Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, #5

Summary: The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace freed from captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing, so is the boy she hates: her brother Sebastian, who is determined to bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

The Clave's magic cannot locate either boy, but Jace can't stay away from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith's magic has wrought--Jace and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other.

Only a few people believe that Jace can still be saved. Together, Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle bargain with the sinister Seelie Queen, contemplate deals with demons, and turn at last to the merciless weapon-making Iron Sisters, who might be able to forge a weapon that can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. If the Iron Sisters can't help, their only hope is to challenge Heaven and Hell--a risk that could claim their lives.

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

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Review

When I first read this amazing premise for City of Lost Souls, I was instantly dying to read the fifth book in the series that I adore. I cannot praise this series enough, for it is simply breathtaking in both the writing and the storyline. I have grown to love each of these characters, whether that be love to love them or love to hate them. They each have such unique qualities to them and a depth that I crave in the characters I read about. I picked up this book with such excitement and enthusiasm, and expectations high. Cassandra Clare has never let me down and I couldn't wait to continue this amazing series, and of course read more about the sexy Jace, even if he was supposed to truly be a bad boy in this installment.

With that being said, I was actually a little disappointed in this one. And I'm really not sure why. Perhaps my expectations were just a little too high. I still believe that Clockwork Prince is Cassie's best work yet, and after reading it, I guess I had it in my head that CoLS would thrill me just has much, but it didn't. There wasn't a whole lot of action in this one. It had several different story lines of love interests and a lot of searching for a way to free Jace for them to only come up empty handed and discouraged. Clary takes it upon herself to go with Jace and Sebastian to get an insiders view of what was going on and do a little snooping of her own. What she discovers is more terrifying than she had originally thought and with each finding, she discovers that Jace may be tied to Sebastian and lost forever. But even with this discovery, she still can't stay away from Jace and even finds herself confused with her own feelings for Jace and Sebastian, with Jace trying, very convincingly, to get Clary to see Sebastian's side of things and they both try to make her see that Sebastian isn't as bad as everyone believes.

There are so many different view points within this book. It switches to almost every one of the more prominent characters, and I found it easy to lose track of the storyline, even though they were all intermingled and came together in the end. I felt like I was on a wild goose chase, and that she needed to narrow it down to fewer characters. It was just too many to keep up with.

While this is my least favorite of Cassie's books, I will say that there were some very good scenes within and it all led up to an ending that suggests a major battle is coming and promises a more action-packed next installment. I'm really looking forward to reading it and I know that Cassie will make this series go out with a bang. After being disappointed with CoLS, I checked out some reviews of it around the blogosphere and discovered that several people have really loved it, so if you're looking to read it and are now discouraged, I still advise you to read it. I did enjoy it, but it just didn't give me that thrill that all the others in this series have.

I rate this book: