Name: City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra ClarePages: 534.
Publication: 8th May 2012/Margaret K. McElderry.
Rating: ✮✮✮¾✩✩
Buy It: Amazon | Kennys | Easons
"The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.
No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?
Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.
And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?
Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series"
Review. HAS A FEW SPOILERS - BEWARE!
I was so torn between giving City of Lost Souls (COLS) a 3 and a half or 4 star rating. Then I looked at some other book I had given 3 and a half star rating and I realised I enjoyed COLS more than I enjoyed them so I decided on a 3 and three quarters stars. I cannot give the book four stars because Clary annoyed me a little too much and I also missed good old Jace.
A review is hard to write for COLS because the story has a good few subplots going. You have Simon's and Isabelle's subplots, Alec and Magnu's, Jordan and Maia's as well as Jocelyn and Luke's mini, minor subplot. That is a hell of a lot of sub-plots so I think I'm just going to write about the positives and the negative like I did for my Wings of the Wicked review.
Positives:
+Concept: The story within COLS is interesting and invigorating. You have Jace and Sebastian/Jonathan bound. What will hurt one will hurt the other. Clary has to make the toughest decisions of her life. That put everyone is quite a sticky situation if you ask me. You have the sub-plots, such as Simon coming to terms with his new life as a vampire as well as Isabelle coming to terms with having feelings, maybe even for a certain vampire. Alec is trying to get over the fact that his boyfriend is immortal and over two hundred years old and Jordan, well he is just is just a love lorn werewolf, who I actually forgot existed and I was all 'WHAT? WHO ARE YOU RANDOM BOY?'
+Simon: Simon, who is not actually my favourite character but my second favourite probably saves this book in more ways than one. His story, for me was the most interesting to read. Now that he is a day walking vampire with the Mark of Cain on his head, he has issues, especially with his family and with Jace kinda but not really being possessed, Simon steps up as a true friend to Clary. Will Simon be the hero after all? I think he deserves to be.
+Magnus: I just love Magnus. That is all. He had the best lines because I must say Jace's wit was not up to standard in this book at all. For example: “Even the trip through the Portal had not disarranged Magnus's hair spikes. He tugged on one proudly. "Check it out", he said to Isabelle. "Magic?" "Hair gel. $3.99 at Ricky's."
+Sebastian as an antagonist: Sebastian is a very good antagonist. You do not really know what he is up too. He is hard to figure out as he seems to always have an ulterior motive for everything which adds some thrills and mystery.
Negative:
-Less action: There is less fighting in the book which is a bit of a downer because the fighting scenes in TMI series's are often super cool with interesting creatures and demons.
-Over describing: The book is the second longest of the series at 534 pages. There is defintely a good few paragraphs that could be taken out mainly of description, which are mainly of Jace and his beauty.
-Clary: Girl, you got issues and not the good kind. As TMI has evolved as a well fleshed out series, Clary has devolved into a too stubborn, naive, rash and obsessive girlfriend. She does not understand that she is sixteen and that there IS more to life than Jace. She puts him ahead of her family, which is probably a no no and despite my love for Jace, I can see why Jocelyn dislikes her daughter's boyfriend. Clary, as a character has changed, she has lost her coolness and apparently her love for drawing and all she does now is whine and make stupid decisions. If you read the book, you know what I'm talking about. Towards the end, for about a page, she has an epiphany and does something heroic and then the next chapter, well, you see for yourself. Sorry, repetitive rant over. One good thing about Clary in this book is we finally see some of that Shadowhunter within her come to life. ABOUT TIME, I SAY!
Also, since City of Heavenly Fire is not out until March 2014, Clare thankfully does not end with a cliff-hanger that will have you, well, hanging of a cliff. Oh, what a terrible pun.
Final Thought.
Many series's by the fifth book are drawn out and boring but Clare has done a good job at keeping the series as fresh and eventful as she can. COLS is the game changer for these Shadowhunters and I have a feeling the real battle is just beginning.
Extra.
Here's a picture of me with the lovely Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments series.
