The Mortal Instruments #3
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published March 24, 2009
Hardcover, 541 pages
Overview:
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 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?
Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.
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?
Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.
Review:
One thing that really moves the book along (and something I really appreciated) is all the different point-of-views the story switches between. I thought City of Glass started off a little slow, and every now and then it would lose momentum because of all the description that was going on (describing new characters, what Idris looks like, etc.). Overall, I thought it was tad too long--the changing-perspectives aspect works, but it doesn't hide the fact that the story slogged at different times.
At this point in the series (Book #3), we're pretty comfortable with the characters and what's been going on. There's plenty of humor going on, which was nice because this book got pretty dark at some points. Most of the story is leading up to the huge battle at the end, and not everyone makes it out alive. We finally learn the truth about Clary's mom, Valentine, and Jace's past (FINALLY! We've only been hearing about this since the very beginning of City of Bones.)
Despite the occasional slogging (and the occasional whining from Jace--was it just me or did it seem like half of what he said was just him complaining about his situation?), I'm pretty satisfied with how City of Glass turned out, and how everything wrapped up in the end while still leaving enough open for the next few books. I'm interested to see where the series goes next!
