Mundie Moms

Friday, May 25, 2012

Book Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

*Spoiler Free Review* 



Released on: May 8th, 2012
Source: Book from Publisher/Purchased
5 Stars: I LOVED It!
Purchase from: Simon & Schuster | Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

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 -quoted from Goodreads

Cassie Clare is an author who proves to me time and time again just how brilliant of a writer she is. She has this ability to make me fall in love with her complex characters, her richly detailed world building and the entire history that makes up her Shadowhunter world. For me, her books go beyond loving fictional characters and wishing I could visit some of her fictional places that exist in the real world. It's the connection I feel to the series, to what some of the characters are dealing with and what they're going through. I emotionally wrap myself around everything that's going on. With City of Lost Souls she completely hooked me and took me on one heck of emotional roller coaster, and I enjoyed every moment of being back into this world I love so much.

City of Lost Souls is definitely one of those books that throws everything at you. There's some fabulous romance, betrayal, shocking moments, action, murder, heart break, sacrifices that are made, and that perfect balance of good vs evil. In true Cassie fashion she throws in humor when it's so appropriate, which is one of the many things I LOVE about this series. The snarkiness that comes from many of the characters, not just Jace, though Jace always delivers some of my favorite lines makes me, makes me laugh out and has me quoting a few of the lines to some of my friends. It's the bickering, the jabs and the constant back and forth that goes on that creates moments where I'm laughing out loud vs clutching my pillow and crying, or throwing the book and yelling "how could you" to a certain character. Not that I would every throw my book...  I love the comedic side of this series, as it balances with the darker things that happen. 

Cassie is one author who without fail completely hooks me emotional with her books every time I read them. For instance with COLS, one moment I'm fisting bumping the air and egging Clary on to go follow her heart and find Jace. The next moment I'm sighing over Izzy and Simon, laughing out loud at Simon's one liners and the wit I've come to love about him. Then I start wondering what's going to happen with Jace, to wanting to thump Alec on the head and tell him to stop wasting time on things he can't change (though I totally understood why he felt the way he did), to understanding Jocelyn and snickering at Izzy and her bluntness with Clary's mom, because she's right on with what she said. Then there's that part of me for a good portion of the book that thought maybe Sebastian isn't so bad after all.... Than wham! Everything changes and no he did not just do that! 

Cassie has this way of creating moments that give you a false sense of hope, and makes you think that maybe things will be okay. She has a knack for literally blurring the lines between what's right and what's wrong, and it leaves you tittering on the edge of which team you're on at that moment, and then all hell (literally) breaks lose and you realize that everything you thought about a character was so far fetched, you hope a certain someone gets their moment with them in the next book so that they can give him what he deserves. Yes, I'm going to keep it spoiler free, but you can read about the scene I'm referring to in Cassie's post here. I totally got why Cassie wrote this scene, and let me just say it broke me, it made me realize a few things and it had me wishing I was there with Clary, but dang this girl is incredibly strong, and I mean that in every sense of the word. 

Oh the romance. Maia and Jordan, Izzy and Simon and my favorite, Jace and Clary. Yes TMI fans, there are plenty of swoon worthy moments between the two of them and oh how I loved the way Cassie toyed with her fans in a scene. If you've read it, you'll know what I mean. I'm still laughing at how well she wrote that. Aside from some of the sweet Jace and Clary  moments, I really loved the way this story wraps up. There is heartbreak, plenty of swoon worthy moments and in the midst of what's to come in the next installment, Cassie gives fans a chance to take a deep breath and smile with the way this book ends. I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up! 

I do want to say there are some tougher scenes in this book, and Cassie did such a great job with how she tackled some of her more sensitive scenes. There is some violence and an attempted rape scene. Though these are written in a way that depict a certain someone in the book, these scenes may be hard for some fans to read. 

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