Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

 

City of Lost Souls 

(The Mortal Instruments #5)

by Cassandra Clare

CITY OF LOST SOULS is book five in the The Mortal Instruments series. This series has been a long time favorite of mine since the very beginning. For me, CITY OF LOST SOULS was better than the last one, but I still don’t feel like they are up to par with the first three of the series.

I’m sure everyone noticed how much sexier this book was compared to the others in the series and I liked it fine, but also felt that it was forced in some situations. Like for example, I felt the shower scene between Maia and Jordan to be a little early since just a few pages before, Maia was yelling and walked away from him. Unlike some of the other romantic relationships that Clare has in this series, I just didn’t feel their romance. It all happened too quickly for me. On the flipside, there are two scenes where I thought the sexy bits were perfect. Scene one is where Alec comes home to Magnus after meeting with someone and Magnus asks where he went. For some reason, that moment resonated with me more than the pages involving Jordan and Maia. Similarly, the scene where Simon drinks from Isabelle also required a sexiness that was necessary and undeniable. In those moments, it worked. Sometimes I felt like the sexiness was added just for the sake of making things interesting as opposed to benefiting the plot or the character relationships. I felt a little awkward reading the sexy scenes between Jace and Clary because even though I believe these two have a deeper emotional and physical connection than everyone else in the series, there is also the fact that Jace isn’t really Jace in this book and that kept going around in the back of my mind while they were at it. It was just weird.

I also missed Jace in this book. Yes, we get some of his arrogant antics but it also didn’t feel completely right. I’m hoping we get him full throttle in the next book.

 And then there is Sebastian whom I must talk about. I don’t know what it is, but I FREAKING LOVE SEBASTIAN. I love how one moment, he can be so civil and seductive and then the next, he is out of his mind crazy!!! He is such a fabulous villain. I found it so interesting that Clary and Jace were willing to work side by side him for a week and then turn on him. Yes, I know Jace wasn’t truly himself, but Clary has no excuse. She was perfectly fine and yet, she was still able to tolerate his presence. Sebastian’s persuasion and charm is undeniable and it just shows you how well he is able to manipulate people into getting what he wants. He has single-handedly made this series a hit for me. Evil has never been so good.

 

 Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes

by Cassandra Clare

(The Mortal Instruments # 2)

You know you are fighting a losing battle with a book when you are cheering for the bad guy. And not just bad in a mummy-didn't-love-me kind of way, but evil in a I-want-to-drain-childrens-blood-so-I-can-a-release-demon-horde-and-kill-everyone way. That's right I sympathised, Valentine was evil, like a Shadowhunter Hitler really, racial cleansing and all, but atleast he was honest about it. That's what bugs me most about these books, every Shadowhunter feels exactly the same way as Valentine about Downworlders and even Mundanes; they all think they are far better, far purer then a Downworlder and far superior then a Mundane. If Valentine employed different methods other then killing children and summoning demons I am sure they would all be frog marching behind him.

But despite how I felt about the Shadowhunters attitudes towards Downworlders, I did like some aspects of the book. Ms Clare writes superbly, she has a very evokative may of describing people, emotions and the world around them her writing is like a clear window in to the world she has created, not just showing you what it looks like, but what it feels like as well. And the world she has created superimposed on to the world we know is very interesting, I like the way she uses runes and how she has transformed a very cliche magic wand into something very beautiful and deadly.

Another reason I like this book is that I like the bonds she creates between her characters, at first I thought characters like Simon, Isabelle, Luke and Alec would just be distant stars orbiting the stars of the books Jace and Clary. But this isn't the case, although they don't get as much page time as the main two they do have their own little stories and relationships that don't totally revolve around Clary and Jace. I think this adds a nice depth and complexity to the books.

Now back to the bad, I don't really like Jace and Clary to me feels very bland. Jace is irritating and although he has grown on me since the last book, I think it helps that we see things from his POV, I am just no endeared by him and his bad boy act. And Clary there doesn't seem to be anything to either like or dislike about her, she is just....there. But what freaks me out is the brother sister thing. I think the sibling relationship thing between them is a lie, and I don't understand why she has put it in there, to me it felt weird I didn't like that they were struggling with feelings of lust when they think they are brother and sister, frankly it icks me out!

This is never going to be my favourite series, there are too many things that annoy me and not enough things that I love. I think I will read the next book, but I feel no burning need to see what happens next. 

Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

  

City of Bones

The Mortal Instruments #1

by Cassandra Clare

This book has been collecting dust on my bookcase for a while now but for a couple of reasons I haven't been that excited about reading this, one because it's YA and those books generally drive me crazy and two because it has an endorsment by Stephenie "I-inflicted-Bella-Swann-upon-the-world" Meyer . However, pick it up I did and while I don't regret it I wouldn't say I was over enthused by it either.

Clary Fray is a normal 15 year old girl until she witnesses the killing of a seemingly innocent boy by a group of youths. However, normal boys don't have claws and don't fold up on themselves when they die and normal youths don't have runes inscribed on their skin. As Clary is pulled into the world of the Shadowhunters she realizes she has always been closer to it then she realized.

Before I have my little rant about what I didn't like about this book, I think I should start this review on a more positive note. I did like it and I will continue reading this series so it definitely has certain aspects that kept me reading. What I thought was great in this was the world. Cassandra Clare has crafted a fascinating world, where demons, vampires, werewolves, faeries, angels and any other species you can think of are all interconnected and live amongst us unknown, and where Shadowhunters are almost like a paranormal police force trained to make sure the Downworlders (all non human species) don't snack on the Mundanes (normal people). But I also like how she complicates the current world with politics from the past in which the adult characters all played a major part of. It is like characters from a past series are now showing up in a new series about the next generation of Shadowhunters.

So what annoyed me...I may have liked the world, but damn Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon and Alec made me realize why teenagers annoy the hell out of me. I love sarcasm as much as the next person, but really, does it have to be everything they said? Especially Jace, I know he is meant to be the romantic hero in this but damn I wanted to smack him and if I did he would make a smart arse comment back and then I would just have to murder him! I know he was supposed to have the whole tortured hero thing going on *yawn* but couldn't he brood silently? I would definitely prefer that!

Spoiler Ahead! Don't read if you don't want to know about The Twist

The Twist. I am in two minds about it. I liked the twist in itself, that Jace and Clary turned out to be brother and sister, I thought that was a great idea, but did she have to make them seem like love interests before hand? They even had a full tongued kiss!? *shudder* I don't really want a side of incest with my romance! But I like the idea, and I hope she doesn't retract it in some way and they turn out NOT to be just so they can get back to the kissing. But if they start kissing again and they are siblings I am afraid I will have to stop reading immediatley!

Spoiler Over
It was an enjoyable read and I will continue on with the series, annoying teenagers a side, as I did really enjoy the world and the history Ms Clare has created.

Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

I’ve loved this series ever since City of Bones came out. So it’s been awhile since I’ve read something new in The Mortal Instruments world! When I heard that Clare was extending her TMI series, I was thrilled, but what I didn’t expect was for the plots to intermingle with her Infernal Devices series and previous three books in the Mortal Instruments series. So if you haven’t read Clockwork Angel, DO IT BEFORE you read this one. You may miss a very important fact concerning Alec and Magnus.

I LOVE the characters in this entire series, even the bad ones! But I found that there was more of a focus on relationships in this book than the other books before.

Jace and Clary are FINALLY together in this one, but that doesn’t mean that everything is happy-happy. Jace finds himself having dreams of hurting Clary physically, sometimes going as far as holding a blade to her. Therefore, when they try to be intimate, Jace always pulls away in an effort to keep Clary safe. Meanwhile, he thinks he’s going crazy because of all his sadistic thoughts and tries to keep himself distanced. I missed Jace’s sarcastic personality, but there are glimpses of it when he reaches the end of his temper.

Then there’s Simon - the loser turned hottie – who has TWO hot chicks on each of his arms. Unfortunately, Maia and Isabella have no idea that Simon is seeing both of them at the same time. Simon plays a much larger role in this book and I love reading about him!

There is also a new(ish) character who is introduced and HE IS MY NEW FAVOURITE! Kyle tries out for Simon’s band, hoping to be the new leader singer for the group. But there’s more to him than meets the eye. I have to give Clare a lot of props for plotting this! Very smart!

Then there’s Magnus and Alec who are off in Vienna on a little vacation at the beginning of the book. But when they are called back for an emergency, they’re relationship hits some rocks. If you’ve read Clockwork Angel then you are familiar with Camille Bellecourt and her past with Magnus. Let’s just say Alec gets green with envy and his love for Magnus is tested.

And finally, one of my favourite characters from City of Glass shows up, not quite the same. But it still gets me super excited!

I know most of my friends don’t read YA, but TRY THIS ONE! It’s one of my two favourites from this genre and I swear you won’t be disappointed!!!

Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare does it again! I've been dying to read this book for so long! The anticipation in waiting for a book sometimes causes me to hype it up. Sometimes, I hype up a book too much and it flops because my expectations were so high. But no matter how excited I got for this book, it surpasses my expectations!

I love Victorian London, to the point where I wish I could live in that time. Clockwork Angel gives me that chance! The descriptions are so vivid, making you feel like you were suck back into his portal to live the real deal. I know Clare did a years worth of researching for this series and it's very evident in her books.

One other thing I loved about Clockwork Angel is it's characters. I loved Jace and the gang in The Mortal Instruments and so I worried that the new Shadowhunters wouldn't live up to them. I was wrong. They are brillant and dare I say more dark and tortured than the guys from TMI?

I've noticed that a lot in this book. There's demons and blood and guts in TMI, but in Clockwork Angel I feel like it's darker and more descriptive. There's more fighting and more deaths in this one. And lots and lots of blood.

Even the characters are darker. Will and Jem are both examples of this. Will is arrogant and says things to make him look worse than he really is. He is brooding and rude and sometimes completely unbearable. On the other hand, Jem has his own curse to deal with. His illness evokes sympathy from its readers because there is no doubt that he is suffering on a daily basis. Both men are tortured by their past. It's just that Jem is more optimistic about the future.

Nevertheless, Clare does an amazing job with world-building and character development. I'm so jealous of her writing ability. Please let Clockwork Prince come out sooner!

Favourite Quote:
"Are you highly intoxicated at the moment?" Tessa meant the question in all seriousness, bu realized the moment the words were out of her mouth that she must have sounded awfully rude - or worse, flirtatious. he seemed too steady on his feet to really be drunk, anyway. She'd seen nate intoxicated enough times to know the difference. Perhaps he was merely insane.
"How very direct, but I suppose all your Americans are, aren't you?" The boy looked amused. "Yes, your accent gives you away. What's your name, then?"
Tessa looked at him in disbelief. "What's my name?"
"Don't you know it?"