City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Published: March 24th 2009 by Margaret. K. McElderry

Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders – or against them. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary have their own decision to make: should they pursue the love they know is a mortal sin?

I picked this book up and put it back down a couple of times before I finally got to the end. I wasn’t really in the mood for it the first couple of times that I picked it up; but after watching some of the shadow hunters series on Netflix, I decided it was finally time to revisit this book.

As with the previous books in this series, it was relatively predictable. I knew what was going to happen before it did and I also knew the truth about the whole Clary/Jace situation before it was revealed. Whilst the book was predictable, it was easy to get lost in the world of the Shadow Hunters again and I enjoyed revisiting these characters.

Speaking of Clary and Jace; despite the fact that I knew the truth about their situation, I loved the angsty romance scenes that Clare wrote between them. It was easy to get swept up by them as a couple and I was rooting for them throughout the whole book. I love them as a couple and I am excited to see how their relationship will grow and develop in the next books.

Can I also mention how adorable Alec and Magnus are? I have been rooting for them since the very first moment and I love the way that they overcame various obstacles as the series continued! I am so over the moon ecstatic that they actually managed to get their stuff together and the little snippet of them at a certain point in the book actually elicited a cheer from me – which got me some weird looks from my son!

I enjoyed the fact that we finally got the whole back story as to who Valentine really was and how things escalated to the point that they did. I liked finding out the backstory and how each and every character linked together and how the events came around full circle to explain what was going on in the current time. I felt like it really helped tie the book and the characters up.

I do feel that the ending was a little too easy? The characters went through a lot and was constantly being thwarted by Valentine, so I felt that the ending should have come around a little differently. Things slotted into place too nicely and I would have liked to have seen more of a fight for the ending that came around.

All in all, whilst predictable, I really enjoyed this book. It was fun read and an easy way to get back into the shadow hunter world. I loved revisiting these characters and I am looking forward to seeing how things will develop in the next books. I gave this book 4/5 stars.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Published: July 2nd 2015 by Walker Books

Love and power are the deadliest temptations. Haunted by her past, Clary is dragged deeper into New York City’s terrifying underworld of demons and Shadowhunters – but can she control her feelings for a boy who can never be hers?

I absolutely loved the first instalment in this series, so I immediately cracked open this book when I was finished. Despite this book not being the most original thing out there, it was still a really fun read and I still really enjoyed myself reading this!

I really liked Clary in this book. Despite everything that has happened to her throughout the first book and even what happens to her in this book, she still remains basically the same person who she has always been. She struggles to come to terms with how she feels about Jace, which is understandable, but she still stood by him and protected him when he needed her the most – which I think is a really strong character trait to have! I did feel sorry for her in certain places within this book and I cannot wait to see where he journey takes her next! Especially after finding out how different she really is!

I felt really sorry for Jace throughout this entire book! It seems like everything and everyone is against him, despite the fact that he hasn’t actually done anything wrong! It was just one bad thing after another after another and he started to take it out on those around him who were trying to protect him! I get that, but I was still a little miffed about it! I do, however, think there is something fishy about the fact that he and Clary are brother and sister… that is to say, I don’t believe that they are related. I just don’t quite know why or what yet!

I also felt really sorry for Simon! Poor sausage… after everything that happens with Clary and the Seelie court etc. That had to go and happen to him! Really? I don’t want to give too much away, but I was not expecting it – especially with the amount of protection that he normally has! I definitely felt better for him toward the end after he had spoken to Clary and everything else that happened!

All in all, I really quite enjoyed this story, the plot and the characters both alike! It wasn’t the most original thing in the world, but I still had a fun time reading it and I cannot wait to carry on with the series! I gave this book 4/5 stars!