Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #5)

Title: City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publication date: May 8th 2012
Publisher: Walker Books
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy: Amazon / The Book Depository
I think it goes without saying that since this is book 5, spoilers for the series will probably pop up below!

Description via Goodreads: 

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees. 

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

My thoughts:

My love for this series has been rekindled! While I did enjoy City of Fallen Angels, I still thought it was taking it too far and had hoped the series would end at book three. This, however, was brilliant and contained everything I loved about The Mortal Instruments in the first place! This one was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions and I'm sure any fans of the series will not be disappointed with the latest installment. I tried to read it as slowly as possible because I couldn't handle it being over for another while. Thankfully, there is over 500 pages so we do get a lot of action. 

City of Lost Souls has a very different feel to the rest of the books and it's something that I wasn't sure I would like. Jace in particular really takes a back seat during the book and I was devastated about this at first! Jace has always been my absolute favourite character and in this book, he is ''possessed'' basically and well, a real jerk. I didn't like him at all when he was this ''other Jace'' and I missed his sarcasm and snarky remarks! Fear not though, because we do get some of the ''real Jace'' just not as much as in previous books. But honestly, I ended up not caring a whole lot in the end because everything else made up for it. Don't get me wrong, I still adore him but his absence wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. 

With Jace gone for a lot of it, we get to know the other characters better. Characters I was never even that fond of before this one. Simon always annoyed me and I used to hate when the book would focus in on him but I loved him in this. I loved getting to know him and seeing a Simon who wasn't just pining after Clary the whole time. I was excited to see Simon and Isabella getting closer and was definitely rooting for them. And Alec and Magnus? Loved. We get a lot of exciting scenes with them together and I wanted even more! They were so fun to watch together but it's not all plain sailing either. 

Cassandra Clare's writing continues to grab me and I find it a pleasure to read. I always find her books impossible to set down and this was no exception. The plot in City of Lost Souls is so intense and at times even terrifying. There is so much going on and it can be a bit overwhelming, too. By the end, I just didn't know what to think. I was so happy about some things and devastated about other things. This was another winner and I am so excited about the sixth book. It's just sort of sickening that it won't be out until 2014! I'm going to have to put the series out of my mind because other wise I'll go crazy during the wait.