Jenn's Review: City of Glass

Summary:  To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters — never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and her best friend, Simon, has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City — whatever the cost?

Review:  Oh, how I adore this series!  The City of Glass is the big showdown I was waiting for and it lives up to it's promise. Now that I've finished it I keep going back and re-reading my favorite parts, because I an just not ready to let it go.

The Lightwoods have been summoned to Idris by the Clave and the trouble that was simmering is quickly comming to a boil. Jace doesn't trust what the Clave will do to Clary when they find out how powerful she is, so he attempts to prevent her from going with them. I was frustrated with Jace for a good while about this because, knowing Clary is determined to go to save her mother, and knowing the lengths she's gone to for her family and friends, Jace still thinks he can trick her into staying in New York. If, he was smart he would have found a way to help her while attempting to keep the Clave in the dark. It would have been much safer. But here I am discussing the characters as if they are real people again, and that only happens when I'm completely absorbed in a book.

Sometimes it takes an earthquake to breakdown the prejudice barriers and Ms. Clare certainly provides it. She shakes the Shadowhunter community to its very core ...and it's awesome. I loved the fact that even though I figured out a few things, she still had me guessing about how things would resolve right to the very end. I loved the final showdown too. Cassandra Clare does a fantastic job of jumping between characters without the narrative becoming confusing or choppy.

Now, that I'm through the first three books of the series, I must say I wish Cassandra Clare had found another way to keep Clary and Jace apart. I know nothing is quite as effective, but that type of story line troubles me, even though I knew it would resolve itself. It's one of the things that pulled me forward. I'm sure she will find a way to mess with them through the next three novels in the series, so I'll see how well she can find a new way to keep the tension.

I think I've reached a point in the series where I can put it down for a while and come back to it later. At least I hope so, because there are a ton of books in my TBR pile that are feeling rather neglected. I look forward to mulling these first three over in my mind before I return to Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters. I especially look forward to starting the Infernal Devices series.

Final Take:  5/5

PS.  There are tons of great things on the Mortal Instruments website to dive into like cut scenes.