Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Source: Bought


Synopsis from Goodreads:
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

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

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Book 5 in the Mortal Instruments series
Cassandra Clare can do no wrong. All of her books are amazing, City of Lost Souls is A-mazing! She has again delivered a novel that is emotional, exciting, funny, heartbreaking and clever.

When I picked up this book I easily slipped back into the world of my favourite demon hunters. This is the new epic battle between good and evil. I love the world of this story, packed with shadowhunters, werewolves, vampires, plotting faeries, and warlocks. And a whole back history, with political intrigue, changing alliances, secrets and mysteries. But all the different pieces of the story fit together so well.

I love that there is a great depth of emotion in this book. The relationships between the characters are developing and growing more intense, and with the dangerous lives they lead there are so many problems and the realisation that everything is so fragile. The feeling throughout the story is powerful.

I love the focus on all the relationships in this book. Alec and Magnus, Isabelle and Simon, Maia and Jordan, Jocelyn and Luke. But most heartbreaking is Clary and Jace. Jace has been kidnapped by Sebastian and is under a spell where he barely recognises his friends and is not himself. I spent a good portion of this book feeling so sorry for Clary as she struggles with losing "her" Jace, even while he is right in front of her. Clary is so much tougher in this book, and prepared to do what needs to be done.

Sebastian in this book proves that he is completely beyond redemption. You can try to understand him up to a point- he had a tough childhood, but no, his actions in this book just show that he is completely evil and needs to be stopped. He becomes the real arch-villian in this book, and his plots and schemes are really diabolical.

One of the best parts of this series for me is the snappy sarcastic one-liners. This book is infused with humour, despite being dark, scary and at times genuinely heart-breaking. There are so many quoteable passages, bits that melted my heart and bits that made me giggle. This series is exciting and so cool- bring on the next book! (And the films!)