Sunday, July 22, 2012

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare


Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance
The Mortal Instruments, Book 5

Due to minor spoiler alerts, it is highly recommended that you have read books one through four before reading this book's description and my review.

Description (taken from Goodreads):
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace freed from captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing, so is the boy she hates: her brother Sebastian, who is determined to bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

The Clave's magic cannot locate either boy, but Jace can't stay away from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith's magic has wrought - Jace and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other.

Only a few people believe that Jace can still be saved. Together, Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle bargain with the sinister Seelie Queen, contemplate deals with demons, and turn at last to the merciless, weapon-making Iron Sisters, who might be able to forge a weapon that can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. If the Iron Sisters can't help, their only hope is to challenge Heaven and Hell - a risk that could claim their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing not just her own life, but Jace's soul. She's willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Back to Cassandra Clare's books.  Oh how I love this Shadowhunter world of hers.  But there are a couple of issues I had with this book.  One being that it jumped from one character's point of view to another's too fast.  It was very disorienting in the beginning and took me a while to remember minor details from the last book.  And another issue I had, I can't say because it'd spoil the story for you.

There's a lot of kissing in this book.  In fact, from around page 100 to 300, it's pretty much pure kissing.  I think towards the end of those pages, I questioned whether or not I was getting sick of the kissing.  And at the end of the book, I had to say nope, still loving the romance between Clary and Jace.

So minus the kissing and kick-butt action, what is this book about?  Well, Jace becomes linked to Sebastian (as we kind of figured out from the fourth book).  And Clary kind of ends up with her world turned upside down.  Evil begins to look good, and the 'good guys' never really know what good is.  That sort of thing.  However, I don't think this played out as well as I had hoped.  But that's okay (because we got the whole shadowhunter action in the book).

Do I love this series?  Yes.  Is my rating inflated due to my love for this series?  Potentially.  But I can't ignore the shadowhunting awesomeness...

One of my favorite quotes from the book:
     "I'm not going to attack you," she said impatiently.  "I can take the sight of your naked chest without swooning."
     "Are you sure?" he asked, obediently sliding the shirt off his shoulders.  "Because viewing my naked chest has caused many women to seriously injure themselves stampeding to get to me."

          ~p 402


Challenges:  Young Adult Reading Challenge

1 comment:

  1. I loved this book like the rest of the series and can't wait for the next one in the series but I think the first one is the best! Oh and there is nothing wrong with a lot of kissing:p Is was overdue after all of the holding back for 2 books of being brother and sister:) Thanks for the review!

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