by Cassandra Clare
Spoilers
Synopsis:
To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?
Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 5 stars. This book was a turning point in the series. The characters reached a new level of maturity and self awareness that really made me proud of their growth. The character development in these rivals the Shatter Me series.
As if Jace's past wasn't tragic enough, Jace had to go and lose his last remaining relative in the past book and he didn't even know who she was until his true identity was revealed. He had a living relative he didn't know about and he lost her too.
Clary did something that drove me crazy in this book. Usually I’m pretty understanding of the ridiculous things she does, but in this book what she did was just plain stupid. She outright tells Sebastian that Magnus was not Ragnor Fell like he was originally led to believe and then she tells him her entire plan. She does all of this after Magnus specifically told her not to tell Sebastian anything. I just cannot fathom how stupid it was for her to do that.
While reading this book I was just thinking about Max and how truly devastating his death was. He was only a little boy who no one would listen to. It irks me that people never take what children say seriously because it’s “a figment of their imagination” or something else that just writes them off. Sometimes it is a figment of their imagination, but sometimes it isn’t. I’m very devastated by the entire thing. Ave Atque Vale Max Lightwood.
The characters themselves have grown a lot since the first book. Isabelle has some self reflection, she thinks about how other girls aren’t there to be competition or to be envied and how she should rethink herself. I think Izzy has had some real character growth and I’m proud of her. When she gave Clary that stern talk, I think it was very validated. Clary needed to hear what Izzy had to say just as much as Izzy had to say it.
Alec was being a bit bitchy to Magnus the past two books, keeping they relationship a secret, but he really came to terms with who he was in this book and I felt a lot of joy seeing him coming to these conclusions. Also, when Magnus told Alec he loved him I felt my chest clench because I was so happy about them reaching this new point in their relationship. This was the turning point because they were both in it, no one was denying it any longer and they had all their cards on the table.
What I failed to notice the first time reading this series was that Hodge may have been cowardly and deceptive, but he also cared about Jace and the Lightwoods. He did what he did to help Valentine because he was afraid of him and while what he was doing was wrong, he also wanted to protect these children he had known for most of their lives. I often compared Hodge to Peter Pettigrew in my mind because they both came with stunning betrayals, but while Peter ratted out the Potters to save himself, Hodge ratted out the entire clave to for his own gain, but he still had thoughts of protecting these children that he cared about. He was most definitely wrong in doing so, but I can see where he was coming from.
What I realized during my reread of the series was that I couldn't really remember much of what happened. I could remember key scenes, but not what led up to them or where they were leading. I could remember that basically Clary didn't know anything about the Shadowhunter world and was being introduced, Jace was a bit broody and had a really tragic backstory, they were fighting Valentine because he was racist, not in the traditional sense, but he still wanted a large group of people dead. I was reminded of so many things I had forgotten while reading this book.
The scene where Clary walked in on Jace and Aline kissing wasn't as terrible as I remembered it. I get really bad second hand embarrassment (seriously, I couldn't watch Seventeen Again) and the first time I read that scene I was mortified, but this time it wasn't bad at all. I had played it up so much in my mind that when I read it I thought to myself "wow that was it? that wasn't bad! what a good book!"
I feel like it's accomplishing something, but the weirdest thing I think that Jace has done in any of the books, was when he stole a single thread off of Clary's sleeve. I don't know why, maybe to remember her by, maybe as a keepsake. I really don't know, but I think it's really weird to just take a thread. Jace, what a guy.
I prefer how Magnus and Alec became publicly together better in the book than in the TV show. In the show it just significant for the two of them, specifically for Alec because he was coming to terms with who he was. But in the book is was a huge milestone for all of the Shadowhunters. Once Alec planted one on Magnus right there in the middle of a hall full of Shadowhunters, this once, homophobic, society became more open minded. Of course it didn't happen right away, but it did help other characters come to terms with who they were and they felt a lot braver about coming out because they saw Alec and how he was brave enough to do it and they felt that they could do it too. This is something I loved so much in the books, and as much as I also love TV show Malec, I think the book did it better.
Simon and Izzy's relationship just sort of died at the end of City of Bones and was nowhere to be found in City of Ashes, but I was happy to see it make a reappearance during the second half of this novel. Simon and Izzy are more of a side couple. We don't get much of them, but we're rooting for them because they oddly work well together.
Overall, this book was a huge step up from the first two books in the series. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone because I loved it.
Quotes:
“There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I'll love you then.”
“Malachi scowled. "I don't remember the Clave inviting you into the Glass City, Magnus Bane.""They didn't," Magnus said. "Your wards are down.""Really?" the Consul's voice dripped sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed."Magnus looked concerned. "That's terrible. Someone should have told you." He glanced at Luke. "Tell him the wards are down.”
“I am a man" he told her, "and men do not consume pink beverages. Get thee gone woman, and bring me something brown.”
“Is this the part where you say if I hurt her, you'll kill me?""No" Simon said, "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons.”
“Did you ever think that in a past life Alec was an old woman with ninety cats who was always yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off her lawn? Because I do,”
(I do too)
“Patience, grasshopper," said Maia. "Good things come to those who wait.""I always thought that was 'Good things come to those who do the wave,'" said Simon. "No wonder I've been so confused all my life.”
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