Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls

(The Mortal Instruments # 5)

By: Cassandra Clare

Pub. Date: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Pages: 534

Source: Bought

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.

Out of the entire Mortal Instruments series, City of Lost Souls was my favorite cover, but it wasn't my favorite book. As much I love Cassandra Clare's work, sometime I think she should have stopped after the first three books. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it, I did enjoy it and I am looking forward to the sixth and final book. I just didn't like it as much I was hoping I would.

In CoLS, Jace is under the influence of Sebastian who basically wants to destroy the world. The clave and Jace's family can not find him, no matter what spells they use. Clary decides to take matters into her own hands and joins Jace and Sebastian. She is hoping that she can save Jace before the Clave finds him, because if the clave finds them first and kills Sebastian (which is the plan), Jace's connection to him would cause him to die as well.

As always with Clare's work, there is so much going on in CoLS, and there was never a dull moment. While Clary is trying to save Jace, back in New York, Simon, Isabel, Magnus, Jordan and Maia are also doing what they can do to save him. We saw an entirely different version of Isabel. We see a more vulnerable side to her which was nice. Jordan and Maia were also very sweet together, and I loved seeing them forgive each other and themselves for what happened in the past. The character that stood out most for me was Simon. I always loved Simon but in CoLS he really had my heart. He was willing to put himself in complete danger to help his friends, while dealing with a lot of issues regarding his family. The scene between Simon and his sister almost killed me!

I missed Jace though. I loved the Jace from the first three books and I really wanted the old Jace back. I miss that tortured Jace!! I also had issues with Alex and Magnus. While I love them together, they need to learn how to be more honest with each other. The two of them were very aggravating!

Out of Clare's two series, I definitely love The Infernal Devices more, so I was completely excited to see all of the ID references!

Overall, while CoLS wasn't my favorite in the series, it was still very enjoyable and I am very excited for the last book, City of Heavenly Fire.