City of Lost Souls Review

 
 

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
Book 5 of The Mortal Instruments Series
Published May 8, 2012 by Margaret K McElderry
Paranormal
3.5 Bloody Fangs

"When two souls are connected as one, and you can't kill one without killing the other as well, what would you do when one is trying to destroy the world?  When killing the other means killing the love of your life."





Summary -

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series. (Goodreads)



Review -

When two souls are connected as one, and you can't kill one without killing the other as well, what would you do when one is trying to destroy the world?  When killing the other means killing the love of your life.  That is the decision Clary is faced with in this installment of The Mortal Instruments. 

In City of Fallen Angels, the story ended with Sebastian completing the ritual Lilith began, to bring him back to life and tie he and Jace, forever.  The Shadowhunters, not knowing exactly what happened, are frantically looking for both boys.  That is until wards start coming down and they make the search a lower priority, and assume that Jace must be dead.  Of course, that does not stop Clary, Isabelle, Mayrse, Magnus or Alec.  And, surprisingly, Brother Zachariah.  Along with Simon, Maia and Jordan, they are on a search for a weapon that can harm one and not the other.  And if Heaven won't help them, maybe Hell will.

As I am beginning to see with this series, it is extremely slow going, until the action gets going.  And when it does, it is a truly big payoff indeed.  But you have to have patience.  If you are a reader who likes only fast paced books with non-stop action, don't even start the series', you will find yourself looking for cliff notes just to know what happened without suffering through the slow parts.  Avid fans of the series may find themselves skimming past certain parts, but be careful, because in doing so you may miss something.

To  sum it up, this may be the last book I read in this series.  It is becoming way too drawn out for my tastes.  Starting to get the feel of an author just trying to make hanger-ons of its readers.  The reader is continuously left with more questions than it does answers.   Hints are made as to who Magnus' father is, that their may indeed be Angel blood in Simon's bloodline and now Maureen may not only be mad but crazy powerful as well.  And looks as though Sebastian, even knowing full well Clarissa is his full blood sister, has become dangerously obsessed with her.  That being said, it did have a very promising storyline, and I LOVE all the characters, though I would love to slap some sense into Alec.  I think it is time to let this series go.