City of Ashes (Cassandra Clare)

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: 453 pages

Rating: 4/5

This is the sequel to City of Bones, the second book in the Mortal Instruments series. Clary’s life hasn’t gotten any simpler since she learned she’s a Shadowhunter, destined to fight demons. All Clary wants is to find a cure for her mother, even if that means hunting down her evil, wants-to-destroy-all-the-order-in-the-world father, Valentine. And then Valentine steals the second of the Mortal Instruments, and Clary must do all she can to stop him, along with the help of her best friend, Simon, and it’s-very-complicated friend, Jace.

What happened in this book? For me, I know it’s a good book when you put it down, and it’s all a bit of a blur, a good blur, but a little bit like resurfacing from a warm bath. In a nutshell, Valentine gets eviler, Jace gets more infuriating, Simon changes forms, and Clary learns about her own augmented Shadowhunter abilities. All good progress from the first book, except for the Jace/Clary thing which is clearly written to drive the reader crazy (hello hints everywhere, please tell me I’m reading into this right and there is hope). Sorry to be vague and coded, but there are some things you just don’t want given away. I commend Cassandra on her ability to prolong conflict.

To be honest, there might have been a few too many pages for the things listed above to happen, but all in all, excellent sequel, and I’m dying to read the next book, City of Glass.