Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Published on: February 14, 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Love is a mortal sin, and the secrets of the past are deadly. Plunge into the third installment in the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).
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.
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.
Clary Fairchild and her friends return for another adventure in this third Mortal Instruments novel. This time, the story changes setting to Idris, the secret home country of the Shadowhunters. The previous two books were all set in New York. I like that the book finally introduces Idris. Clary wants to go there to find a certain warlock, Ragnor Fell. He knows how to wake up Jocelyn, her mother, from a self-induced magical sleep. For some reason, though, Jace doesn’t want Clary anywhere near Idris. He goes to great lengths to discourage her. I wondered what his deal was.
Jace decides to pull a fast one and get to Idris earlier than planned. The Institute is attacked at just that moment, though. A horde of Forsaken ambush the Shadowhunters. They manage to kill one of them and wound Simon before the group can Portal away. Clary is furious when she learns Jace and the others went away. Never mind that the Forsaken almost killed them all. Clary really doesn’t like being left behind. In a rash move, she uses her special rune power to open a new Portal. Luke only just manages to catch Clary when she goes through.
Meanwhile, Jace and the others are in Alicante, the capital of Idris. It’s also known as the City of Glass because of the adamas towers that protect it from demons. The Clave weren’t happy that the New York Shadowhunters brought Simon along with them. The new Inquisitor takes keen interest in Simon after learning he’s become a Daylighter. He comes up with a ruse to imprison the boy without the others’ knowledge. As for Jace, Alec, Isabelle, and Max, they stay at the house of a family friend. There, they meet two fellow Shadowhunters their age: Aline Penhallow and Sebastian Verlac.
Throughout the first two books, I liked Clary’s character. She assimilated quickly to the Shadow World. It was a bit too quick, but not enough to raise serious eyebrows. Clary’s shown herself to be brave, resourceful, and sharp-witted. I didn’t like her very much for the first one-third of City of Glass, though. Clary comes off as selfish and petulant. She may be fifteen, but she acted more like half that age. Even Max seemed more mature than Clary. She justifies her actions by telling herself it’s to wake up Jocelyn. Still, I thought Clary needed to stop and think before making her decisions. Jumping into her Portal even nearly killed her.
Valentine Morgenstern, the main antagonist, is still at large. He and his followers, the Circle, seek to cleanse the world of demonkind. This includes killing all Downworlders (vampires, werewolves, fairies, and warlocks) and any Shadowhunters who sympathize with them. Valentine’s got hold of two Mortal Instruments, the Mortal Cup and the Soul-Sword. Now he’s after the third and most elusive one: the Mortal Mirror. This one is very much like Ravenclaw’s Diadem: no one’s ever seen it. Unlike with the Cup and Sword, there aren’t any illustrations of the Mirror. If Valentine manages to find it, he’ll be able to summon the Angel Raziel. Valentine has a terrible plan in mind to achieve his goals.
City of Glass is the most thrilling entry in the Mortal Instruments series. The book not only sees the Shadowhunters in their home city. They also prepare for a climactic (final?) battle against Valentine. To win, the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders will have to join forces. This may prove to be easier said than done. And Clary may turn the tables now that she’s mastering her powers. Speaking of them, I wonder why we haven’t seen Clary’s sunlight rune. It hasn’t appeared yet, which is surprising considering how much Clary uses it in the movie and the Shadowhunters TV show. City of Glass does have Clary use two of her most powerful runes. One of them really surprised me. I thought the Seelie Queen was the only one who could apply it. Anyway, this book was amazing. You learn more about Clary, Jace, and the Morgensterns. It’s great that this isn’t the end of the series. I’m eager to read more about these characters and their world.
My rating: ★★★★★
5 stars - Absolutely must-read. It's outstanding!!!
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