City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)by Cassandra Clare
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One spoiler for those who haven’t read COFA…
So…this one took me a while to finish. I’m not sure if it’s because I read so many TMI books so fast or if something in the story just didn’t do it for me. I do have to say that I didn’t have this problem with any of Jennifer Armentrout’s long series so I might have just rushed reading these instead of taking it easy after the awesome third novel.
I still love the Jace/Clary dynamic. Jace is so devoted to Clary and she loves him with a fierce passion that draws you in and keeps you there.
I love Jordan and Maia and Simon and Isabelle. I can even safely say that I now love Alec’s character and his new found vulnerability. These characters have grown and shaped into such fun people to read about. They banter and get themselves into precarious situations that are hard to tear away from. Even Sebastion-I like a good villain. He is beyond creepy and crazy, so we get a little insanity added to the story as well. I know that’s weird…liking a villain and all…but I do. He was the only thing that kept the otherworldly situation interesting for me.
Which leads me to my next point…I just couldn’t get into the otherworldly plot. Maybe it was the constant change of setting, but more than most likely, it was the idea that Jace was, once again, not himself. I mean, how many times do we have to toy with Jace’s mind? Yea, steal him away, add some peril to the story, but quit making him all….not Jace. I LOVE plot twists and romantic yearning for the other (Save me, save me, I’ve been taken! or We are in different places, but I yearn for you! or I’m supposed to kill you muahahaha), but enough with Jace losing his free will. Much like the brother/sister scenario, the free will bit is being a tad overplayed and it becomes boring or not as exciting.
Certain things happen that made me cringe, made me applaud, smile, laugh, and do the happy squeal. The ending was awesome (the way I wish it all would have been paced), and I loved the club scene. It was beyond gross and disturbing, and I found it to be highly entertaining. So much happens that I couldn’t possibly recap, but overall I can’t deny that this series (generally/most of the time) excites me, and I have grown to love all the characters-even the villains. So I can’t wait for the 6th novel to come out, and the wait/anticipation will be good for me. Bye TMI, until 2014…..
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