City of Glass [Review]

Stats: 
560 pages [Kindle]
First Published 24 March 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry
ASIN: B001NLL93W
[Amazon::Barnes&Noble]


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?


My Thoughts:

It took me a while to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I think this is definitely better than the previous two. There is still something that bothers me about Clare's writing. Someone asked if it was the metaphors/similes, but I think it's actually the descriptions of everything and still I feel like too much is thrown out there that is new.

In this book, Clary is on a mission to find the warlock who can release her mother from the spell she is under. She learns the 3rd Mortal Instrument is a mirror that is in Idris. There are a few new characters: Sebastian Verlac, Aline Penhallow, Amatis Herondale, Malachi Dieudonne, and Inquisitor Aldertree.





{SPOILERS}
What is to be said of how everything turns out:
[In Part 1, I find Aldertree to be a lot like Delores Umbridge. He is the slimey snake who portrays himself as sickly sweet. I love that Clary, though she grew up an only child, paid attention to Max and was getting him into manga and all that. It was sweet that someone paid him attention when everyone else was too busy. I thought Jocelyn was mighty clever for hiding the Book of the White in a "Simple Recipes for Housewives" book - too funny. Clare did well with making Sebastian an untrustworthy character. He rubbed me wrong from the start. The cellar of the manor part of the story was very interesting. I was so uncomfortable about all the incest stuff though. It's just weird to me.

In Part 2, I'm glad Clary was smart enough to not go with Sebastian. I was completely in shock when Samuel Blackburn turned out to be Hodge!! What?! Sebastian's rant about Jace, Clary, and Alec was completely shocking too. RIP Max :'( I started to suspect that Sebastian was Valentine in disguise or something in Part 1, so I was kind of "duh" when he was just a spy. But still very curious how he was so powerful, strong, and fast. I think Clary is very naive at times - they were talking about how "Sebastian" left nothing behind to use to track him and then when Jace takes notice to her sleeves...isn't that a "durr da durr" moment? Duh, Clary! You can use his blood!! The weird incest moments are still very awkward and weird.

In Part 3, I was really surprised by Clary's reaction to her mom. I would expect her to want to talk to her mom, not scream furiously at her. The Alliance rune is very cool. I really liked the part of the story where Jocelyn explains everything from school to marriage to pregnancy to experimentation. I was impatiently awaiting the moment where we find out Jace and Clary aren't brother and sister. I was very surprised that "Sebastian" was Jonathan and even more surprised that Valentine raised them both. Although I give Simon mad props for making fun of Clary because she still made out with her brother. LOL]

Overall, it was definitely not a bad book. The twists and turns were unexpected and well done.


 
Previous Review:
Insurgent by Veronica Roth {here}

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