City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare is the third book in the Bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments!

This review contains a lot of SPOILERS!

“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 third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.”

City of Glass was a whirlwind of a story.

We are brought into the world where Book 2 left off with the uncovering of Madeleine and her trick to bringing back Clary’s mom. But then that moment is short-lived when some crazy creature comes and kills her.

We do get to see more characters such as the ever crazy, new, Inquisitor who seems to be just as bad as the last one. Again, I couldn’t help but think of Professor Umbridge in each scene as there was something iffy going on with him.

Then we meet Sebastian. The possible new love interest for Clary. Who else thought there was a possibility she would finally move on from Jace? I was honestly a little excited when he popped into the Institute.

And again, nothing is as it seems when we finally figure out the real identity to this dashing boy..

As his character developed, I will say that I did grow suspicious, but I was still so surprised when that plot twist uncovered itself. He’s really Clary’s brother, which again, brings about the whole taboo of falling for an unknown sibling. Will she ever get a break??

But thankfully, this news leaves the door open for the truth behind Jace’s real connection with Clary. No longer is he the brother. He can finally let his heart free and not feel guilty for his feelings towards her. Yay!

This book also deals with a more serious note: social status. Especially when the possibility of teaming up is mentioned, we get a closer look into the history and thoughts behind the Downworlders versus the Shadowhunters. There is a pretty clear hierarchical struggle in this society, and it was interesting to see how it was challenged thanks to Clary.

And let’s talk about my favorite underdog of this series. Simon. I don’t know about y’all, but I am starting to get hooked on this vampire thing. I feel like he’s gotten the most development out of the entire series so far. He’s not as awkward and timid anymore, and instead becomes this confident, strong male character that you can’t help but gawk over. His battle with being locked up and the stunt at the end of the book feels like just the beginning of his role as a fighter.

Overall, there is a lot of dramatic discoveries in this installment from Clary’s mother waking up to Jace killing Valentine’s real son, to the reveal of Simon’s cellmate. I will say that the first two thirds of the book were more on the slower side, but once I climbed over that hump, I couldn’t stop reading until I finished!

But in the end, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Discussion Questions:

What was your favorite chapter?
Did you see what happened with Simon coming before it did?
How did you handle the discovery of Jace and Clary’s true relationship?
What are your theories of what could happen next?

Published: 24 March 2009

Publisher: Margaret K. McEkderry Books

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Pages: 541

How I Read It: Library Paperback

What are you thoughts on this series so far??

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