City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5)

 Writing a series can be tricky. Sometimes they overstay their welcome, especially when a whole story arc finishes. I'm beginning to think the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare should have stopped after City of Glass where everything came together quite nicely.

Description (from the Publisher): The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon. Can the lost be reclaimed? What price is too high to pay for love? Who can be trusted when sin and salvation collide? Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Review: City of Lost Souls, in my opinion, is the weakest book in the Mortal Instrument series thus far. The book feels as if it's a pause button while the author gathers her thoughts for the finale. At 534 pages long, it is not only the longest book in the series but also the dullest, most frustrating to read. Normally, I burn through this series because of the nonstop action and great character development; however, with City of Lost Souls I just wanted the book to end.
  It goes without saying that I had a lot of issues with City of Lost Souls, but I will limit them to the big three that made me want to bang my head against the wall: lack of structure, anticlimactic/overdone subplots, and almost to nothing in the character development arena. I would think that with five books under her belt, Clare would avoid these pitfalls.
  The book immediately picks up right where City of Fallen Angel ends, but then the narrative quickly morphs into an amoeba going into different directions as the point of views move from one character to the next. I kid you not. The point of view changes at least ten times within a single chapter, many times without any logical transitions. I felt lost and no longer felt as if I was reading but rather a pinball machine flinging to one place to another. The second arc of the Mortal Instrument series is suppose to focus on Simon (now I have a sneaky suspicious that was all a ruse), an integral secondary character in the series but again the plot and center stage is hijacked by Clace (Clary and Jace) and their romantic turmoil. Instead of sympathizing with Clary or nodding my head in agreement of Jace not being at a good place, I grew tired of their rocky relationship which is more important than the fact that their entire world outside their bubble is falling apart. Both characters who I normally enjoy or in the case of Jace, tolerate, become extremely self absorbed, boring, and repetitive. Due to Clace's relationship angst, everything and everyone is brushed aside. We get clips of arguments with the werewolf council, snippets of homophobia amongst the Shadowhunter society, a few angels and demons summoned here and there, and of course the sexual tension between the various pairs that go teeter on the "are they a couple?" and "are they breaking up?" scale. Yawn.
    Despite these small threads, what disheartened me the most are the stupid mistakes the characters make. It takes them 50 pages to identify the obstacle and then come up with the wrong tactic to correct it. Really? You defeated the big bad with less resources in the first three books and now you stumble, bumble, and fumble to figure out what's right and wrong when the answer is right in front of you? In addition to this, there was a large focus on Jordan's and Maia's relationship, which puzzles me since they were only mentioned mostly in the City of Fallen Angels for a brief moment. I really don't know how this couple adds anything to the overall story arc. Don't get me wrong, I like Jordan and Maia, but their relationship is not important as the other characters that were present since the first book of this series.
   As I mentioned earlier, there isn't much character development in City of Lost Souls. The characters remain stagnant with the exception of a quick glimmer here and there of life, but by then it was almost too late to care. I can, however, point out to all the details of the clothes the characters were wearing throughout the story as there were passages and passages of those descriptions. I'm not convinced that Sebastian is a complex villain. Sure, he's twisted but menacing? Not really. His plot to ruin the world is pretty obvious, but it still takes our heroes and heroines over 500 pages to piece the puzzle together which I figured out in about 200 pages when I wasn't getting motion sickness from the narrative. Heck, even the grand reveal of the master plan and the detailed battle scene fails to bring on the thrills that we expect from this series. By the end of the book, it's pretty clear how things will end with the sixth (and final?) book in the series.
   Now you're probably wondering what did I like in this book? I liked the small moments between Simon and Isabel when they were given limited page time. I also liked the scene where Magnus tried to knock some sense into Alec. There are some great lines here and there that made me chuckle, but that's about it.
   I know there are going to be readers who will love everything in this series, but I expected a lot more from this well established series. Now I'm worried about City of Heavenly Fire which is slated to be published in March 2014 according to Goodreads. For once I think the long wait might be a good thing.

Rating: 2 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language, allusions to sex, and some disturbing images. Recommended for Grades 9 and up.

If you like this book try: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (March 2014), Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr, Evernight series by Claudia Gray

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Spoiler Free Review of City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4)

  When Cassandra Clare announced the Mortal Instrument series will be a six book series instead of three, I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was worried because I thought City of Glass wrapped things up so nicely and was afraid that this series would get drawn out. On the other hand, I was excited to meet the cast of characters that I had grown attached to again and was curious as to what could possibly happen to spur three more books. Since City of Fallen Angels was released just this Tuesday, I'm sure many of you either have just started the book or waiting anxious to get your hands on a copy which is why I decided to post a spoiler free review.

Description: It's been two months since the earth shattering events that took place in Idris. Our starring heroes and heroines are trying to readjust to life and find some normalcy, but of course that easier said than done. There has been a mysterious string of murders that are taking place in New York City, which has caused hostility between the Shadowhunters and Downworlders. There seems to be one thing that connect these crimes: Simon Lewis, who was once use to the comfortable shadows, but is now forced to be in the center of everyone's attention. Why does everyone want Simon and who is the mysterious murderer? Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Review: I didn't just read City of Fallen Angels, I devoured it. I couldn't put the book down. Trying to do work instead of picking up the book was extremely hard. I started Tuesday night and finished it Thursday afternoon during my lunch break at work. It goes without saying that I was sucked into the book and comfortably back into Clare's world where fantasy and contemporary New York City seamlessly blend. I actually felt as if I never left her world. I finished the first three books in the series and I wasn't sure if I remembered everything thing. Thankfully, Clare does give us enough information about past events that jogs our memory but it doesn't bog down the book. For readers who are completely new to this series, I would highly suggest you read the first three books in order (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass) before reading this book. Important events and people are mentioned, but aren't fully explained which might cause confusion to new readers.
  City of Fallen Angels reminded me a lot of what I loved about City of Glass, my current favorite book of the Mortal Instrument series, mainly because there is non-stop action, plenty of romantic tension, and snarky humor that has made this series so appealing to me. I have heard from many that this book is called "Simon's book", but that is not necessarily true. Simon does have a larger and important role in the book, but Clare does a great job in providing each character their time on the page, which is why the third person narrating style works so well in the book. While we still get to see our romantic couples in their phases of ecstasy and despair, we also get a sense of a new budding relationship in the works, which I really hope is fruitful.
  I will say that some of the annoying habits of the characters are still prevalent in this new volume of the series. Jace irritated me to no end, but then again he did annoy me in the first three books too with his false bravado and baggage. There were many times when I said to myself  "Here we go again" but after knowing his hardships from the previous books, it still bothered me but I managed to overlook this.
  My favorite part of the book is getting inside Simon's head (he's my favorite character in this series followed strongly by Magnus and Isabelle) and learning how he is adjusting to his new identity along with his power/curse. Through his eyes we can see what it is like to be the insider and the outsider simultaneously. I also loved seeing a different side of Isabelle and Alec, who were more reserved in the first three books, but become more three dimensional in this book. City of Fallen Angels does have a dark tone than its previous books and Clare doesn't hesitate to put her characters into the grinder, which makes us realize that not even fictional characters can escape the consequences of their actions.
  Readers who have read Clockwork Angel, the first book in the prequel series called Infernal Devices, will either see or hear familiar names. We also meet a few new characters along the way too. While some of the plot twists were predictable, many new questions have been raised. Things are just going to get more complicated as they go along and I'm intrigued to know how the events in Victorian England have an effect on our contemporary world. Of course the book ends in a cliffhanger, we are in a YA series after all, and we do have quite a while to wait for the next book in the Mortal Instrument series, City of Lost Souls which will not be released until 2012. Fortunately, we do have to wait only a few months until the second book in the Infernal Devices, Clockwork Prince, which will come out this summer. If you're like me and really enjoyed City of Glass, I don't think you'll be disappointed with City of Fallen Angels and if you are, I would love to know why.


Rating: 4.5 stars

Words of Caution: There are some intense make-out scenes, some language and PG-13 violence in the book. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.

If you like this book try: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Dark Divine series by Bree Despain, Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray, Angelfire by Courtney Moulton, Demon Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

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