Review: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

* These reviews may contain spoilers for the previous books in The Mortal Instruments series.

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Sebastian and his army of Endarkened, former Shadowhunters who have been forced to drink from the Infernal Cup, seem unstoppable. Their attacks on Institutes around the world have led to the evacuation of the remaining Shadowhunters to their homeland, Idris. Sebastian makes it very clear that there will be no end to his war until the Clave hands Jace and Clary over to him. Jace still has the heavenly fire burning inside of him, and as the Shadowhunters lose more and more of their own, he may be their only hope of winning against Sebastian.

Ally's Review: The conclusion to The Mortal Instruments is as close to perfect as a book can be. The characters are on point and the storyline is entirely riveting. Cassandra Clare most definitely did not disappoint.

City of Bones was the first Clare book I ever had the pleasure of reading. So obviously, TMI was my favorite series . . . until The Infernal Devices came out. After reading TID, there was no comparison. I was slightly concerned, going into City of Heavenly Fire, that I wasn't going to enjoy the book because of my preference for the other series. But I had no reason to worry because the book was all sorts of awesome. And the little TID insiders scattered throughout City of Heavenly Fire didn't hurt either, lol.

The best part about any Clare book is the characters. In TMI, the family atmosphere among friends is always stressed, and that's because of the lack of blood relatives for a lot of the characters. In this specific book, I felt that vibe more than ever. When it came down to it, each and every one of them would have died to save each other. It is incredibly sweet and only makes me want to be a part of the Shadowhunter world even more. The relationship between Isabelle and Simon is given more spotlight, which I thought was awesome, but I think Alec and Jace's relationship got the most attention out of everyone's. I was thrilled about this because for the longest time I thought their parabatai bond was weak. It was only in this last book that I could actually see that bond between them. They have a lot of bro moments, which happened to be some of the best parts.

For a while now, Jace hasn't been himself. In my opinion, he's been unnecessarily angsty and mopey, which made him plummet from the top to the bottom of my favorite character hierarchy. I was happy to see more of the original Jace that I had fallen in love with in this book. He gets a lot of his charm and confidence back, which makes him a lot more lovable. Clary always annoys me. I've never liked her as a character and that didn't change in this book. My annoyance with her was just more bearable with all of the other characters being a larger part of the book. Clare shamelessly plugs her next series, The Dark Artifices, all throughout City of Heavenly Fire. Typically, I would be really put off by that, but Clare made it work. She's a master weaver when it comes to connecting all her different story lines. It is a real pleasure reading about Emma Carstairs and the young Blackthorns. It made the book all the more intriguing and I am genuinely excited to read the next series.

Although this book is huge, there is never a dull reading moment. The story is action packed and the characters are always up to something. Sebastian is the absolute perfect villain. I find it hard to truly hate him and I kind of consider him one of my favorite characters. He makes me laugh and often I feel bad for him. I feel that by the end of the book Sebastian's character is resolved. Lots of things are addressed, mainly his mommy issues, which is something I always wanted to happen.

By the end of the book, almost all of my questions were answered. I had some sense of closure and I was happy with how all of the characters were left off. The ending is just beautiful. I'm a little sad that this era of Shadowhunters has finished but I'm looking forward to the next series. Something tells me that we haven't seen the last of Clary, Jace, and the gang.

All in All: City of Heavenly Fire is a phenomenal ending to an amazing series. I'm happy with the way things ended and I couldn't have asked for a better book. I'm very excited to read The Dark Artifices.

Lee's Review: So here we are: the conclusion of The Mortal Instruments. This is one of the longer series I’ve stuck with, and although it hasn’t been a five star read across the board, overall I’ve still enjoyed it very, very much. TMI introduced me to Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and mundanes alike, and for that alone, I’ll always have a tender spot in my heart for the series. While I expected to feel a little nostalgic and wistful about saying goodbye to TMI, I didn’t really foresee the book hangover that ensued.

Going into City of Heavenly Fire with the knowledge that 1) it’s over 700 pages and 2) there are two more Shadowhunter series on the horizon made me a little wary of how many of those pages were going toward setting up those series. Yes, you’re introduced to the next generation of Shadowhunters, BUT. This book is as much about the past as it is about the future, and because of that, because of the pages that reference the past, I cannot knock the pages that are devoted to glimpses of the future. And I cannot get any more specific than that without getting super spoiler-y. Believe me, it is killing me not to gush over some of my favorite scenes and quotes because they would totally ruin the surprise of more than this book.

Now, please don’t panic and think that the TMI characters you’ve known since City of Bones have been pushed to the backburner. They most certainly have NOT. I loved that the core group of Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon spent plenty of time in the spotlight—together. Their stand against Sebastian takes them on a journey that is absolutely hellish. Their dedication to their mission, which they are fully aware may not succeed and may very well kill them, is unwavering and awe-inspiring. For all of the squabbles that these characters have had at various times with one another, nothing matters more in this book than stopping Sebastian from destroying the world. Even Jace and Clary leave their personal melodrama behind them and focus on what needs to be done. There’s a maturity to everyone in this quintet that really made me realize just how much they’ve grown as characters.

Sebastian obviously looms large throughout CoHF, and, being Sebastian, he’s more than happy to engage the Shadowhunters in a few deadly rounds of cat and mouse before launching his all-out assault against them. The fighting scenes between the Endarkened and some other allies Sebastian has managed to gather and the Shadowhunters are some of the series’ fiercest. No TMI book would be such without demons, and CoHF features plenty of those nasties, too.

He may be dead, but Valentine Morgenstern continues to cast a shadow over the characters. If he hadn’t gone all Dr. Frankenstein and experimented on his own children, particularly Sebastian, so many lives would have been different. Valentine essentially robbed Jace of his identity, and I was especially drawn to Jace’s careful consideration of claiming his true heritage. In fact, I was extremely happy to see this addressed and not forgotten amid the book’s much larger plotlines.

City of Heavenly Fire gave all that I could have asked from it, plus a little extra. Whatever doubts I had about the Shadowhunters’ chronicles continuing for another two series were erased thanks to this book. The breadth of their history and the way that their stories intertwine across time just amaze me. I am nowhere near ready to say goodbye to the Nephilim and eagerly await the release of Lady Midnight next year. For those of you who still haven’t checked out The Infernal Devices, now has never been a better time to do so!

All in All: City of Heavenly Fire is a spectacular finale to The Mortal Instruments, complete with action, suspense, romance, humor, and . . . fire. Lots of fire.

Review: The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare & Joshua Lewis

The Shadowhunter’s Codex
By Cassandra Clare & Joshua Lewis
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Review: I usually write a summary to go along with every review, but The Shadowhunter’s Codex is a bit unique to describe, so I figured I’d include a quick synopsis here instead. It’s basically a reference book for Shadowhunters, the demon fighting warriors from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series. The Codex covers a range of topics about the Nephilim: their origin and some key moments in their history, their laws, types of demons they might encounter, and just about every other Shadowhunter-related topic you can think of.

I had this book lying around on my shelves since its release, and my motivation for buying it at the time was its pretty sweet price. Had it not been discounted, I probably would have eventually sought out a copy at the library. I admit to being a tad skeptical about whether or not this was essential reading. With the exception of Tahereh Mafi’s Destroy Me, series novellas don’t exactly set my pulse racing in anticipation, so what could I expect from a book that’s . . . a fictional guide to the world of two fictional series?

Two factors really worked to the benefit of The Shadowhunter’s Codex. One, I absolutely love the world. Two, I’d just finished reading City of Heavenly Fire and needed to read more, more, more about the Shadowhunters. Anything. Everything. So here was the perfect time to dust off my copy of this book!

The Shadowhunter’s Codex is supposed to read like a textbook of sorts, and indeed, it even sports discussion questions at the end of each chapter. It manages to simultaneously sound like a serious academic work yet not take itself too seriously. There are some tongue-in-cheek moments, like when the Codex encourages you to try introducing yourself to a Silent Brother. Adding to the lighter side are annotations in the margins by TMI’s Clary, Simon, and Jace. You’re actually supposed to be reading Clary’s copy of the Codex, which Simon and Jace keep seizing so they can contribute their “expertise” to it.

Besides the surprise humor, I enjoyed learning more about Jonathan, the legendary first Shadowhunter created by the angel Raziel. The section on parabatai was short, but I still found it really interesting. Some parts did drag; those were the ones that read most like a textbook. On the whole, I liked this more than I thought I would, although if you’re only a casual TMI/TID fan, you can probably pass on this.

All in All: Recommended for diehard Shadowhunter fans, not as much for everybody else.

Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in The Mortal Instruments series.

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: With Valentine no longer a threat, Jace and Clary can finally be together—or so they think. Clary worries that Jace is withdrawing into himself more and more, and she’s at a loss to help him. Meanwhile, Simon is grappling with the consequences of not only being a still fairly new vampire, but one who can walk in the daylight and who bears the Mark of Cain, which will destroy anyone who tries to harm him. And there are several people who seem determined to harm Simon.

Review: During my first read of books 1-4 of The Mortal Instruments three years ago (yikes—has it been that long already?!), City of Fallen Angels quickly established itself as my least favorite TMI book. Jace was not the Jace I fell for in City of Bones. His plotline in CoFA revolves around the mystery of what’s wrong with him, and the first time I read this book, I hated that plotline. Like, dude has been through enough already, what with being raised by an insane, murderous megalomaniac who popped back into his life and continued making it an absolute hell. A depressed and brooding Jace was a chore to read about; his sarcasm and arrogance, while not entirely absent, have been the hallmarks of this series for me.

Maybe knowing what to expect with Jace made rereading CoFA okay. I mean, there were a few things that I still felt iffy about, like the introduction of a character from Maia’s past. I don’t have a problem with Maia; it’s the necessity of adding yet another secondary character that I’m unsure about. And just when you thought Jace and Clary were going to kill demons side by side happily ever after, this book happened. Even if the Angel himself played matchmaker, something would get in the way of these two being together forever.

Although my opinion of the above-mentioned aspects of CoFA didn’t soften with a reread, I do feel that overall, the book is more finely honed than its predecessors, both in terms of the writing and the pacing. The exchanges between Jace and Simon, which have always been heavy on the snark, were particularly snappy, in multiple senses of the word. Speaking of Simon, he really takes center stage in this novel, and I remember being slightly annoyed by this the previous time I read CoFA, because as much as I like Simon, the lack of Jace-ness was palpable. This time, however, I really felt for Simon. He’s the odd man out—not a Shadowhunter, not the average vampire thanks to being a Daylighter. And almost everyone seems to want to kill him. So, lots of sympathy for Simon, whose luck in this book eerily resembles Jace’s, i.e. bad.

Going into this rereread, I was pretty sure that CoFA was going to fall fairly short of the 4 stars I gave to the other three TMI books. As I read, though, the book suprisingly held up quite well. I wouldn’t go so far as to say CoFA has become one of my favorite TMI books, but I was way too hasty in assuming that I was going to be rather tough with the rating. Besides, CoFA marks the first TMI appearance of a certain Silent Brother . . . .

All in All: City of Fallen Angels actually improved upon a second read, but that was largely due to knowing the story beforehand.

Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in The Mortal Instruments series.

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Valentine needs only one more Mortal Instrument to destroy the Clave and create his own army of Shadowhunters who will wage war against all Downworlders. Jace and the Lightwoods travel to the Shadowhunter homeland of Idris, where the Clave is assembling to decide how to counter Valentine’s impending attack. Clary is supposed to make the journey, too, but Jace devises a plan that’s supposed to keep her safe in New York. Nothing, however, is going to stop Clary from finding a way to save her mother, and Idris is where she hopes to uncover the key to waking Jocelyn.

Review: There’s not much I can say about City of Glass that I haven’t already covered in my reviews of City of Bones and City of Ashes. Now having read all three books for a second time, boy is that one particular series plotline bizarre. If you’ve read TMI, you know which one I mean. Valentine Morgenstern has to be one of the worst fictional fathers ever. Seriously. And yet, despite the mind-contorting family issues, I find this series very enjoyable to read and reread. The world is so immersive, and I’m quite attached to some of the characters (Magnus!).

City of Glass sees the setting shift to the Shadowhunters’ oft-mentioned homeland of Idris, which is painted as a place of picturesque beauty, with its glass towers that lend the book its title. In addition to the change in locale, some new faces appear: the Penhallows, the Shadowhunter family who’s hosting Jace and the Lightwoods; Amatis Herondale (Infernal Devices fans will surely recognize that surname!), Luke’s sister with quite the sad backstory; and Sebastian Verlac—I don’t even know where to begin with him, so let’s leave it there.

As for the returning characters, Jace and Clary do their We Wanna Be Together But We Totally Can’t act again. The relationship drama between those two reaches its crescendo, and really, it’s about time because it’s only been at the forefront of the books from the get-go. I did feel a teensy bit sorry for Clary, whom I usually take to task for acting first and thinking second; Jace’s words to her in one scene are particularly brutal. But now here comes the Jace defense: his mind goes to a pretty dark place here, again thanks to Valentine. When you look at all the lives this lunatic has wrecked, there’s hardly a character in the series whom he hasn’t made miserable—or worse. Usually worse.

Jace and Simon have traded insults throughout TMI, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Some of my favorite lines from both are from scenes when they’re sniping at each other, typically over Clary. Simon may not have Jace’s swagger and skill with a seraph blade, but I love that he can hold his own against Jace in a war of words.

City of Glass is a lengthy novel and a good number of those pages are all about building up to Valentine’s assault against the Shadowhunters. The payoff is worth the wait, though, thanks to all of the action that goes down as the book nears its close. The battle is waged on multiple fronts, and it’s almost painful to leave one to check in on another because you’re invested in the outcome of all of them. And that’s always been an area in which TMI shines: the Shadowhunters don’t merely talk about being fierce warriors; they prove it with every demon they strike down.

All in All: If you enjoyed the previous books, you should be quite satisfied with the resolution of the major plotlines here.

Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, City of Bones.

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: With Valentine very much alive and in possession of the Mortal Cup, the Shadowhunters must race to stop him from acquiring all of the Mortal Instruments. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary are still trying to deal with the shocking revelation of their connection to Valentine—and to each other. Jace also falls under suspicion from the Clave because of his family ties, and he must prove to the Clave’s merciless High Inquisitor that his loyalty still lies with the Nephilim.

Review: I have to say, I really enjoyed this reread of City of Ashes. I still had some of the same issues with it that I did with City of Bones, but overall City of Ashes was a very good (re)read.

I might as well cover the stuff I wasn’t so thrilled about first. Clary may be able to draw powerful runes straight out of her head, but I find her rather blah otherwise. I don’t think she’s a kickass heroine, and she’s probably my least favorite TMI character to read about. That must sound strange considering how much I like the book and The Mortal Instruments series as a whole. Clary just comes across as wimpy to me, despite what she can do with a stele.

I could reread the series ten more times and still not buy into 1) Simon and Clary as a couple and 2) Jace and Clary as anything BUT a couple. (If you’ve read TMI, then you know what I mean; I’m trying not to be too spoiler-y here.) As much as I like Simon, I can’t picture him besting a character like Jace for Clary’s heart, and Simon and Clary’s half-hearted go at moving past the best friend stage didn’t interest me much as a reader. I also had to wince at the Jace/Clary bombshell from City of Bones, which is front and center for most of City of Ashes. Sure, that twist made for one hell of an ending to the first book, but beyond the shock value, I can’t wrap my head around the story going there. Plus, I never, not even for a microsecond, found that plotline plausible my first read through this book.

I realize that I’ve griped quite a bit, and now I’m going to explain why City of Ashes gets four stars from me. The world is just so cool. The Shadowhunters are just so cool—their history, their angelic lineage, their unwavering dedication to ridding the world of demons. And the Angel help me, but I love Jace, even when his sarcasm crosses the line and he’s being a grade A ass.

I’d forgotten how purely evil Valentine was. That sounds so stupid, I know, since he’s the bad guy and all. Seriously, though, his utter disregard for anyone who stands in his way didn’t fully sink in until now. He’s also completely convinced that he’s right and the Clave is wrong—it’s freaking scary.

It’s time to wrap up this review before I go on forever. Before I do, though, I have to mention how much I loved Magnus in this one. Of course he’s awesome in every Shadowhunter novel he graces with his presence, but he was extra amazing in City of Ashes. It also wouldn’t be a TMI book without an epic battle, and the climactic one in this installment doesn’t disappoint. The action in these books gets pretty intense, and I never grow bored of reading about the Shadowhunters taking down demons with their seraph blades.

All in All: The overall badass-ness of the Shadowhunters and Jace’s snark more than make up for that Jace and Clary thing that I try not to think about, even when I have to be repeatedly reminded about it for 400 pages.

Our City of Heavenly Fire Wishlist

* SPOILER WARNING FOR THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS AND THE INFERNAL DEVICES! This post contains spoilers for BOTH series, so if you're not caught up on all of the books in the two series, you may want to quit reading this post here.

It's release day for City of Heavenly Fire, the last book in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series! Even though Ally and I are both more partial to Clare's Victorian Shadowhunter series, The Infernal Devices, we still feel a certain attachment to TMI. It was one of the first YA series that the two of us discussed enthusiastically, and we love its NYC setting. We wanted to do some kind of post for the TMI finale, so we decided to put together a list of things we'd like to see happen in CoHF. We quickly discovered that we couldn't do that without constantly referring to TID, hence the spoiler warning for both series. (We are also still in denial about TID being over and can't just let it go.) So, here's once more chance to avoid spoilers!

Ally's Wishlist

The Real Deal vs. The Frauds

In The Infernal Devices, the best relationship is between Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. They are the true epitome of parabatai—they're closer than brothers and would literally die for/without each other. The bond and connection they share is definitely inspiring. In The Mortal Instruments, Jace and Alec are parabatai. Will and Jem easily put their Shadowhunter descendants to shame. Jace and Alec's parabatai bond pales in comparison to Will and Jem's bond. Yeah, Jace and Alec are buddies and everything, but I wouldn't say that they're any closer than brothers. I'm sure they would die for each other, but they wouldn't die without the other. Jace would be able to survive without Alec, but Will wouldn't be able to survive without Jem (hence the whole Silent Brother ordeal). I seriously doubt the parabatai bond Jace and Alec share. Looking at what Will and Jem had just makes Jace and Alec all the more disappointing. Will and Jem just need to travel to the future and show them how the whole parabatai thing is really done.

Malec ♥

The ending of City of Lost Souls left Malec fans, including myself, heartbroken and destroyed. One of the cutest couples in the whole Shadowhunter world broke up. Malec went back to just being Magnus and Alec. It was terrible; I could barely cope. I just about cried while reading the break-up scene. After the initial heartbreak, I went into denial. There is no way, in heaven or hell, that Magnus and Alec are going to remain split. I take comfort in the fact that this isn't the end to their relationship. It just can't be. They love each other too much. Magnus and Alec will be back together before the end of City of Heavenly Fire, just you wait. And I'm sure their reunion scene will make the break-up worth it!

Brother Zachariah's Butterfly Transformation

Thanks to the beautiful epilogue in Clockwork Princess, we all know that Jem finds a cure and is released from his Silent Brother vows. Yay! We know that this happens but we don't know the how. I'm just going to assume that our pals from TMI help Zach turn back into our precious little Jem. Jem turns into Brother Zachariah in Clockwork and is still a Silent Brother in City of Lost Souls. Some time between those two books, Jem is cured. This all means something greater—Jem is going to have a lot of book time in Heavenly Fire! I'm so looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to Jem telling all the modern Shadowhunters about all his bad-arse adventures from back in the day! Hopefully Tessa and Will can make an appearance, too.

Lee's Wishlist

The Characters from TID Whom I Hope Make an Appearance in CoHF

Ally just gave me the best segue ever there! Tessa and Jem are pretty much guaranteed to turn up in CoHF, which of course makes me happy. Something I'm really looking forward to in this final installment of TMI is how it ties into TID. And if we're going to come full circle, I think somehow working Will into CoHF would only be fitting. I'm not sure how this would be possible in the way that Tessa and Jem are able to be present in the modern Shadowhunter chronicles, but I can still dream about Will being a part of CoHF, can't I? How about a flashback?

The Wisdom of Elders

Clockwork Princess featured a family tree that illustrated the lineage of the TID characters down to their TMI descendants. If I could put myself in the shoes of the Victorian Shadowhunters and impart advice to the future generation, it'd go something like this. Charlotte Branwell (née Fairchild) could counsel both Jocelyn and Clary on how to be a strong leader. The latter two have annoyed me at various times throughout TMI, and I feel that they could benefit from taking a few pages from Charlotte's book. As for Jace, I doubt that the the mopiness that has drained a lot of the life from the character I fell in love with in City of Bones would meet the approval of William Herondale. I dream of a scenario in which Will manages to make contact with Jace and tells him to snap out of it and get his crap together, phrased in Will's unique style of insult-wrapped-in-Victorian-politeness, of course.

Sizzy!

I think Simon and Isabelle make a cute couple. I was so glad that he quit pining for Clary, because that was a lost cause the moment Clary met Jace. I like how adorkable Simon complements spitfire Izzy, and those two deserve a nice little happily ever after. Or I will be terribly, terribly upset.

Are you looking forward to anything in particular in City of Heavenly Fire?

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Angels and demons never seemed real to Clary Fray, but a night at the Pandemonium Club proves otherwise. An entire world of vampires, warlocks, and werewolves has been painstakingly kept hidden from her until now. It’s time for Clary to finally embrace her true identity as a Shadowhunter, one of the angelic descendants dedicated to protecting humans from the evil they don’t even realize surrounds them. Clary’s first priority, though, is to find her missing mother whose sudden disappearance may be a sign that a past conflict among the Shadowhunters is about to reignite.

Review: Rereading a book, especially one that I first read pre-blog, is always an adventure for me. I’m interested to see if my opinion has changed or if I feel the same way about the book in question. City of Bones had more than a little pressure on it to be as good as I remembered it. Although The Infernal Devices remains my favorite Shadowhunter series, City of Bones was my introduction to the Shadowhunter world, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit sentimental while turning its pages.

I’m probably going to wind up referring to TID a few non-spoilery times throughout this review, just because I’m still unable to, on a somewhat subconscious level, let go of that series. So here’s reference #1. Before the release of Clockwork Princess, my nerdy self required a reread of Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince. Those two books blew me away all over again with their awesomeness. I didn’t expect quite the same reaction to a reread of City of Bones because I didn’t consider it a five star read the first time around. It was a solid four, maybe four and half then, and I still think so now. The world of angels and demons with some vampires, warlocks, werewolves, and faeries thrown in was just as exciting to discover all over again. I am also such a sucker for books set in New York City, and City of Bones scores extra points for referencing real places in my old Brooklyn neighborhood. I get a geeky thrill from the thought of the Shadowhunters walking the same streets I did for a good part of my life.

In addition to the richly detailed world and its pretty epic scale, the novel’s other standout is Mr. Jace Wayland. I cannot explain why I go for the snarky boys; I just do. (It should come as no surprise that I love TID’s snarky Will Herondale, too; in fact, I love him more than Jace.) Jace is arrogant and a smartass, but he’s also the guy whom you want fighting on your side. Without a doubt.

Something I noticed this read around was the pacing. The disappearance of Clary’s mother, Jocelyn, is central to the plot, yet the book is in no rush for her to be found. Speaking of Clary, I’m sorry to say that I’m still not impressed with her as a heroine, at least at this point in the series. She does not particularly excel at putting two and two together; helloooo Clary: your best friend is in love with you and you have no clue! Clary is also impulsive in a way that tends to lead to trouble as opposed to making me see her as a badass.

I don’t think any amount of rereads could keep me from going, “What the . . . ?!” at the ending of City of Bones. Despite that crazy twist not being a complete shock this time, my brain encountered some difficulty processing it. Again. There’s really not much you can say after an ending like that, and on that note, I do believe this review is done.

All in All: The Shadowhunters continue to rule as the coolest demon fighters around, whether they’re saving Victorian England or modern day New York. City of Bones is where everything Shadowhunter-related started for me, and it’s a very good beginning, indeed.

The Mortal Instruments Reread (Sort Of)

The end of this month will see Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series conclude with the sixth book, City of Heavenly Fire. I admit that I'm a bigger fan of her Infernal Devices series, but TMI was my introduction to the Shadowhunter world, and I'm still a bit sad to see it end.

I read the first four TMI books pre-blog, and rereading them and reviewing them have always been near the top of my blogging to-do list. It bugs me whenever I see the link to Book 5 in the Review Archive, there all by its lonesome self. I need to fix that.

My original goal was to start rereading the series from the beginning last month, but as with any plans I make lately, time has not been cooperative. So here we are in May, and I'm only just now getting around to City of Bones. Oh well. And, as the following image illustrates, I'm only rereading four of the books:

City of Lost Souls is actually still pretty fresh in my mind; I paid extra, extra special attention while reading it because I was on the lookout for any references whatsoever to The Infernal Devices. Plus, Ally and I jointly reviewed that one, so I figured I'd brush up on what happened in Books 1-4 only and review them. I might do an update or two on the progress of the reread, time permitting. Ally and I are planning to do some kind of post to mark the end of TMI; we do love speculating on how a series will wrap up.

Movie Review: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Ally and I did our Shadowhunter duty on Sunday and went to see The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. We both had somewhat mixed feelings going in because 1) we're much bigger fans of The Infernal Devices series than TMI and 2) we haven't been blown away by most of the YA book-to-movie adaptations we've seen. But, we couldn't pass up the chance to see Shadowhunters on the big screen, so off we journeyed to the movie theater on Sunday afternoon.

I'll start with the biggest question that had been on my mind—could Jamie Campbell Bower pull off being Jace Wayland? I was definitely one of those people for whom the actor didn't fit the image of Jace that was in my head, but I really tried to give him a fair shake at the role. I think he tried to give Jace a dry sort of wit, which wasn't a bad approach, but our Mr. Wayland is also a seriously arrogant young man, and I felt that side of his character didn't come across enough on the screen.

I've never been a big Clary fan, so I felt neutral about her onscreen counterpart. Movie Clary has about as many mini-meltdowns as Book Clary does (AAH! I spent all night plastering my walls with drawings of the Angelic Power rune! AAH! There's some strange blond guy stalking me!). I just waited for them to pass. I loved Simon—perfect casting there, and I loved that he and Isabelle shared some scenes, even going up against some demons together (Sizzy foreshadowing? Yes, please!). Alec's character was also very true to the books, especially his blatant dislike (um, that may be phrasing it mildly) of Clary.

Ally wasn't too impressed with Magnus Bane, but I thought he was okay. With so many characters to introduce, he didn't have a whole bunch of screen time, and I missed that he didn't really get to show off his snarky side. I had a total Infernal Devices moment during the party scene when Magnus made a comment about Alec's eyes . . . .

One character who really surprised me was Clary's mother, Jocelyn. I've never had a lot of sympathy for her in the books, despite her having to run away from a psycho husband (more on Valentine in a minute), but I found her a much warmer figure here. Lena Headey (Cersei from Game of Thrones—YEAH!) was just awesome in the part, and she fought like a badass. When Valentine's henchmen turned up demanding the Mortal Cup and Jocelyn showed off some mad skills beating the crap out of them with a frying pan, I couldn't help thinking, I bet Cersei's always wanted to do that to Joffrey!

Jonathan Rhys Meyers made a suitably insane Valentine, but what was UP with his hair? It didn't bother me that the color didn't match Valentine's in the books, but the stuff hanging out of it did. Was his do some sort of homage to those little braids Jedi apprentices wear?

I normally don't geek out over special effects, but I must say that these were very well done. The demons were quite terrifying and didn't look cheesy at all. The Institute, both its exterior and interior, looked amazing. The library in particular was breathtaking. In general, I thought the movie did a great job bringing the Shadowhunters to life; the runes looked fantastic, and you even saw some of the older ones in the process of fading, like they do in the books. The fight scenes were incredible, especially the one with the vampires at the Hotel Dumort. You really got to see the Shadowhunters' enhanced agility and badass fighting skills in action.

My favorite scene was Jace and Clary's trip to the Silent City. The atmosphere was perfectly creepy throughout, and the Silent Brothers were as mysterious and eerie as they are in the novels. I wasn't too keen on the effect used for Brother Jeremiah's voice, but it didn't detract from the power of the scene.

If you've read City of Bones, then you know all about the crazy ending. It was slightly altered here, though its essence remained the same. I must be getting used to movies taking creative liberties with the books they're adapted from because the changes here didn't really faze me.

While there were a few wince-worthy lines of dialogue and I'm not sure how easy the movie would be to follow for those who haven't read the books, I quite enjoyed this. Definitely worth the movie ticket and repeat viewing on Blu-Ray/DVD when it becomes available.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Teaser Trailer!

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Oh. My. God. How INCREDIBLE does this look?! And it's just the teaser trailer! Needless to say, August 23, 2013 can't get here fast enough!

Painting the Page: The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices' Magnus Bane

We thought that it would be fun to occasionally post some of the images that have been inspired by our reading adventures. This is my drawing of Magnus Bane from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series. Magnus is one of the most lively and vivid characters I have ever read about. I could easily picture him in my mind and just had to draw him.

The Mortal Instruments' Mysterious Brother Zachariah

* Spoiler warning for The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices series *

After finishing City of Lost Souls recently, our curiosity about the true identity of this character from Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series has become an obsession. We debate this topic at least twice a week during our after-dinner walk. Seriously. Since we love theorizing about books, we figured we’d add our thoughts on this enigmatic Silent Brother to the pile.

The two of us had read the first four Mortal Instruments books before reading Clockwork Angel, so we didn’t make the connection between the Herondales mentioned in The Mortal Instruments and Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices until after we’d read Clockwork Angel. Then our brains went into overdrive trying to figure out how Will and Jace are related. Then it also dawned on us that Brother Zachariah seems to know a lot about the Herondale family, as suggested by these Brother Zachariah quotes from Chapter 13 of City of Fallen Angels:

Would that I had been here, he said, his voice unexpectedly gentle, when you were growing up. I would have seen the truth in your face, Jace Lightwood, and known who you were.

We cannot and should not harm the boy. Old ties exist between the Herondales and the Brothers. We owe him help.

Our initial thought was that Brother Zachariah is really Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices. Jem somehow survives and becomes one of the Silent Brothers. It would definitely explain why Brother Zachariah seems to be so knowledgeable about the Herondales.

Now let’s take a look at City of Lost Souls. Brother Zachariah’s comments, and the clues which they might provide to his identity, become even more tantalizing. In Chapter 12, he tells Maryse Lightwood that he has “a particular interest” in Jace’s well-being. When Maryse asks him if he ever had children, his answer is no. The mystery only deepens when you consider that Cassandra Clare’s next series, The Dark Artifices, will feature a Shadowhunter named Emma Carstairs. Hmmm . . . . Does this mean that she’s descended from a different branch of the Carstairs family? Or is it possible that Brother Zachariah is . . . Will?! Will would also be concerned about Jace’s welfare. If Will had no children, though, then from which Herondale ancestor does Jace trace his lineage? Will has a sister, Cecily; she could be the ancestor, but then how did the Herondale name get passed down from her? Yeah, we’ve got quite the conundrum here.

And we’re pretty convinced that Brother Zachariah is either Jem or Will. We know that he was once a Shadowhunter, and in the Epilogue to City of Lost Souls, he tells Clary that there were once two people whom he would have died for. Will most certainly would have died for Tessa and Jem. Jem most certainly would have died for Tessa and Will. There’s also an intriguing quote from Magnus in Chapter 7 of CoLS: "I’ve known parabatai so close they were almost the same person. Do you know what happens, when one of them dies, to the one who’s left—" Given that Magnus is also in The Infernal Devices, we’re thinking that he’s discussing Will and Jem there. Naturally, Magnus never tells us what happens. By any chance does the surviving parabatai have to join the Silent Brothers? The suspense is driving us insane!

As for our guess as to who Brother Zachariah is, we’re just not sure. The hints which are given in City of Lost Souls could point to either Jem or Will. Of course, there’s always the possibility that Brother Zachariah is neither of them, and Cassandra Clare has done an outstanding job misleading us. We wouldn’t be surprised if the questions surrounding Brother Zachariah aren’t answered until City of Heavenly Fire, even though Clockwork Princess will be released first.

We’d love to hear from other fans of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices who are also puzzling over this. Do you have any theories on what Brother Zachariah’s story might be?

Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

We're both reviewing this one today, so this post is going to be quite long. We had both wanted to reread the previous Mortal Instruments books before reading City of Lost Souls, but we just didn't have the time. When we have the chance to read the first four books again, we'll post reviews for them then.

* Spoiler warning for the previous Mortal Instruments books and The Infernal Devices series *

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

To Sum It Up: Although the demon Lilith has been defeated, Jace and Sebastian are missing. When the search for the boys proves fruitless, the Clave moves on to what it considers issues of higher priority, forcing Clary and her friends to take matters into their own hands. At last, Jace comes looking for Clary, and she is horrified to learn that Lilith’s ritual has bound him and Sebastian together. Harm one, hurt the other; kill one, the other dies as well. Not only that, but Jace is also under Sebastian’s control, a pawn in the latter’s plans to destroy the Shadowhunters. While Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, and Simon work feverishly to find a way to break the connection, Clary flies solo with a dangerous plan of her own to bring back the Jace she loves.

Ally's Review: In one word, City of Lost Souls was epic. And when I say “epic,” I don’t mean the version of “epic” that’s used nowadays where every little thing is mind-blowing. No! This is Shadowhunter epic! What can I say? Cassandra Clare did it again.

City of Lost Souls picks up where the last book left off. Jace is missing and the gang is out to find him. I liked this book a lot better than the last book, City of Fallen Angels. To me this book just flowed better and it was more interesting. I think I could have done without reading the other book and just jumped to City of Lost Souls. I loved all the different characters and POVs, except Maia and Jordan; I could've done without them. Although I appreciated their help in finding Jace and all, I felt that they took away from the story. I liked reading about Isabelle and Simon as well. I think they are good for each other, and I'm looking forward to seeing their relationship develop.

I thought the relationship between Sebastian and Jace was great! I was chuckling nonstop. Sebastian may be a deranged creep, but he is funny. I also thought that he was really misunderstood. I get that Sebastian is supposed to be evil and all, but what do you expect?! His parents showed him no love. I don't blame him for being a little twisted; I just think he needs some help. And I do think he truly did enjoy having a friend in Jace even though it was completely fake.

Although I found myself liking Sebastian, I was really mad at Jace for the majority of the book. To me, we lost the real Jace during City of Glass. Jace never seemed to fully recover from his brooding syndrome. I know he's been through a lot with all that possession crap and now this bonding thing with Sebastian, but come on, he's a Herondale for crying out loud! A descendant of Will freaking Herondale! Ahem, excuse me . . . . Anyway, as I was saying, Jace just wasn't living up to the Herondale expectations for me. But he was still cool and snarky. And I still love him! ;)

Ahhh, let's move on to Alec and Magnus! I love, love, loved that Alec had a POV! It was so cool to see Magnus through Alec's eyes and to see what their relationship was like. I just think that they are so sweet together! Awww, I love them! I love Magnus! Ally, stay focused! But, Alec, on the other hand, was always a little sketchy to me. He just always seemed so brooding, but now that I've read more about him I think I can understand him better. I mean, what's not to like? He looks like Will and he's pretty wicked with his bow and arrows! Let’s go back to Magnus; you can never have enough Magnus! City of Lost Souls keeps making all these references to Magnus's father, and now I'm interested. Who is Magnus's father? I have some theories, but in the end I don't know! Uggh, Magnus needs his own spinoff!

Let's move on to Clary. Clary, Clary, Clary, oh how you annoy me at times. It's not that I hate Clary; it’s just that I find her too headstrong and reckless. I also think she is kind of selfish. In the process of getting what she wants, her friends sometimes get hurt. I can, however, respect her for her fighting skills and her determination and loyalty. I wouldn't be lying if I said I would want her on my side of the fight.

Let's get to the good stuff: the Infernal Devices clues/references! I flipped out whenever I thought something referenced those guys! I slammed the book, I squealed, I laughed. It was amazing! I want Clockwork Princess! I won't give away any of the good stuff, but let me tell you, I was shooting out theories like there was no tomorrow. Lee and I were trying to piece together the ending of The Infernal Devices. We have some pretty farfetched theories, but let me tell you, reading the epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire, teaches you things, things which Lee and I have picked up and are putting to good use. The Silent Brother, Zachariah, is sketchy! And that is all I'm going to say on that topic . . . for now.

Anyway, I really, really loved this book! It was amazing and leaves readers wanting more! So my advice: read it! And if you have read all the Mortal Instruments books, then get to reading The Infernal Devices! But, if you are like Lee and me and have already read all of these amazing, life-changing books, then I am sorry, but you’re going to have to wait! At least we have our theories . . . . I know, small comfort. But I'm really glad Cassandra Clare decided to write these books. I can't imagine life without them, sniffle, sniffle.

All in All: I am a proud owner of my own copy, courtesy of Lee, and recommend this book to anybody and everybody. Just go read it!

Lee's Review: I’m going to try to keep this review somewhat sane in length, but when it comes to Cassandra Clare’s books, I just don’t know when to shut up. Please forgive me in advance for the amount of blathering that’s about to go down here.

I LOVED this book. As much as I enjoyed most of the previous Mortal Instruments books, City of Lost Souls just hit all the right notes for me. Reading about these characters again was like meeting up with an old friend you hadn’t seen in years. It was so easy to fall right back into the story.

I wasn’t crazy over the last installment, City of Fallen Angels, mostly because I couldn’t stand Jace’s moping. It drove me insane. Yes, there was a very important, plot-related reason for it, but I still didn’t like it. And yes, I’m heavily invested in Jace's well-being; I have to remind myself constantly that he's fictional. We still don’t have the real Jace here, but this version is a huge improvement over the one from CoFA.

I feel like City of Lost Souls should have been Book Four, or at least some elements should have been in City of Fallen Angels. The build-up to the confrontation with Lilith in the latter took forever. I probably would have liked CoFA more if its pacing had been better.

Multiple characters, including Alec, Isabelle, Jordan, and Jocelyn, have points-of-view in this book. Things could have spiraled out of control very easily, but Clare juggles all of them adeptly. I really liked Alec and Isabelle’s POVs; I was glad to see them step into the spotlight a bit more. Alec’s POV was especially welcome because it meant more pages with Magnus in them!

Sebastian is truly the type of villain that you love to hate. His warped, sadistic mind makes it very easy to despise him. Yet there were a few moments in this book when I almost believed that maybe he was slightly less evil than I’d originally thought. Not only does he play games with the characters in the book, but he also toys with readers by keeping them guessing as to what his true face looks like, if he even has one.

This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our heroine, Clary. I’ve never been a big Clary fan because of her propensity to act first and think about the consequences later. I’ve always thought that Isabelle would have made a better protagonist for the series. In this book, though, Clary finally seems to realize what being a Shadowhunter is all about. She shows off some pretty mean fighting skills, and at one crucial point in the story, she reflects on a particular rash decision that she made and learns from it. Please continue in this direction, Clary; we might become friends yet.

All in All: Five stars all the way! It’s going to be a very long wait until 2014, when City of Heavenly Fire gets released.