City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare 
Released: March 25, 2008
Publisher: McElderry Books
Series: The Mortal Instruments, Book 2
Preceded By: City of Bones
Followed By: City of Glass
Page Amount: 453, US Paperback
POV: 3rd Person
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:

Plot-19/20

Characters-18/20

Creativity-20/20

Writing-19/20

Pace-9/10

Ending-10/10

=95/100 A

★★★★★/5

SUMMARY:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father. To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?-Goodreads.com

REViEW:

If you read my City of Bones review, you're probably wondering why I picked up this book and why I loved it after tearing apart City of Bones. Well, what can I say? This book is 100x better than the first book. From the start, this book knocks out powerful plot turn after plot turn. It was intriguing because I never knew what twist was going to happen next. There is some more romance and a love triangle in this book, which also helped move the plot along. The writing, although in the third person, made this long book feel as if it was 100 pages long. I still felt attached to almost all the characters and really liked to see the action unfold. Shadowhunters are such a unique concept and I absolutely love how that sets this series apart from other paranormal YA.


I had mixed feelings about the characters in this book. Clary, who I liked more in the first book, really got on my nerves at times throughout this installment. I'm sorry, but she just acted stupid at times. She won't listen to those who clearly have more experience and knowledge than her and ends up ruining and almost killing them all. Every. Single. Time. On the other hand, I loved all of the other characters. Alec and Magnus were adorable as always. Simon's story I had a little bit of trouble enjoying because I really liked him as a mortal and don't really like the werewolf and vampire incorporation into this series. I miss Isabelle. She's my favorite and I wish there was more of her. Jace was also one of my favorites, but like Clary, I had some issues with him. City of Bones portrayed him as a sarcastic, excuse my language, smart ass, which I personally loved. This book showed him all moody and lovey, which really made me want to gag. Yes, I am a hypocrite, because in my City of Bones review I talked about how much I hated the book because there was a minuscule amount of romance. Well, that doesn't mean I want Clare going overboard either. Jace needs to remain a witty bad boy. He just has to.

The ending made my heart pound. Clare describes the action with such descriptive and vivid details that make it read like a movie. Valentine I despise with all my heart because he is so evil. Clare played out those ending battle scenes with Valentine with such flawlessness that I was left amazed. I can't give much away, but let's just say I cannot wait for Christmas because I have a strong feeling that City of Glass will be under my tree!

My Favorite Part: The Jace-Simon-Clary love triangle angst.
ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, this is an amazing series.
Will I be reading the next book? Yes, I'm even excited to.

Thanks for reading!

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥