Wednesday 5 September 2012

Review on The Mortal Instruments #3 City of Glass





Clary is determined to save her mothers life, but to do so she must travel to the glass city of Alicante in Idris, the Shadowhunters country. But things are not going to get any easier for Clary, as her father Valentine is determined to destroy all Shadowhunters who do not follow him. The Shadowhunters must make a huge decision, whether they are going to succumb to Valentine, or join leagues with the Downworlders, whom the Shadowhunters have been enemies with for years. Clary must help them to make the right decision, and declare war against Valentine and his army of demons. Meanwhile Jace must discover the truth behind his identity, and confront Valentine alone.

As I loved the previous two books, I have decided to continue with this series, as each book seems to be better than the last. As the author intended this book to be the last one in the series, it is action packed, with battles against demons and the deaths of some of the characters. The story that has been continued from the first two books comes to a climax at the end of the book. Some new characters are introduced such as Sebastian, who turns out not to be who he says he is, and the Clave become a part of the story instead of just being mentioned by the characters. All the old characters from the previous two books also return, such as Clary, Jace, Alec and Isabelle. I always enjoy returning to books that are in a series, as it is like continuing the journey with old friends. Most of the characters relationships also come together in the book, such as Clary and Jace, and also Alec and Magnus. I felt as if this needed to happen in this book, especially Alec and Magnus, as although before Clary finds out the truth, her relationship with Jace seems to be forbidden, the relationship between Alec and Magnus seems more so, as they are a gay couple. Although I am not sure if this would be frowned upon in Shadowhunter society, it usually is in the normal world. Also, Magnus is a Downworlder, whereas Alec is a Shadowhunter, and in the series before the Shadowhunters decide to join forces with the Downworlders in an attempt to destroy Valentine, they have always hated each other, as Downworlders have demon blood, whereas Shadowhunters have angel blood. This means that Shadowhunters see Downworlders to be no better than demons, although Downworlders have a soul whereas Shadowhunters do not.

As this was meant to be the last book in the series, I am interested to find out why Clare decided to continue with it. City of Glass brought the current story to a climax, so I am eager to find out what the characters will have to face next. This book also seemed to be the most unique out of the series so far, as I was not continuously comparing it to other book series such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as I had been doing with the previous books. This was my main disappointment in this series, but the book had a good plot, and I read it late into the night on many occasions. If you like fantasy stories then I definitely recommend this book series.