24. City Of Ashes

Book #24: City Of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published: March 25, 2008
464 Pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

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?


I'm still a little iffy about how I feel about these books. The plot in both City of Bones and City of Ashes kept me reading. I love the world that Clare sucks you into and I love the mix of different species of Downworlders. But there isn't enough dialogue and some of the scenes seem to drag on. The war is looming on the outskirts of this middle book of the trilogy and I do think it's a well done second book. I tend to be a fan of second books, sometimes I like them more than the last one in the series, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy the last one of this series the best. Mostly because I know a spoiler and it'll be very nice when certain characters realize certain things about themselves. 


Clary is still my favourite. She is going through hell but she keeps going. She does not let the fact that her mother is still unconscious stop her from trying to defeat her evil father, Valentine. Other minor characters return in full force like Magnus and Luke, and Isabelle and Alec are still snarky Shadowhunters. Simon's character develops the most, as he goes through the biggest change in the book. I thought him weak in the first book, so I'm glad he proved me wrong (and I wouldn't want to piss him off now) 


I guess I'm just more of a fan of character driven stories than plot driven ones. I would have liked to see more character development between Clary and Jace, especially now that they are related and still in love with each other. I mean, that's just asking for tons of drama. I like intimate scenes between characters, but there was a lack of that throughout the novel. It's all fighting and action scenes, which I know most people love, but either I didn't like the writing or I just wasn't interested in the action. I don't want to sound like I didn't enjoy it, because I did, and I already have the next one to read, so I will definitely be finishing this series and will check out Clare's other series, The Infernal Devices. I guess I just expected more. 


“Something inside Clary cracked and broke, and words came pouring out. 'What do you want me to tell you? The truth? The truth is that I love Simon like I should love you, and I wish he was my brother and you weren't, but I can't do anything about that and neither can you!”