City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) in Never Too Old For Y.A. & N.A. Books

Mar 11, 2008 Its Me rated it it was amazing

CITY OF ASHES is the sequel to last year’s City of Bones. I bought this book the day it arrived at Barnes and Noble, I just could not wait to read it. I LOVED COB's but I have to say I love COA so much more. You really get to know the characters so much better, there is so much more pain in this book, I felt myself teary-eyed a few times. This book also packs alot of the witty humor the first one did, which I love (gotta love Jase and Simon). The "stuff" between Jase and Clary was more intense i ...more

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Oct 17, 2011 ♥ Rebecca ♥ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed, vampires, romance, magic, young-adult, paranormal, shapeshifters

This was better than the first one, IMO. The story and romance were set at a far better pace. There was just enough of each at proper intervals to keep it fresh, and nothing was confusing about it like in the first one. Although I'm still not sure what Valentine's motives are for everything he has done to Jace (I know some spoilers), I still somewhat understand Valentine better as a character now than I did in the first book. The whole ending of the first was too confusing. But this one I could ...more

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Mar 22, 2009 Mare S rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult, fantasy-scifi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I enjoyed this one more than the first one because the story got more in depth and therefore there was more going on and more of an emotional impact because there is something invested in the characters. The author isn't someone I think is a great writer per se in the sense that at times she goes overboard with the prose to describe things and the banter gets out of control at times - no one is witty all the time, not even Chandler from Friends. However, I think one of the great things the autho I enjoyed this one more than the first one because the story got more in depth and therefore there was more going on and more of an emotional impact because there is something invested in the characters. The author isn't someone I think is a great writer per se in the sense that at times she goes overboard with the prose to describe things and the banter gets out of control at times - no one is witty all the time, not even Chandler from Friends. However, I think one of the great things the author does is create an intriguing world that the reader wants to get caught up in and learn more about.

Now spoilery thoughts...

Things I liked:

--Jace & Clary don't have a handle on their relationship change overnight. They still feel attracted to each other, still want each other in ways that a brother & sister shouldn't...and they're trying to deal with it while still being in one another's lives.

--Valentine...I like that he's technically considered a "bad guy" but at the same time the "good guys" aren't really all that different from him in many ways. Also, is there anything worse than a villain who really believes he's doing what's right?

--Simon. I just love Simon. There is no rhyme or reason for this.

Things I didn't care for:

--I understand that Clary is quite confused about her feelings and such, but the whole "want to be with Simon" "don't want to be with Simon" "don't want other girls with Simon" "Okay, be with Simon, but only because I don't want to lose him" thing was annoying. And maybe it was supposed to be, I don't know.

--Aside from Simon and Alec, I still really don't care too much about the characters. I find them to be whiny and annoying and way too perfect. However, I will say this - individually, I don't think they work very well, but within the group of the main characters, they all seem to play off one another rather well and come across better, which is probably why I enjoy the scenes with all of them to the thinky thoughts scenes of one's POV.

Overall, I'm interested to see how things come together in the final part, which I'm going to start today. Hopefully, it ties things up nicely. Nothing bothers me more than a series that leaves way too many questions. ...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Marla rated it really liked it

Shelves: with-reservations, lgbt, series, romance, made-me-laugh, fantasy, paranormal, young-adult, vampires, zz-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Liked this action packed sequel better than City of Bones.

Likes:
* Jace is a cool, tough, handsome, smart alack Shadowhunter (you might want to be his girlfriend, but I wouldn't want to be his mother!)
* Luke, Clary's werewolf dad-figure is such a cool guy
* Maia, teenage werewolf
* Magnus, the High Wizard, High Warlock of Brooklyn
* Raphael, leader of the Night Children is likable and seems honest
* Clary's coming into her Shadowhunting skills
* the demons were so cool and terrifying, especially, Agr ...more

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