Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: March 24th, 2009
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy
If you haven’t read City of Ashes yet, don’t read this review, as it will contain some spoilers.
As the third instalment in The Mortal Instruments series begins, Clary is preparing to travel to Idris so that she can heal her mother. Things do not go as planned when Jace, Simon and the Lightwoods are attacked by demons and forced to leave New York without Clary. Entering Idris without permission from the Clave is illegal, but Clary will do anything to save her mother. In Idris, Clary is reunited with Jace, and learns that Simon has been imprisoned by the Clave, who are afraid of a vampire that can withstand sunlight. Jace and Clary both struggle with their romantic feelings towards one another, despite the fact that they are siblings. Things become more complicated for Jace when he learns a disturbing fact about himself and his past. When Idris is in danger of attack from Valentine, the Clave is forced to decide between defending the city with the help of Downworlders or surrendering to Valentine. In the final struggle against Valentine, Clary will have to learn to use her new powers to save Idris.
City of Glass was the best book in the series so far! Like the previous books, it had a fast paced plot that quickly drew me in. It was a fun and entertaining read, even though it was a bit predictable and the characters often came to conclusions very slowly. Although there were some flaws, they didn’t stop me from enjoying this book overall. Filled with action, City of Glass was definitely a page-turner. I loved Simon’s growth as a character and his role in this book. When I started this series, I felt like the vampires and werewolves were kind of thrown in and didn’t really fit, but I was wrong. They had an important role to play in this book. I liked Valentine as a villain, because he wasn’t pure evil; he truly believed that was he was doing was for the better good. I think that Clare does a good job of showing why Jocelyn, Luke and the Lightwoods all followed him at one point. I was actually surprised to learn that there is another book in the series after this one, since everything seemed to be wrapped up in the end. This book really felt like a satisfying end of the series, since there were few loose ends. I’m interested to see what will happen in City of Fallen Angels.
Even though I figured out a lot of what was going to happen, I still had fun reading City of Glass. I think that these books are entertaining, with lots of fun characters and a captivating fantasy world. They are hard to put down, but this series didn’t have the same affect on me as books like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Delirium and The Maze Runner. I enjoyed it, but for me it’s the type of book that I finish and that’s really it. I wasn’t sad about finishing, and I easily moved onto the next book without drawing on what happened. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and entertaining YA novel packed with action.
3.5/5
"I wouldn't change it," Simon said. "I wouldn't give up loving you. Not for anything. You know what Raphael told me? That I didn't know how to be a good vampire, that vampires accept that they're dead. But as long as I remember what it was like to love you, I'll always feel like I'm alive."