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 ♥

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare


Released: March 27, 2007

Publisher: McElderry Books

Series: The Mortal Instruments, Book 1
Followed By: City of Ashes

Page Amount: 485, US Paperback
POV: 3rd Person
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:
Plot-18/20
Characters-17/20
Creativity-19/20
Writing-19/20
Pace-6/10
Ending-8/10
=87/100  B
★★★★/5


SUMMARY:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know.... -Goodreads.com

REViEW:
This has to be the hardest review I have written. I think I didn't like this book that much because of the same reasons I dislike Harry Potter. Third person point of view always bothers me.  It has to be VERY well written for me to feel any connection with the characters, and I felt that this book was a little bit lacking. I know a lot of you will disagree with me, but I have to share my honest opinion. I'm not saying this book is terrible, simply that it wasn't the book for me. I also really need romance in my books. This book is primarily an action book, which bored me. I'm a little bit strange and prefer romance over action. Please forgive me. Overall though, this book's plot was very detailed and exciting. This book just went a little bit slow to me, but that is just me. I also had very high expectations because of the glowing recommendations I read for this book.


The characters very pretty interesting. I did not feel a connection with Clary, like I would've liked. Jace was just wonderful though. His humor made this book awesome. He seriously had me laughing out loud at times. Simon... he also had a good few quotes in there. All in all, the characters really made this book memorable for me. I think that the relationship between Jace and Clary will heat up in the next books, which makes me want to keep reading. 

The ending of City of Bones was very intense. This book took me a long time to read, but once the ending came, BANG! I got my strong ending. I was excited. This book is full of twists and turns, some completely unexpected.  

My Favorite Part: The characters, mainly JACE!  

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it was not for me, but I would give it a try.
Will I be reading the sequel? Yes, I think Ms. Clare has a lot more twists up her sleeve!

Thank you for reading! 

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥