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City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
The Blurb On The Back:
Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act 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.
Clary is 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?
It’s two weeks after CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS. Jace is missing, as is Sebastian’s body. Although the Clave are searching for them both, they’re suspicious that Clary is complicit in their disappearance and have banned her from looking for them.
But that isn’t going to stop her.
Setting off in defiance of the Clave, she discovers that Jace’s fate is inextricably entwined with Sebastian’s and he’s no longer the person she loves. To get him back, she must play Sebastian at his own dark games. Losing will cost her everything – her life, her love and maybe even her soul.
The fifth in Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments Series is a ship-heavy curate’s egg, with interesting character development hampered by a leaden first quarter and too many minor plotlines.
The first quarter of the book’s bogged down by too many different plot lines and redundant scenes. Some are clearly set ups for Clare’s next trilogy to be set in Los Angeles complete with clunky introductions of new characters and a Jordan/Maia storyline that will please their fans but adds nothing to this story. Magnus/Alec fans will be pleased they get more page time but their relationship difficulties were immature and wasted the potentially fascinating Camille. Simon has the most interesting of the subplots, mainly because of his struggle to deal with how what he is has damaged his bond with his mum. Unfortunately Clare switches to examining his and Isabelle’s relationship, which didn’t hold my attention.
The changes to Jace were interesting and Clare deftly handles a scene where he’s horrified to realise what’s happened to him. Unfortunately he’s always had Gary-Stu tendencies and the repetition of his golden appearance became wearying, particularly in the context of the story’s conclusion. It was a relief for Clary to begin to realise how much her obsession with Jace damages to those around her and I enjoyed a scene where Simon confronts her about it. Her scenes with Sebastian similarly had bite, although the incest subtext raked over old ground. Sebastian is a fascinating villain, ruthless, creepy and utterly unable to comprehend love.
If you’re a ship fan then there’s plenty for you in this book, but for me all the shippyness slowed down the pace of the story and the angstyness got too much. I’ll read the conclusion to this trilogy but I doubt I’ll read the forthcoming LA trilogy.
The Verdict:
The fifth in Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments Series is a ship-heavy curate’s egg, with interesting character development hampered by a leaden first quarter and too many minor plotlines. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of this series and the big ships in them, then it will satisfy you but I’m finding the angsty love difficulties to be wearying and Jace is such a massive Gary-Stu that I’m losing interest (despite some interesting character development with Sebastian and Simon). Ultimately I will finish this trilogy but I doubt I’ll read the forthcoming trilogy set in LA.
Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act 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.
Clary is 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?
It’s two weeks after CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS. Jace is missing, as is Sebastian’s body. Although the Clave are searching for them both, they’re suspicious that Clary is complicit in their disappearance and have banned her from looking for them.
But that isn’t going to stop her.
Setting off in defiance of the Clave, she discovers that Jace’s fate is inextricably entwined with Sebastian’s and he’s no longer the person she loves. To get him back, she must play Sebastian at his own dark games. Losing will cost her everything – her life, her love and maybe even her soul.
The fifth in Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments Series is a ship-heavy curate’s egg, with interesting character development hampered by a leaden first quarter and too many minor plotlines.
The first quarter of the book’s bogged down by too many different plot lines and redundant scenes. Some are clearly set ups for Clare’s next trilogy to be set in Los Angeles complete with clunky introductions of new characters and a Jordan/Maia storyline that will please their fans but adds nothing to this story. Magnus/Alec fans will be pleased they get more page time but their relationship difficulties were immature and wasted the potentially fascinating Camille. Simon has the most interesting of the subplots, mainly because of his struggle to deal with how what he is has damaged his bond with his mum. Unfortunately Clare switches to examining his and Isabelle’s relationship, which didn’t hold my attention.
The changes to Jace were interesting and Clare deftly handles a scene where he’s horrified to realise what’s happened to him. Unfortunately he’s always had Gary-Stu tendencies and the repetition of his golden appearance became wearying, particularly in the context of the story’s conclusion. It was a relief for Clary to begin to realise how much her obsession with Jace damages to those around her and I enjoyed a scene where Simon confronts her about it. Her scenes with Sebastian similarly had bite, although the incest subtext raked over old ground. Sebastian is a fascinating villain, ruthless, creepy and utterly unable to comprehend love.
If you’re a ship fan then there’s plenty for you in this book, but for me all the shippyness slowed down the pace of the story and the angstyness got too much. I’ll read the conclusion to this trilogy but I doubt I’ll read the forthcoming LA trilogy.
The Verdict:
The fifth in Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments Series is a ship-heavy curate’s egg, with interesting character development hampered by a leaden first quarter and too many minor plotlines. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of this series and the big ships in them, then it will satisfy you but I’m finding the angsty love difficulties to be wearying and Jace is such a massive Gary-Stu that I’m losing interest (despite some interesting character development with Sebastian and Simon). Ultimately I will finish this trilogy but I doubt I’ll read the forthcoming trilogy set in LA.