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A review by rallythereaders
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
5.0
Also posted on Rally The Readers.
I LOVED this book. As much as I enjoyed most of the previous Mortal Instruments books, City of Lost Souls just hit all the right notes for me. Reading about these characters again was like meeting up with an old friend you hadn’t seen in years. It was so easy to fall right back into the story.
I wasn’t crazy over the last installment, City of Fallen Angels, mostly because I couldn’t stand Jace’s moping. It drove me insane. Yes, there was a very important, plot-related reason for it, but I still didn’t like it. And yes, I’m heavily invested in Jace's well-being; I have to remind myself constantly that he's fictional. We still don’t have the real Jace here, but this version is a huge improvement over the one from CoFA.
I feel like City of Lost Souls should have been Book Four, or at least some elements should have been in City of Fallen Angels. The build-up to the confrontation with Lilith in the latter took forever. I probably would have liked CoFA more if its pacing had been better.
Multiple characters, including Alec, Isabelle, Jordan, and Jocelyn, have points-of-view in this book. Things could have spiraled out of control very easily, but Clare juggles all of them adeptly. I really liked Alec and Isabelle’s POVs; I was glad to see them step into the spotlight a bit more. Alec’s POV was especially welcome because it meant more pages with Magnus in them!
Sebastian is truly the type of villain that you love to hate. His warped, sadistic mind makes it very easy to despise him. Yet there were a few moments in this book when I almost believed that maybe he was slightly less evil than I’d originally thought. Not only does he play games with the characters in the book, but he also toys with readers by keeping them guessing as to what his true face looks like, if he even has one.
This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our heroine, Clary. I’ve never been a big Clary fan because of her propensity to act first and think about the consequences later. I’ve always thought that Isabelle would have made a better protagonist for the series. In this book, though, Clary finally seems to realize what being a Shadowhunter is all about. She shows off some pretty mean fighting skills, and at one crucial point in the story, she reflects on a particular rash decision that she made and learns from it. Please continue in this direction, Clary; we might become friends yet.
I LOVED this book. As much as I enjoyed most of the previous Mortal Instruments books, City of Lost Souls just hit all the right notes for me. Reading about these characters again was like meeting up with an old friend you hadn’t seen in years. It was so easy to fall right back into the story.
I wasn’t crazy over the last installment, City of Fallen Angels, mostly because I couldn’t stand Jace’s moping. It drove me insane. Yes, there was a very important, plot-related reason for it, but I still didn’t like it. And yes, I’m heavily invested in Jace's well-being; I have to remind myself constantly that he's fictional. We still don’t have the real Jace here, but this version is a huge improvement over the one from CoFA.
I feel like City of Lost Souls should have been Book Four, or at least some elements should have been in City of Fallen Angels. The build-up to the confrontation with Lilith in the latter took forever. I probably would have liked CoFA more if its pacing had been better.
Multiple characters, including Alec, Isabelle, Jordan, and Jocelyn, have points-of-view in this book. Things could have spiraled out of control very easily, but Clare juggles all of them adeptly. I really liked Alec and Isabelle’s POVs; I was glad to see them step into the spotlight a bit more. Alec’s POV was especially welcome because it meant more pages with Magnus in them!
Sebastian is truly the type of villain that you love to hate. His warped, sadistic mind makes it very easy to despise him. Yet there were a few moments in this book when I almost believed that maybe he was slightly less evil than I’d originally thought. Not only does he play games with the characters in the book, but he also toys with readers by keeping them guessing as to what his true face looks like, if he even has one.
This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our heroine, Clary. I’ve never been a big Clary fan because of her propensity to act first and think about the consequences later. I’ve always thought that Isabelle would have made a better protagonist for the series. In this book, though, Clary finally seems to realize what being a Shadowhunter is all about. She shows off some pretty mean fighting skills, and at one crucial point in the story, she reflects on a particular rash decision that she made and learns from it. Please continue in this direction, Clary; we might become friends yet.