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booksareawayoflife · 7 years

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City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

’Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders - or against them. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary have their own decision to make: should they pursue the love they know is forbidden?’

Book Review: no spoilers

This part of my review will be spoiler-free. I’m glad that I decided to re-read The Mortal Instruments, because I remember liking this book. Now I love it, and I know why I love it, and that will stay with me. I do feel as if the first time I read this series, I didn’t fully take it in, because right now, I am really relating to this series, and lovin’ it. Half way through, and this series is on my favourites of all time! I really hope that City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls, is good, because I have heard that the series meanders a bit. But I will read, and finish the series no matter what... I just hope that I love them. I am keeping my expectations low, so I have a greater chance of liking it.

Now... this book. So much shit happens in this book, which I won’t spoil until later, and I loved it. This book made me become sleep deprived (because I ended up reading until 5 am, and had to stop myself otherwise I would have been so tired. But I still wanted to read it!). Every time I put it down, I wanted to continuing reading. My life was solely City of Glass. It is crazy to think that the time-span between City of Bones, and City of Glass is a month and a bit. If it was reality, it would be insta-love, but in the series it doesn’t feel like it. And I am so glad. In terms of the plot, it is the best so far. Things fell into place, set up was executed nicely, things you wanted to happen, happened. There are some let downs in execution, but not enough for me to feel disappointed. I am so satisfied with the ending, that if I had to finish the series here, I would be happy to. But I am not going too, because I need more Malec. Though, it does give me hope that when I finish City of Heavenly Fire, and Clockwork Princess, I will be satisfied too.

In terms of the characters, by the end of this book I liked all the main ones. Which is rare, because I normally dislike at least one. But, the character that I connected to the least (Isabelle), kind of redeemed herself in my eyes by the end, so I had no problems. My favourite character is still Magnus Bane, but I did realise that in his relationship with Alec, Alec is definitely the dramatic one (which I kinda like, because you would expect Magnus to be the dramatic one). I am looking forward to seeing more of Magnus, and Malec.

Overall, I give this book 5/5 or 10/10. It is my favourite book in the series so far, and the pages flew by when I read it. I would definitely recommend this book if you want a classic YA fantasy read, or are a fan of the TV show. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, but I am reading it in publication order, so my next read will be book one of The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Prince. Apparently, it’s better to read in publication order, because there is foreshadowing/referencing to The Mortal Instruments, so if you read it in publication order, you won’t be spoiled. After this book, City of Fallen Angels, I’ve only partially read it, as I DNF it the first time I read it. My review should therefore be very interesting to see if I do remember anything about that book / remember why I disliked it, so keep an eye out!

SPOILERS:

From here on out, I’ll be talking more in depth on the specifics of the books. If you haven’t read this series, or this book, I would recommend not reading any further.

Plot/writing - I like how this book flows nice from City of Bones, and City of Ashes. It makes it seem as if the world stop existing as soon as you stopped reading it, and I like it. Chapter 1 ended on an action packed high, that it made me want to fast read the entire book. But I am glad that I was able to slow myself down. I do really like the way that the battle scenes were written. It gives you enough detail to tell you what’s happening, but it isn’t full of specifics so you’re bored, or confused. I also like how it focuses only on the characters which it can see.

Clary - Whilst this is the book that Clary, and Jace figure out that they’re not related, in the beginning of the book, they acted a lot like siblings when they disagreed about Clary going to Idris. Clary did annoy me the most in this book. It was because when she disregarded Luke, and Magnus’s warnings about Idris, and went ahead, and created a portal to follow Jace/Lightwood’s/Ragnor Fell. She was just such an teenager. So I was happy when she learnt the consequences of her actions, and being thrown into Lake Lyn, and having to deal with angry Luke. I did love her when she went to the Penhallow’s house though, and she didn’t take any of Isabelle’s shit, and fought her way to see Jace. I missed this strong, and sassy part of Clary. Even though Clary did annoy me in this book, there was this one quote that I related to sooo much. ’what was the point in crying when there was no one there to comfort you? And what was worse, when you couldn’t even comfort yourself.’ I related to this so much because I have been not feeling that good recently, so when I read this... I wanted to cry. For myself, as well as Clary, and I wanted to reach into the book, and hug her. I’ve never related to something so much before. The Clace kisses before they realise that they aren’t related, still gross me out. When Sebastian took Clary to the side, and asked about the book of the white, and why she gave it to Magnus a dirty downworlder, and Clary responded being like, it’s for my mom, and I know him better than you. I was like, “You go girl! Tell it to him!” I am annoyed that it takes Clary to show her power over the new runes, for the Clave to decide to fight against Valentine. Overall, I still love her.

Jace - I disliked Jace a bit in this book. I feel like the revelation that he had demon blood in him, gave him the excuse to act like a dick. But even before he found out, he still acted like a dick. I only liked him in the epilogue. I didn’t like how he treated Clary, when he found out that she was in Alicante. He basically shouted at her, in front of both of their friends. But, I did like her comeback to him of, I never thought you were Valentine’s son... until now. Even though Jace is a jackass, he is a funny one. I was suspicious of Jace, when he did come and see Clary at night, because it didn’t seem like it was Jace. But then you do have to take in consideration, that for the shadowhunters, it could have been the last night on earth for them. So I suspended my disbelief. I am glad that in the epilogue, Jace was partially happy, and no longer conflicted.

Simon - Still love Simon. But I do think that he has changed the most out of all the main characters. I did like it when he was giving Alec relationship advice when he was on his way to the Gard. I want more Alec, and Simon scenes! In both the TV show, and the books. I did feel as if Simon was in danger, as soon as he entered Idris though, so it wasn’t a surprised when he was imprisoned by Inquisitor Aldertree. I’m not sure if I approve of either Izzy, and Maia, with Simon. I guess I’ll just have to wait, and see which one I approve of. I do approve of his best friend duties with Clary. I loved it when Simon stopped Isabelle from hurting Clary with her words. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Simon as well regarding the Mark of Cain.

Alec - THERE WAS FINALLY A DISCUSSION ON ALEC’S FEELINGS FOR JACE! I am happy there was a conversation like this, and I am really happy on how it went. Because Jace told Alec, that he only liked Jace because he was safe. I was like yas, when this conversation happened, because it allowed Alec to truly move on. I was sad to find out that Malec had broken up (because Magnus didn’t want to be with someone who was pining after someone else), but spoiler alert... they get back together. The battle of Alicante did make me realise that Alec was the dramatic one in their relationship. Alec sees blue magic, and investigates to see Magnus. Magnus is fighting good, but then a demon sneaks up on him, but before anything happens, Alec jumps down and saves Magnus. The first thing that he ends up saying is, “You didn’t answer my calls.” But I did like the end of that chapter (10), when Alec is like, “If we survive this, I’ll introduce you to my parents.” The first Malec kiss that we see is so dramatic, and I love it. I wish we could have heard the conversation before the kiss. It was such a sweet moment, and it was made better with Clary/Simon/Isabelle talking about the Alliance rune, and Maia being worried that you would have to kiss the person that you were partnered with. I am looking forward to seeing a more liberated Alec.

Isabelle - Isabelle was the most annoying in this book, but by the end of it I liked her. I just disliked how rude she was to Clary when she saw her in Alicante. But I did like how they eventually became sisters in the epilogue. I do think that it was a bit catty for Isabelle not to like Clary because she knew that Jace loved Clary. It’ll be interesting to see where the character of Isabelle goes.

Magnus - I’ve been waiting for Magnus to call Clary “biscuit” and he finally fucking did. He needs to keep on calling her that because it’s so cute, and such a Magnus thing. And he admitted that he liked her! I’m glad that he just wasn’t hanging around just for the pay check. Not that I thought that... I still love his humour, and he is still my favourite character. I loved him acting as Ragnor Fell, and I do wished that this scene was in the TV show. It would have been very entertaining to watch. I was surprised to find out that Magnus was 800 years-old. It is a bit creepy if you think about how old Alec is. But I can get past that. I love how consistently sassy Magnus is, especially to Malachai. I love him, and I need more of him.

Luke - Luke was the best almost-stepfather to Clary. I loved how Clary said that Luke bought her everything that she needed (clothes, art materials etc), after her apartment got burnt down. I think in my eyes he is finally forgiven for abandoning Clary. I do still think that she should have been angry for longer at him for that, because if it wasn’t for Jace, she’d have died or been captured by Valentine. I did wish that Luke’s confession of love, had more details of his love, but I did like that whole scene. I am looking forward to his wedding!

Jocelyn - I did like the family reunion with Clary. It felt real. They obviously were happy to see each other, but Clary is angry at Jocelyn from hiding the shadow world from her. And Jocelyn, would have been apprehensive about Clary actually being a shadowhunter with no training. I am glad that Jocelyn was able to confide in Clary that Valentine most definitely intentionally allowed Luke to get ambushed by the pack of werewolves, so there would be no one around in her life to remind her that she was afraid of Valentine. I did think that the revelation that Jace was a Herondale would have been better if Valentine were to reveal it, because the execution did fall flat. I mean, I know it was good for Clary to know, but I think it would have been better revealed by the bad guy. I am happy that Jocelyn chose Luke to use the Alliance rune, and that she ran after him to tell him, that she loved him. I can’t wait to see their wedding.

Amatis - I do like Amatis. I feel like she deserves the award of the most developed character within one book. I like how she basically became Clary’s aunt. I also like how she gave Jace all her valuable things about Stephen, so he can learn more about his biological father. I also like how she rekindled her relationship with her brother in this book. I wish that we saw her in the TV show, and I hope that we see her again.

Valentine - I wish we saw more development from Valentine, before his death. But, it’ll be interesting to see how his death will impact Jace/Sebastian in later books.

Sebastian Verlac/Jonathan Morgenstern - Jonathan as Sebastian was funny. He certainly had some charm, but you could tell that there was something wrong with him. Like when Ragnor Fell mysteriously died after Clary told him that she was looking for Fell. There was too many coincidences. I really didn’t like his kiss with Clary. One because I know that they were actually related, but two, the kiss was just wrong in general. They basically kissed in the rubble of the Fairchild Manor... very sexy. I wasn’t expecting him to turn on the good guys when he did. It was unexpected, and I did like the surprise. But, I did think that he would keep up his cover after the battle too, and not reveal himself too early. Though, I did like his reveal as the bad guy to the group. The execution did fall a bit short, but it was still good, because you wasn’t expecting him to kill Hodge.

Max - I hated how everybody disregarded Max, simply because he was a child. I almost wanted to warn them, and tell them to pay more attention to him... because you never know what is going to happen... Plus, if you listened to him, he could have saved Alicante! I did wish that there was a deleted scene or au scene where we got to see Clary take Max to Forbidden Planet, and buy what manga’s he wants. I did feel sad with his death, but I feel as if his death could have been done better, and be more moving. Especially if the book took the viewpoint of Alec/Isabelle/Jace.

Aldertree - I hated Aldertree, and I am not surprised that I did. I didn’t like him in the TV Show, so I am not surprised that I didn’t like him in the books. I disliked him in the TV show more though, because he was more present, and had a more developed storyline. I did like his death, and I do hope his TV show counterpart will die. But I don’t think Aldertree will die in the TV show, because he just disappeared.

Raziel - I liked Raziel. I liked book Raziel more than TV show Raziel. I love the fact that he talked back to Valentine, and told him off, and Valentine had to deal with it. I wish the TV show was more like the book when it comes to Raziel. I wish Raziel was the one to kill Valentine in the TV show as payback for what he did to Ithuriel. I also wish that you could have seen Clary outplay Valentine.

I can’t wait to continue with The Shadowhunter Chronicles!

Love Lou xx

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