My Ramblings on City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls

By: Cassandra Clare

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Author Website

Summary:

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series. (from Goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

**FYI: There will be spoilers, so read at your own risk**

 

This is a hard one for me. I love this series and I love the characters, but I'm not sure I loved this book. I liked it, and there were parts that I loved, but as a whole, when I finished this book I wasn't as excited as I remember being when I finished the last one. After a few days of thinking about it I think I've figured out why I wasn't as excited about this book and it comes down to one thing: Clary and Jace. 

At this point, after 4 books, I pretty much had a feeling like they were going to get together, they would get their HEA, it would just be a matter of how and when. I loved the twist in the last book of him getting snatched away at the last minute, but that was resolved a little too quickly for me in CoLS. We knew pretty early on where he was and what was going on, we even knew rather early what Clary's plan was for getting Jace back. Then it was just a waiting game to see how it all panned out. Since they were kept apart at the end of the last installment, I was pretty sure that they would be together by the end of this one. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, I wasn't reading each paging with anticipation in regards to how this would end up. In short I wasn't interested in Jace and Clary the way I had been. Their story for me was done, even if I didn't know exactly how they would get there. 

That said I loved everything else. I was so invested in the other couples that I couldn't wait to read more. I really liked seeing Jordan and Maia come back together and heal from the pain they had caused... and frankly, Cassie wrote them some great, hot scenes together! It was refreshing to see Isabelle let go a bit and realize that she does need people and letting Simon in doesn't mean she's weak. Watching Simon figure it all out was fun as well- he's loved Clary so long and in this book you see that really manifested as a friendship again, without the love interest part creeping in again, which really frees him up to get involved with Isabelle. 

My favorite relationship has got to be Magnus and Alec. This is the couple that I could read about all day. Their relationship is so complicated and it's almost difficult to watch them struggle to figure it out. Alec especially is hard to watch. He clearly loves Magnus, but he's struggling with all those things that come with being in your first real relationship, especially when the person you love has been in love before. The insecurity that Alec feels is compounded by having Camille whispering in his ear about Magnus' past and the possibility for Alec and Magnus to stay together forever. You get a sense that Alec is getting played by Camille and you see the train wreck coming, but you know he can't stop himself. It's sad and heartbreaking, for Alec, Magnus and the reader and it left me wanting more. This is the couple I want to read more about. This is the story I want told. I would love for Clary and Jace to come into the next story as the power couple instead of the struggling relationship and instead to watch Magnus and Alec work to find their way back to each other. 

In other words- this was a great book. It wasn't my favorite of the series, but it was a solid story and good addition to the series. I can't wait to see what happens next!