The Best Thing about my Book

So far, the best thing about the book that I am reading, City of Ashes, is the drama and suspense the writer uses to keep the reader wanting to turn the page.  Cassandra Clare, the author of City of Ashes and many other books (see About the Author post), leaves you with a cliffhanger at almost every end of the chapter, as well as utilizes drama in the middle of the chapter so the reader won’t get bored in the middle of reading.  All of them are good, and they make me want to keep reading on and find out what happens next.  A good example of how the author uses drama and suspense to enhance her writing is on page 26, “There was a hitch in the other girl’s voice, as if she’d been crying.  “Is Jace there?”  Clary actually held out the phone so she could stare at it before bringing the receiver back to her ear.  “Jace?  No.  Why would he be here?”  Isabelle’s answering breath echoed down the phone line like a gasp.  “The thing is… he’s gone.” (Clare, 26).  In this example, Clare leaves the reader wanting to know where Jace is, and why he went missing, and because she’s given no clues, the reader has to read on to find out what has happened to Jace.

WARNING: THIS EXAMPLE CONTAINS A SMALL SPOILER TO THOSE WHO ARE READING OR WISHING TO READ THE FIRST BOOK OF THIS SERIES, CITY OF BONES.  DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE READING OR ARE GOING TO READ CITY OF BONES!

Another example of why the best thing about City of Ashes is how the author uses drama and suspense is on page 96 and 97, “Jace looked past him, but he could see nothing but blackness beyond the faint illumination of the witchlight.  He thought of the roiling dark form he had seen before, crushing gout all light before it.  “What’s coming? What is it?” He demanded, scrabbling forward to his knees.  “I must go,” said Valentine.  “But were not done, you and I.”  Jace put his hand to the bars.  “Unchain me.  Whatever it is I want to be able to fight it.”  “Unchaining you would hardly be a kindness now.”  Valentine closed his hand around the witchlight stone completely.  It winked out, plunging the room into darkness.  Jace flung himself against the bars of the cell, his broken hand screaming its protest and pain.  “No!” he shouted.  “Father, please.”  “When you want to find me,” Valentine said, “you will find me.”  And then there was only the sound of his footsteps rapidly receding and Jace’s own ragged breathing as he slumped against the bars.” (96-97, Clare). In this example, the author uses the suspense and drama of the feeling of darkness that the reader gets while reading this passage.  The reader wonders what did Jace see in the dark, and what is his father protecting him from in the darkness, and what is the unfinished business that Jace and his father have to take care of?