Review | 'City of Lost Souls'

City of Lost Souls
Cassandra Clare
535 pg., U.S. hardcover
Simon & Schuster
5 stars | A+



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?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.


I have loved these books since 2009, and still do, but the one thing I cannot tolerate is the over-usage of erotica. I mean, seriously, in a matter of life and death and loss, Jace's shirt slides up a little bit and Clary gets all flustered and turned on. Calm the hell down, Clarissa Fray, it's just a stomach. Just a forewarning, this review will contain spoilers to the entire Mortal Instruments series, including this one, as well as allusions to its companion/prequel series, The Infernal Devices.
WRITING:

• PACING -- The Mortal Instruments series is one that is very well-written. Honestly, I think that's what I love most about the series, besides it's mostly-astounding plots. So CoLS was no exception, and that really pleased me. The story follows the quick-pacing that has been going on recently in the series, although I think City of Bones and Glass are a little less fast-paced than the others. I started the book one night, read 200 pages, and then the next day read the other 335 pages, and I'm sure that's the case for most fans of TMI. It's just so enthralling and attention-sucking, and it requires your attention without really asking for it. 
• DIALOGUE -- The dialogue in TMI uses a lot of dark, witty humor. It's not really laugh-out-loud humor, but a kind of "oh, yeah, I get it" type. I probably laughed more at Fallen Angels than any of the others, including The Infernal Devices, so I was pretty let down that this book had less jokes, but I suppose I did like the seriousness of the story. There were some annoying, unrealistic pieces of dialogue, mainly from Clary and Jace, but we get those in every book, and while that's no excuse, I've grown accustomed to it. Magnus also has some weird remarks that just don't do anything, so that was also a disappoint, for I like Magnus, but I think that he's become so immature lately, but more on that later.
• ORIGINALITY -- Cassandra Clare definitely has a unique style of writing, unlike the author that I previously read a book from (Lissa Price, Starters). It's always refreshing to go back to Clare's books, because I know that she's got such intense, humorous, and then frightening writing that complements the pacing perfectly, and is able to grab you for such a long time and never let you go. That's really what I love about her. YOU ROCK, CASSIE CLARE. DON'T EVER CHANGE.

STORY:

It's time for my version of the summary! So after the events of Fallen Angels, Jace and Sebastian have disappeared, and it's become against Clave law to search for them, so, of course, the entirety of the main slew of characters do so. We've got Clary, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Simon, Jordan, Maia, and a little help here and there from Jocelyn and Luke, and even a return from Aline Penhallow, which was quite enjoyable. Clary finds out that she can't harm Sebastian (which she desires to do, oh so much) without hurting Jace, so she's treading on thin water in this book after being taken by Sebastian and Jabastian (the Sebastian-ized version of Jace) who have plotted to re-create the Mortal Cup, leaving Simon to group up with Alec, Magnus, and Isabelle. In their own little subplots, Alec constantly confronts Camille, who tells him that in order to have Magnus achieve mortality, he must kill Raphael, an ex-vampire leader, who, coincidentally, wants Camille dead. Big, happy vampire family, essentially. I love how Alec's storyline came to an end; the chilling revelation that Maureen (the Simon Lewis fangirl from Fallen Angels-gone vampire) has killed Camille, now making her the leader of the New York vampires. By the way, can someone confirm that Cassie Clare named her after her friend Maureen Johnson, author of The Name of the Star? Isabelle's plot revolves around her personal struggles, most of which having to do with her feelings for Simon. Simon loses his Mark of Cain in order to receive a sword from Raziel to kill Sebastian without killing Jace. The book ends with (of course) Sebastian fleeing the scene, Jace injured, and Clary in grief. Then again, would it be a TMI book without those things? Even though I gave the book 5 stars, I wouldn't say the plot is original. The books all have the same arc, so I feel no need to judge that. The best part of the TMI books, and the TIF books, is what's sandwiched in-between; all that juicy exposition and conflict. I totally believe that Zachariah is Will Herondale, beeteedubbs, anyone with me on that? The books all begin with something happening to Jace and Clary, Simon is thrown in there, Maryse is disapproving, the story goes on, and ends with some ultimate demonic battle, yadda yadda. It's the same old, so I hope to see something different in City of Heavenly Fire, but I doubt that will happen.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:

There are so many characters in this book; The Silent Brothers, The Iron Sisters, Maureen, Camille, Raphael, and the more important ones; Jordan, Maia, Simon, Sebastian. And those were just to name a few. I want to start off with Magnus's character development. He's always been this flamboyant, fun, lovable guy from the start, but I think that he has got more...annoyingly immature as the series went along. Now, I totally ship Alec/Magnus, and have nothing against LGBT-lit, so that being said, there's a difference between saying, "Well, being with Alec loosened him up a bit! And Magnus did the same for Alec! Like, duh!" and saying, "Magnus has grown more immature." I obviously think the latter. While I strongly believe that your partner shouldn't change you, I do believe that Magnus has changed for the worse. Regarding the development of other characters, I don't think that any of them have really developed. I mean, Isabelle has surely become a looser, likable character, but Alec remains irritatingly stoic. As far as Clary goes, she's definitely changed, but she still is that vulnerable hostage. In every book, regardless of the training she does with Jace, she always seems to be kidnapped or hurt in the climactic scene, and it has grown so annoying. But I think Isabelle Lightwood puts it perfectly, "'You're Clary Fray. You go charging into battle without knowing how the hell it's going to turn out, and then you get through it on sheer guts and craziness.'"

The final book in The Moral Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire, is set to be released March 19, 2014.