City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

title: City of Lost Souls
written by: Cassandra Clare
series: The Mortal Instruments (TMI) #5
genre: Young Adult, paranormal romance
pages: 520
publication date: May 8th, 2012
published by: Simon and Shuster


Don't read the blurb or this review if you haven't read the first 4 parts in this series and are intending to do so, there are some massive spoilers included in it, which I couldn't prevent using.

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.


No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?


Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.


And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

When I recieved this book I immediately started reading it, and I didn't put it down. At all. This book is dangerous for you! You will not eat, sleep or talk to anyone for as long as it takes you to finish it! Don't start reading it the night before finals. You'll fail! 


Clare has done it again! A whole new shadowhunter book, and some new massive turning points in the plot that kept on surprising me. How on earth can she think of this?! I try to explain TMI to my friends sometimes, but they don't get it. There are so many crazy things happening. I'm like: 'So there is this girl, and she is a shadowhunter. Then her mother is abducted by some evil guy who turns out to be her father. Then she meets this gorgeous boy, and she falls in love, and then he turns out to be her brother. Then there is this other boy she kisses. The first boy she loved isn't her brother after all, the second boy ís. He turns out to be evil, like her father. Then there is the best friend, who becomes a powerful vampire. And he is friends with some werewolf girl. Meanwhile, they save the world from demons a couple of times, meets some very strange people, gets some special powers, ... . Then they free her mother. The mother marries her best friend, who is a shadowhunter / werewolf. Then the boyfriend of the girl dies and is resurrected by the angel. But he is bound to the evil brother, who also died. They both live. -end of part 4 -" and they're like DAFUQ did you just say?!


Sometimes it annoys me that Clare's books are so crazy, sick. This is the 7th shadowhunter, and the idea is getting older and older. I love shadowhunters, don't get me wrong, but 7 books and 2 more that are coming soon is a little bit overdone.


The characters show development. Some just a little, some changed 100%. My feelings about certain characters definitely changed while I was reading this book! Some of them were acting enormously selfish 'in the name of love'. Give up your life for your lover's life is stupid. I mean, when you die either (s)he becomes extremely depressed and wishes (s)he had died, or (s)he doesn't give a  sh*t and just goes on with his/her life, so (s)he wasn't worth dying for. 


The thing with all the dramatic romance is the thing that really freaks me out about this book. Yeah, love exists, we know that. But seriously, it seems as if no-one can be single. Almost every possible combination of 2 has been used in one of the 5 books in this series. And the worst thing is, you read more bad than good things about their relationships. 


CoLS is told from multiple points of view, but still is very easy to read. I read it in a couple of hours only, which is pretty quick for me. Next book I so hope I can read parts from Magnus's point of view! He is like, the most awesome character of this whole series! Team Magnus <3


This book has got everything a TMI fan looks for, but it isn't the best part in the series. It is awesome, crazy and depressing and heartwarming at the same time. Yay for Magnus!


rating:
I have been thinking for a very long time about my rating. Finally I decided I would give it 5 stars. But only just... 


Whoa, longest review ever, and I still haven't put down all my feelings about this book... !
xo Mar