City of Ashes

Summary: [I’m really lazy right now. So here’s the summary from the book] 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?

Summary: Ok, that’s a really crappy summary. It doesn’t even skim the surface of this book, but I’m too lazy to think of another one. All right, first I must make my claim that I am still in love with this series. However, I did not enjoy this book as much as I did its predecessor, City of Bones. In City of Ashes there are a few moments that Clare teeters dangerously on the line of fanfiction. One particular example of this is [SPOILER ALERT] when Simon becomes a vampire. I thought this was a ridiculous plot twist and a bit unnecessary, but I lived with it. When she revealed that he could stay in sunlight after drinking Jace’s blood [which by the way is a very obvious way of showing what Valentine did to his son, I think], then that plunged the event into fanfiction territory. Another example of this is Maia. As if we all couldn’t tell that something is going to happen between Maia and Simon. Great idea, (I mean hey I write a VampirexWerewolf story) but...very fanfiction-y.[SPOILER OVER] That being said, I did enjoy this book and I got very into it.

Like City of Bones, it is very fast paced and very in-character. It was amusing and witty—I was laughing out loud at many points in the book. There were plot twists that, again were a bit fanfictoin-y, but enjoyable in the least. I’m still fighting for Jace and Clary to not be related and I really don’t think they are. This book just strengthens the argument. Heh, and if you want to talk about a cliffhanger the ending of this book is most certainly one. I’m very eager, along with I'm sure all of the Mortal Instruments fans, to go pick up City of Glass to see what happens to our beloved Jace and Clary.

Rating: 4/5

Reviews from the Pros:

“Hold on tight for a smart, sexy thrill ride.”-Libba Bray

“A gorgeous fantasy that’s so good, it’s dangerous.”-Holly Black