City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Book Details
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Hardcover, 560 Pages
2009, Margaret K. McElderry
ISBN: 1416914307
Series: Book 3 of The Mortal Instruments

Synopsis
To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of bestselling series the Mortal Instruments.

Review
This is what the previous books have been leading us to - the end of the trilogy and all our questions answered. City of Glass in one word: Action. Not non-stop, but a heavy amount and it's necessary. The final face-off with Valentine was destined to be bloody and fans won't be disappointed.

Clary and Jace, oh where to start? Their "romantic" story line does get closure, but of a little too predictable nature. From almost the very beginning I think most people had a feeling how this was going to turn out. Every piece of the puzzle led us and the big shock had less power than it should have had. I'm an adult, made common sense observations and probably read the books searching for clues that made the resolution of the romance less surprising that someone who is reading the book at face value. It was all there, hinting and leading to the end, but probably was only obvious to people who go looking for these things.

There were some truly wonderful heartfelt moments and the overall plot was wrapped up nicely. Clary, Jace and the rest of the major players spent most of the book in Idris and getting to experience the much talked about place was very interesting. Readers also get an even closer look at the workings of the Clave which is where most of the surprises in City of Glass stem from.

The book was not without its heartbreaking occurrences, but nothing was truly monumental in that area. Sadness, yes. Tears, not so much. City of Glass does a wonderful job of completing the trilogy. Most importantly, for me at least, we get to see Alec and Magnus finally decide what's going on between them. Awesome. This was definitely the best book in the series for me.

Surprisingly, the story isn't quite over. The fourth book in the trilogy (yes, you read that right), City of Fallen Angels, is scheduled to be released in 2011. There's no word where the story is heading now, but my guess is we'll be seeing a lot more of the Clave, Simon and the rest of the downworlders.

Rating

Links

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