMI holds a special place in my heart. I would go across worlds only to be able to read it for the first time again.
I have heard fellow readers share their experiences of going on a reading spree, but I never quite understood the concept until I read TMI and started a reading spree myself. It was as if I could not put the book down even while I had breakfast, lunch and dinner. I read that book during my school hours. I had to work extra hard to ignore my temptations to read just one more page. My mother had to snatch that book away from me at night as I would refuse to sleep, and just a little FYI, it felt like a part of me had been ripped.
I am not quite sure why I loved the book so much, and I assume I cannot even be sure if I can point it out even now. The book itself is perfect. The story begins with Clary going to a place called Pandemonium where she meets three people- Isabelle Lightwood, Alexander Lightwood and Jace Wayland/ Lightwood/ Morgenstern/ Herondale (it’s complicated) who were invisible to the rest of the world. She later discovers that she could see them for she was one of them, one of the Shadowhunters, the demon slayers. The book revolves around how she becomes entwined with the Shadow world – Angels, demons, other shadowhunters, werewolves, warlocks, vampires and faeries. And how she finds her place amongst the others while battling with her own demons (in a quite literal sense).
There is something about supernatural fiction books that draws me towards them. It’s like there’s a magnetic connection between us. I’ve read a plethora of books, but supernatural ones feel different because, to be honest, realistic books, where the characters do not have any superpowers feel pretty ordinary to me since real-life is well Real!? Nothing like that exists, and supernatural books are my escape from that fact. I’ve read books with normal characters and they were absolutely mesmerizing, but like every reader has a preference, mine is fantasy.
A classmate and friend suggested this book to me, and I’m thankful for this day! I was going through a reading block at the time and the suggestion dragged me from the assemblage to the leading position in the race of readers. Thanks to her, I got my reading back.
I recently saw a quote from one of the many bookworm pages I follow on Instagram and I felt like it perfectly described how I felt about books-
The only thing I hate about reading is I get so attached to the characters. And after I finish the book, that’s it. I will never learn any more about them or their life or what they ate for breakfast. No matter how many times I reread the book, I will always know the same amount and it saddens me. Finishing a book means losing people close to you.
Also I little PS- I cried rivers I read the last chapter of TMI. I started with another book by Cassandra but nothing compares to TMI it stands alone at the #1 position in my heart.
This itself is a wonderful read in itself Kimaya, though am not a protagonist me self 🙂