A Review of Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published: May 8, 2012
Series: Mortal Instruments Book #5
Genres: Young-adult fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance
Number of Pages: 560
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN-10: 1442416874
ISBN-13: 978-1442416871
Pricing: Paperback $11.01, Hardcover $16.66, Kindle $4.99, NOOK $4.99
Pros:
- Beautiful use of imagery
- Interesting character development
- Witty dialogue
- Addictive storyline
- Jace, due to extreme circumstances, isn’t himself
- The climax felt rushed
- Alec’s insecurity-driven actions
At the end of City of Fallen Angels, readers were left with a huge cliffhanger; where are Jace and Sebastian?
Although the Clave has been searching, nothing has been discovered. After a Ward is broken, the search is deprioritized. Clary decides it is time to accept her favor from the Seelie Queen. The exchange is simple; the queen’s help for the pair of faerie rings owned by the institution. Clary agrees.
While in the library stealing the rings, Sebastian and Jace walk in. Jace isn’t acting like himself, in fact neither is Sebastian. The two are actually getting along.
That evening Clary wakes to find Jace in her bed and Sebastian just outside the room. Jace asks her to leave with them, but she refuses. Jocelyn discovers the intruders and a fight breaks out. Luke is badly hurt and the Clary sees first hand how connected Jace and Sebastian are. If you hurt one, the other is injured too.
Desperate for answers, Clary eventually decides to leave with Jace and Sebastian. Leaving one faerie ring with Simon, she hopes to stay in contact with everyone she is leaving behind.
After joining the two boys, Clary learns that Jace is possessed by Sebastian. Clary’s mission becomes harder once she discovers that her ring is missing.
Back in Manhattan, the rest of “Team Good” is trying to find a way to sever the link between Jace and Sebastian. Jocelyn and Isabelle visit the Iron Sisters, only to be told a weapon can’t be forged to break the connection. A demon is raised and Simon summons the angel Raziel. Raziel trades Archangel Michael’s sword for Simon’s Mark of Cain.
A temporary injury severs the connection between Sebastian and Jace long enough for Clary to find out exactly what Sebastian’s plan is. Part one is already complete; a new Infernal Cup has been created. Jace is healed by Sebastian, and now that he is under his control again, is sent to prepare the ceremony.
After a series of events, Clary finds herself at a ceremony witnessing Sebastian raise Lilith and fill the Infernal Cup with her demon blood. Clary watches as shadowhunters volunteer to drink from the cup. “Team Good” arrives just as Sebastian tries to force the blood in Clary’s mouth. A fight breaks out and Simon gives Clary the sword. Unable to reach Sebastian, Clary stabs Jace. The connection is severed, but Sebastian gets away.
Characters:
One of my favorite parts of this book was the character development. Normally the spotlight is placed on Jace and Clary, but in City of Lost Souls everyone got their fair share of attention. For one we finally get to know Sebastian. He has always been this emotionless evil, but Clary discovers his driving force. Jace is no longer his true self, and Clary has to decide if she can share intimate moments with him. Isabelle, perfect untouchable Isabelle, starts to remove her hard exterior. Simon, who typically plays second fiddle to Jace, risks everything. To me, is the real hero of this book. Alec and Magnus’s relationship begins to teeter, and Alec’s actions eventually push it over the edge. Jordan and Maia might be able to finish their own love story after all.
After multiple books in a series have been published, and the audience starts to know the characters it becomes easy to predict what they will do next. That isn’t the case for City of Lost Souls. I found each character's development to be uniquely unexpected.
Considering the big cliffhanger City of Fallen Angels left us with I was surprised at the slow start book five had. Quite honestly it didn’t slow my pace down; the storyline soon had its grip on me. Every action felt essential to the whole book. The story had two folds: “Team Good” back in Manhattan, and Sebastian, Jace, and Clary.
The plights of “Team Good” are simply exhausting, but never disappointing. This determined group, while dealing with their own issues, would stop at nothing to put everything back to normal.
While “Team Good” were stuck with trying to find the solution, Clary had a pretty incredible time with the problem. With her we visit picturesque cities while she tries to solve the mystery. And of course this isn’t too horrible when you have beautiful Jace by your side.
Clare successfully fills this book with enticing moments. Although I found the final fight scene to be a bit too rushed, I have no complaints about the plot of this book.
I have never been one of those people that write in their books. At least not until this book series entered my life. Clare continues to deliver charming descriptions that bring this world alive for me. Imagery is one of my favorite writing techniques, and City of Lost Souls is filled with it. Some of my favorite examples are:
“The crystalline October night, the stars burning icy white against a cloudless black sky,” (Page 8, Chapter 1). “It was like tiny fishhooks embedded in your skin, pulling the truth out of you,” (Page 10, Chapter 1).
Clare also has an unmistakable talent of writing incredible dialogue. The conversations the characters have help to reveal so much about who they are and what they contribute to the whole book.
In my opinion, Cassandra Clare cannot do wrong. Each book in this series is filled with beautiful places and inspiring characters. I have become addicted to this series and City of Lost Souls only increased my obsession. If you are looking for a story that will have your heart fluttering, imagination soaring, and mind wishing for more, this is the book for you.
Once you beginning reading City of Lost Souls you are transported into a whirlwind of beautiful storybook backdrops enriched with bold characters and beautifully combination words.
Amazon average rating: 4.6/5
Barnes & Noble average rating: 4.5/5
Goodreads average rating: 4.3/5
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Author Information
Judith Rumelt, better know by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series, Infernal Devices trilogy, and the Bane Chronicles. She was born in Iran and spent her childhood traveling around the world with her family. Cassandra now lives in Massachusetts with her husband and cats. Visit Cassandra Clare’s website for more information.
About the Reviewer
Randi Hirte is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout working towards her Bachelor’s of Science in Professional Communication and Emerging Media with a concentration in Applied Journalism. She also has two minors: Art and English Writing. In her spare time Randi loves to read. Her favorite genres include: fantasy, science fiction, and YA paranormal romance.
In my revision I addressed formatting issues. I corrected the indentation I originally used to separate paragraphs. I also removed the bulleted list from the 'Similar Books' section so that it became more consistent with the other sections. I added links to the average ratings section. Finally, I considered deleting my 'Pros and Cons' section, because it isn't very common in online book reviews, but I decided to keep it because I found it useful in other reviews. For those that don't want the story spoiled by the summary, I believe it acts as vague but useful overview about how I felt about the book. I agree that putting the lists next to each other would look better, but unfortunately I could not figure out how to do that successfully in this format.
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