City of Glass

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?

*Contains Spoilers*

Valentine has the Mortal Cup and Mortal Sword in his possession. He now only needs the mirror to summon the angel, Raziel, in order to fulfill his plan. But the Clave doesn't seem to want to listen to any sense involving what Valentine may or may not do, so Cassandra Clare leaves it up to the normal underage shadowhunting crew of Jace, Alec, and Isabelle with a dash of Clary in her novel, City of Glass. 

This installment of the Mortal Instruments is the trickiest, thus far, to further develop character connections due to the increased amount of deception. Though deception has been a major theme throughout the first two novels, it evolves into more of a force in City of Glass.Clary remains her stubborn, rambunctious, and always helpful self (Just a bit of sarcasm there). She is determined to save her mother and won't let anyone tell her to stay home, which does, almost unbelievably, end well. Readers will learn much more about Clary's maternal past, thus having a much more complete history to connect with. (Though, there still seem to be a few secret skeletons slinking around according to the Seelie Queen.)

As for the supporting cast, readers learn more about Jace, though most of it is a collection of lies. Clare eventually does unveil that he has angelic blood, not demon, and that he is really the descendant of Stephen Herondale (remember Will from Clockwork?), not Valentine. His bravery and courage shine as he faces down a newly introduced enemy. Simon is still the only "Daylighter," a vampire that can walk in the sunlight, and Raphael has a very large problem with it. Simon also has a chance to show his bravery and newly acquired vampire fighting skills as he takes his turn standing up for his friends, aligning the Vampires with the Clave. Alec finally comes out to his family, and the whole world, when he teams up with Magnus and kisses him quite publicly. It may have been a cheesy moment but I smiled none-the-less. Isabelle does what she does best and is brutally honest and downright badass when she needs to be. 

The plot of this third installation follows Jace and Clary as they separately head to Alicante, the City of Glass in Idris. While Clary is focused on saving her mother, Jace is focused on helping determine the next step of Valentine's plan. With more deception than ever before, Clare sets up a mysterious supernatural story that won't disappoint shadowhunting fans. But now that the epic of story of Valentine has come to an end, what do readers expect for the next novels of Miss Cassandra Clare?

Rating: 3/5 Cups

City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2)

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Cassandra Clare delivers everything a reader could hope for in her second installment of the Mortal Instruments series, City of Ashes. She picks up directly where she left off in City of Bones and carries readers away into her invisible city of Shadowhunters, demons, werewolves, vampires, and magic. 

The focus remains on Clary, whose life was turned upside down when her evil father, Valentine, showed up ready to take down the Clave. As a main character in a series, Clary will certainly evolve as the story line continues. In City of Ashes, readers begin to see the evolution. Her naivete is slowly diminishing and her strength is definitely growing. Clary is becoming the epitome of courage and loyalty, two traits that readers will love. Nothing's better than a strong female character and Clary has her sights set on the label, though she still struggles with teenage angst and uncertainty. The bond established in the first novel solidifies in this sequel, pulling readers in with an undeniable force. 

The Mortal Instruments plot continues and deepens when Valentine steals the second mortal instrument, the Soul-Sword, from the Silent Brothers. Jace believes that Valentine is preparing for a ritual that will allow him to control an army of demons. No one wants that to happen but no one will believe Jace, foreshadowing dark times for our favorite Shadowhunters. Meanwhile, Simon is becoming a Vampire and may die in the process, downworlders are being murdered, and everyone's speaking too literally for the truth to be found. It's left to Jace, Clary, Alec, and Isabelle to stop Valentine before it's too late and demons are under his rule, destroying the Clave and leaving the world unprotected. 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

WWW Wednesday (87)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare. Now that Valentine has the Mortal Cup, the first of the Mortal Instruments, he's after something else. Something that will allow him to build a demon army in order to attack the Clave.

02. Recently Finished:
Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club by Liz Stauffer. Drugs, murder, and gossip. All in a small mountain town. Working together with the police, the Thursday Morning ladies may be able to crack the case and flush out the culprit upsetting their way of life.

03. Reading Next:
Lie by Rathan Krueger. A group of four very different women decide to escape their lives in hopes that they can help their friend overcome a crisis. A novel that tells a story and shares the author's viewpoint on female characters in modern fiction.

Teaser Tuesday (100)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book 2) (p. 149)
   - Cassandra Clare

"You know," he said, "I have a feeling that that's going to be the case whether I get myself killed or not."

WWW Wednesday (86)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

          

01. Currently Reading:
The Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club by Liz Stauffer. A lot is going on in this small mountain town: drug scandal, rumors of spousal abuse, and a dying young woman. All shared by one gossip hungry citizen.

02. Recently Finished:
Allegiant by Veronica Roth. The final book in the Divergent series in which more secrets are revealed and lives are sacrificed for the greater good of future generations.

03. Reading Next:
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. The second book in the Mortal Instruments series. I've been waiting a while to read this after finishing the first book. Can't wait to see how Clary and Jace react to recent events.