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City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)

Cassandra Clare

Start date: May 8, 2012

Finish date: May 31, 2012

Why we're reading this: It is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series
[close] It is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series

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Aug 09, 2012 Sasha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, paranormal

The fifth and most recent book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, City of Lost Souls picks up where the last book left off and drops the reader right in the heart of the problems that were left unresolved in book four. Much of the Big Bad’s plot seemed to be a rehash of previous books, which left me feeling a bit let down. I don’t know how Ms. Clare could top the epic storylines of the first three books in the trilogy, but I just felt that this book didn’t bring anything new to The fifth and most recent book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, City of Lost Souls picks up where the last book left off and drops the reader right in the heart of the problems that were left unresolved in book four. Much of the Big Bad’s plot seemed to be a rehash of previous books, which left me feeling a bit let down. I don’t know how Ms. Clare could top the epic storylines of the first three books in the trilogy, but I just felt that this book didn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of Evil Plot.

I really liked that we got some more varied points of view. The supporting cast of characters are fantastic—Simon, Alec, Isabelle, Magnus, Maia, and Jordan all add valuable dimension to the series, and it’s interesting to read each person’s take on the various situations as they go down. I especially liked the romantic subplots: Simon and Isabelle, Alec and Magnus, Maia and Jordan. Additionally, I loved seeing them all work together to save Clary and Jace and stop Sebastian’s evil plot. It was nice to focus on relationships that were different than the hardships and angst of Clary and Jace’s dynamics.

Speaking of Clary and Jace, I felt the same way I did when I read the last book—like this author absolutely loves to put this couple through the ringer. Except, I felt like, after five books, it was getting really annoying. I think that Ms. Clare needs to make a decision—have Clary and Jace together for good, or have them move on from each other. Because at this point, I don’t find their relationship healthy. I understand the romance behind sacrifice, but there is also a line between that and stupidity, and I think that Clary is teetering dangerously close to that edge.

As always, Clare’s prose is chock-full of both witty dialogue and adequate descriptors that paint a vivid portrait of each scene unfolding. The emotion is particularly palpable in scenes between Jace and Clary or Alec and Magnus, and the tension between the former makes you want them to just get it over with already and stop dancing around the subject. Unfortunately, however, Jace is not himself for a majority of the book, which means that once again readers are left in the hellish and much-dreaded shipper limbo as we wait to find out the fate of Jace/Clary in upcoming books in the series.

I did appreciate the added dimension that Sebastian being tied to Jace created, because things weren’t in pure black and white anymore. Everything that happened to Sebastian happened to Jace, and vice versa. Sebastian, for his part, was the perfect villain—a sinister blend of misdirection and unsettling interest in Clary, despite them being siblings. Suffice it to say, he was a sufficiently skin-crawling character and perhaps an even better villain than Valentine due to his excellent poker face throughout most of the book.

City of Lost Souls was an excellent book in terms of character development and overall plot. However, I felt that we were revisiting a lot of stuff that had already been brought up in earlier books, like Jace and Clary’s struggles to be together and Sebastian’s plot to carry on what Valentine could not. I honestly would have preferred an entirely new villain to one that was already introduced, just for the sake of newness. However, I still think that this was a well-written book and I will certainly be first in line to pick up a copy of book number six in this series.
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