City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
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Review:
This is the first book in this series that I could not bring myself to give 5 stars to. I usually love these characters and can not get enough of reading about them. Unfortunately, while this was a pretty good book I just didn’t love it the way I did the rest of the series.
City of Lost Souls
begins with the hunt for Jace who after the defeat of Lillith mysteriously
disappeared. After much searching Jace appears and it is discovered that he is
now linked to Sebastian (or Jonathan whichever name he is going by these days)
and Sebastian can not be killed without killing Jace. The story centers on
finding a way to sever the ties between the boys and rescue Jace.
I think the main reason I did not enjoy this novel as much
as the others was because for most of the book Jace is under some kind of
Seabation mind control sort of thing. So While Jace is in the story he just is
not the same. I missed his witty banter and fun self. The book really fell flat
without him.
Without the real Jace to lighten up the story I had to find
a new favorite character to read about. Maia and Jordan filled that void and I
found myself liking them more in this novel then I had in any of the other
books (in all honesty prior to this book I had kind of forgotten they existed).
I also liked that Isabelle played a more pivotal role in this book and really
got to do some soul searching about what she actually wants in life. It made
her more of a real person to me.
Sebastian and his motives were more fleshed out in this book
as well. I actually came to almost see things from his warped perspective.
Don’t get me wrong he is still the bad guy, but I understand the reasons behind
his bad guy ways and have a better understanding of his master plan.
I don’t want to give any spoilers but in this book Cassandra
Clare really mucked up the lives of each of the characters. I am now excited
for the next (I think Final?) book in the series to see how Clare fixes all of
the problems created in this book and to see what happens with Sebastian.
Overall, this was a good book. It is the only Mortal
Instruments book though that I had to push myself to keep reading. I found
myself easily distracted and at times things felt repetitive. When the action
in the second half revved up though I couldn’t put the novel down and it
definitely left me excited for the next book in the series.
I have also been struggling with this one. I just have no clue how she will wrap this series up. I'm sure it will all come together in the end (I hope), but for some reason I just felt like this book was "pressured". It just was not as good as the other four.
ReplyDeleteI didn't struggle with this one like I did for CoFA. I know we didn't have our normal Jace but I kept holding on to the hope that maybe he would break through the haze he was in an finally show his true self again. I also found myself thinking that maybe Sebastian was not so bad,I actually was falling for his lies and deceit.I guess I wanted Sebastian to turn out not to be so bad.And although I do not condone Alec and Magus's relationship I was upset to see them have so much trouble and the ending of the book saddened me. I also enjoyed Maia and Jordan in this book. I think Simon actually grew as a character in this book and I enjoyed watching him on his journey to do his part to help Clary,to do his part as a best friend.He gave up a lot for the cause in this book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Jace, I missed the fact that he wasn't the same. But I have to say, this was probably my favorite one of the series (so far). I thought that the characters have really developed and grown since City of Bones, and it showed in their actions--like drinking, drugs, and sex!!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I want to read this book or not. Judging by the review I don't think I will waste my time. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful series! If you like forbidden love, uncontrollable desire and juicy secrets, this is the series for you!
ReplyDelete