Review: City of Lost Souls

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)

by Cassandra Clare

Published May 8th, 2012 by Margaret K. McElderry 

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace freed from captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing, so is the boy she hates: her brother Sebastian, who is determined to bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.
The Clave's magic cannot locate either boy, but Jace can't stay away from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith's magic has wrought - Jace and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other.
Only a few people believe that Jace can still be saved. Together, Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle bargain with the sinister Seelie Queen, contemplate deals with demons, and turn at last to the merciless, weapon-making Iron Sisters, who might be able to forge a weapon that can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. If the Iron Sisters can't help, their only hope is to challenge Heaven and Hell - a risk that could claim their lives.
And they must do it without Clary. For Clary is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing 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? What price is too high to pay, even for love?
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Rating: 4.5 stars
Ahhhh where to begin???

SO MUCH happens in this book, I’m not even sure where to start this review! Frankly, I’m surprised Cassandra Clare could even fit all in one book!

City of Lost Souls isn’t really my favorite TMI book, but I loved it all the same. The strange thing is that the Jace parts of the books are usually my favorite… because, I mean, come on, it’s JACE. ‘Nuff said. However, in this book, that wasn’t the case. If anything, the Jace-Clary scene were probably my least favorite parts because there was a lot of relationship angst… and IT WASN’T EVEN JACE!

I mean, it was Jace, physically speaking, but any TMI-lover/Jace-lover would be able to tell you that the Jace that was present for the majority of the novel was not the Jace Lightwood-Herondale-Wayland that we all know and love! He wasn’t even that witty…*grumble grumble*

Clary was still her ever-fearless and reckless self, trying to save Jace from the evil clutches of Sebastian, but I’m not gonna lie, there were some times that her angst kinda got on my nerves.

My favorite parts of this book were actually the chapters that focused on the other relationships. In previous books, characters like Isabelle and Alec and Jordan and Maia kind of took a backseat—but in COLS, they all played a more prominent role and I LOVED reading about their romantic relationships. Isabelle became one of my new favorite characters because I got to know more about her and I really REALLY liked her. I was also became…invested in her relationship with Simon—like, I REALLY wanted them to finally get together! And the two of them are just SO darn cute together! (Also: was it just me or did Simon get A LOT… hotter and more swoon-worthy in this book?!)

Surprisingly, Jordan and Maia also became one of my new favorite pairings. I adored reading scenes centering around them because they’re both also very cute together and… just… I just like them together! A lot.  

The Alec-Magnus relationship… began to really unravel in this book, which made me super sad. I loved them together, but that whole my-boyfriend’s-immortal-but-I’m-not thing was a big issue for Alec and led him to make some not so smart choices—which pretty much had me yelling at the book…

Aaaaaand then we have Sebastian…. Oh, Sebastian. You invoke such conflicting emotions in me… He’ll show this lonely side of himself and I’ll go, “AWW,” but then he’ll do something evil and I’ll be like, “GRRR,” but then he’ll be all nice and… quite frankly, kind of hot, and I’ll go back to being “AWW” again. But then the evilness emerges and makes me go “GRRR” again! It’s a never-ending cycle!

Sigh, it would be a heck of a lot easier if he could just be full-on evil all the time. But goshdarnit Cassie Clare just has to make me sympathize with him!

Without a doubt, the most exciting parts for me, the part that had me absolutely giggling with glee and jumping up and down with excitement, were the little references to The Infernal Devices! Oh. My. Gosh. Did anyone else unleash a fangirlish squeal when Jace had that copy of A Tale of Two Cities with WILL’s inscription?!?! I am not ashamed to say that I certainly did.

ALSO…. Brother Zachariah.

By. The. Angel. WHO IS HE?!?!?! I MUST KNOW!

From the way he acts, I have a pretty good guess, but I’m quite sure Cassandra Clare is too smart to make it THAT obvious for us… or else she pretty much just spoiled what’ll happen in Clockwork Princess…

And now, more than ever, I want to know who the heck Magnus’s dad is!

There are SO many twists and turns and interesting subplots and revelations and dramatic happenings in COLS, but goodness gracious, I am left with so many questions!!! Cassandra Clare, WHYYYYY must you leave me hanging like this?!?!