100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #33
33. Isabelle Lightwood, as seen in the novel series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and soon to be seen in the film City of Bones, portrayed by Jemima West
In case I've never mentioned it before, I love cheesy teen novels. This is very different from my love of YA, which I will defend with my very last breath because there are writers (Megan McCafferty, Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, John Green) who craft incredible stories everyone can relate to. I do not pretend to put forth some of the series I love as great literature because they're not; I don't think everything a person reads should be great literature. Cheesy supernatural teen novels are the reality shows of literature; I may love me some "Mad Men" but sometimes I just want to indulge in some over-the-top romance and ridiculous plot twists.
Enter The Mortal Instruments.
I vaguely knew of Cassie Clare when she was involved in the Harry Potter fandom (very long story easily summed up with: got caught plagarizing, frequently wanky, may or may not have received cash/gifts from readers who wanted her to write more fic.) Most of the criticism she receives to this day focuses on two things: her time in fandom and her weight, both of which are pretty fucked up. I don't know Cassie Clare personally, but getting frequently trashed over something you did 12 years earlier is pretty ridiculous. But, because everyone was positively thrashing this woman on ONTD, I decided I had to read the first book in the series "City of Bones" so I could see why everyone hated her. I finished the book in 2 days and immediately drove back into Lancaster so I could buy the next 2 in the series.
This series focuses around a girl named Clary Fray who discovers she's descended from a line of Shadowhunters, who are basically the children of angels who kill demons. Through too many twists and turns to sum up here, Clary ends up in the company of Jace Wayland (super hot, broody love interest who - surprise! - might be Clary's brother but whom she can't stop lusting after), Alec Lightwood (serious, stoic adopted brother of Jace who is deeply closeted but has it bad for the most fabulously gay warlock in Brooklyn, Magnus Bane), and Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's hot, bitchy sister.
Isabelle is hilarious because, at any given time, she just does not have time for this shit. She is exhausted by Clary and Jace's romantic entanglements, she just wants Alec to be happy, and she finds Clary's best friend Simon's crush on her equal parts irritating and amusing. Isabelle is also easily the biggest badass in the series (after Jace, of course, because, you know, hot love interest.) Pages upon pages are devoted to Isabelle playing up her "pretty, defenseless woman" routine and then positively destroying those who come from her. Isabelle puts up with precisely no shit; while Clary waffles and navel gazes, Isabelle just acts. She likes to piss off parents, bust her brothers' balls, and kill demons; no one pushes Isabelle around and the Angel help them if they try.
Make no mistake: this series is nowhere near as serious/layered as the Harry Potter series (which, unsurprisingly, seems to have been a gigantic influence here) but it's frothy fun, and Isabelle provides some of the biggest (if not always intentional) laughs.
And that's pretty kick-ass.
In case I've never mentioned it before, I love cheesy teen novels. This is very different from my love of YA, which I will defend with my very last breath because there are writers (Megan McCafferty, Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, John Green) who craft incredible stories everyone can relate to. I do not pretend to put forth some of the series I love as great literature because they're not; I don't think everything a person reads should be great literature. Cheesy supernatural teen novels are the reality shows of literature; I may love me some "Mad Men" but sometimes I just want to indulge in some over-the-top romance and ridiculous plot twists.
Enter The Mortal Instruments.
I vaguely knew of Cassie Clare when she was involved in the Harry Potter fandom (very long story easily summed up with: got caught plagarizing, frequently wanky, may or may not have received cash/gifts from readers who wanted her to write more fic.) Most of the criticism she receives to this day focuses on two things: her time in fandom and her weight, both of which are pretty fucked up. I don't know Cassie Clare personally, but getting frequently trashed over something you did 12 years earlier is pretty ridiculous. But, because everyone was positively thrashing this woman on ONTD, I decided I had to read the first book in the series "City of Bones" so I could see why everyone hated her. I finished the book in 2 days and immediately drove back into Lancaster so I could buy the next 2 in the series.
This series focuses around a girl named Clary Fray who discovers she's descended from a line of Shadowhunters, who are basically the children of angels who kill demons. Through too many twists and turns to sum up here, Clary ends up in the company of Jace Wayland (super hot, broody love interest who - surprise! - might be Clary's brother but whom she can't stop lusting after), Alec Lightwood (serious, stoic adopted brother of Jace who is deeply closeted but has it bad for the most fabulously gay warlock in Brooklyn, Magnus Bane), and Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's hot, bitchy sister.
Isabelle is hilarious because, at any given time, she just does not have time for this shit. She is exhausted by Clary and Jace's romantic entanglements, she just wants Alec to be happy, and she finds Clary's best friend Simon's crush on her equal parts irritating and amusing. Isabelle is also easily the biggest badass in the series (after Jace, of course, because, you know, hot love interest.) Pages upon pages are devoted to Isabelle playing up her "pretty, defenseless woman" routine and then positively destroying those who come from her. Isabelle puts up with precisely no shit; while Clary waffles and navel gazes, Isabelle just acts. She likes to piss off parents, bust her brothers' balls, and kill demons; no one pushes Isabelle around and the Angel help them if they try.
Make no mistake: this series is nowhere near as serious/layered as the Harry Potter series (which, unsurprisingly, seems to have been a gigantic influence here) but it's frothy fun, and Isabelle provides some of the biggest (if not always intentional) laughs.
And that's pretty kick-ass.