City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

If you read my review for book four in this series, you might have picked up on some disappointment. I kind of loved the ending of book three and then wasn’t too impressed with the direction book four was taking things. I take back all my unsure disappointment, and I replace it with happiness!

The things that drastically improved this one: Alex and Magnus playing a more important role in things, the romance/love scenes going even further (!), and Clary’s newfound shadow hunter strength! At least now when Clary, makes rash, reckless decisions, she has some fighter power to protect herself through the process. And most of all, I just love these characters. Clare really knows how to build on characters and she really demonstrates some of her best character development and dialogue in this one. For example, I had to include this short scene:

‘“My mother seems to have accepted it,” Alec said. “But my father –no, not really. Once he asked me what I thought had turned me gay.”
            Simon felt Isabelle tense next to him. “Turned you gay?” She sounded incredulous. “Alec, you didn’t tell me that.”
            “I hope you told him you were bitten by a gay spider,” said Simon” (pg 389).

Clare just has this magical way of discussing tough topics, but giving them a humorous twist in a way that is not only acceptable, but also makes her characters seem so much more real.

To the story! It takes place right after City of Fallen Angels finishes. After the epic scene on the rooftop with Lilith, and Jace finally having control and freedom once more, book four finishes with Sebastian (aka: the real Jonathan Morgenstern) making his back-to-life voice heard. And this book begins with Jace being missing. And while the Clave has been looking for him, they have also had other demon-type problems to deal with.

And when the Clave decides that they can’t spend much more time at all searching for Jace (after weeks of hearing nothing), Clary, Simon, Maia, Magnus, Alec, and Isabelle of course decide nothing will make them stop looking. Clary remembers a certain possible deal the fairy queen offered. And between dealing with fairies, stealing magical rings, and making more Clary-type risky decisions for people she loves, Clary seems so much braver now! And the other characters are all going through their own problems. Simon is falling harder for Isabelle. And Raphael wants Simon’s biblical protection. Maia and Jordan rekindle an old relationship. Jordan’s werewolf group comes in handy. Alec, Magnus, and Clary’s mother are hard at work trying to find a weapon that can help Jace.

And then of course when we see Jace, he is not in control of his own body again. This time Sebastian is controlling him. But, like before with Lilith, Jace can’t ever get Clary out of his mind. And this time, if anything happens to Sebastian, it also happens to Jace. You can’t kill one without killing the other. So the gang is on a mission to discover a weapon that can separate them. And Clary follows the controlled Jace through dimensions and countries, so she can find out as much as she can about how to thwart Sebastian’s evil plans. And his plans are evil. Instead of wanting to kill all downworlders like his father did. He wants to embrace them, and let the demons take over! He also wants to bring back Lilith, who he thinks of as his true mother. Clary has some tough decisions ahead of her, decisions like what’s more important to her: saving the world or saving Jace.

There’s a lot of new characters and side missions. There’s adventures and travels around the world. The book is loaded with romance! And I loved all the scenes with Clary, Jace, and Sebastian. All of those interactions were filled with so much tension that I never wanted them to end! Though, there was some more creepy incest-like-Sebastian-hitting-on-Clary-moments… I feel so bad for Jace who never seems to be in control of his own self any more! And for a character that is all about rebellious actions and freedom, it was so hard. And I love that these characters, while mostly all seeming to have teenage soul mates, have also dated more than one person! It’s about finding love, and loving more than once. And I like that.

The witty dialogue, the club scenes, all the scenes where Clary was finally able to kick major butt –her training has finally begun to pay off, the crazy magic spells, the angels, the demons, and the battles really made this book so much fun to read! I love these characters. I still kind of wish that Clary and Jace would have it a little easier and I’m interested in seeing how their relationship progresses in the next one! I’m also interested in seeing if a certain break-up lasts. And so much more! I give this one a 10/10, and I really can’t wait for what I think will really be the last book in this series.