Rating: 90/100
City of Glass is probably my favourite out of the Mortal Instruments books so far. It answers a lot of the questions brought on by the first books, while also giving a few more. I liked how Cassandra Clare introduced more characters in this book. They give a way to elongate the series, while also satisfying the viewer in the ways of dear Valentine's end. Although, it was a bit of an anti-climax when Madeleine is killed by random Forsaken. I was a bit like... WTF? How didn't anyone even not notice a bunch of zombies just being dropped off at a church? But anyway, it works as a plot-pusher.
The story is set not to long from City of Ashes. Enough time for Clary to tell everybody how to wake her mum up, and enough time for Jace to come up with the thought that he doesn't want Clary to go to Idris. (BTW, I was listening to the City of Bones audio book and apparently Idris is pronounced (i for igloo)(dris with an i, the same as before). I always pronounced it as (eye-dris) in my head. I like eye-dris better as well. Heh heh... eye-drizzle.
I guess I can repeat what I've said in the past reviews for this series, but DUH DUH DUH!!! The story pusher for this dear novel is!!!
Say it again with me! Nasal style!
The Mortal Mirror.
Or at least that's what I think it's called.
The twist is... nobody even knows where or what the Mirror is. Simon points out that it will be a reflective surface, but besides from that it could be anything...
I really liked the idea of the Mirror, because it is completely misleading, under everyone's nose, and it can't be owned.
One thing I have been wondering throughout the series, is how much planning does Cassandra Clare do? Has she already planned everything out? Or is she writing and then making up new bits? The reason I am wondering this, is there are a few bits in the books that have plot devices or just various things that have come in later in the books, and haven't even been hinted on before hand. They seem to have just been added in and it doesn't need back-story, because it was hidden from the characters in the first-place. But the story is still believable and interesting, so I guess that's what counts.
Yet again, the story finds itself in a third person perspective, and also seems to be getting more and more confident with going to other people. I was genuinely surprised when the identity of Samuel, Simon's cell-mate was revealed, but that might not be the case for other people since I have a very trusting nature, so I believed everything he said.
I think the plot in City of Glass was better than City of Ashes by leaps and bounds. City of Bones would be my second favourite, but City of Glass just seems to be particularly gripping and outstanding, with a ton of revealed secrets and a satisfying bit for the squealing fans of MAGNUS! By the way, I went to Build-A-Bear a little while a go and made a rabbit named...
MAGNUS BANE FRASER
Ho ho ho! He wears a suit and looks a little like the goblin from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. Whoop whoop!
I just realised something but, gee, wasn't it helpful that Madeleine died, creating a startlingly large plot-pusher... How. Bloody. Helpful. Of. Her.
___________________________________________________________________________________I just realised something but, gee, wasn't it helpful that Madeleine died, creating a startlingly large plot-pusher... How. Bloody. Helpful. Of. Her.
Written By: Cassandra Clare
First Published: 2009
First Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Series: The Mortal Instruments #3
Pages:
How Wide?: About 3cm
What The Hell's Going On With That Front Cover?: Apparently it is Sebastian, but he totally doesn't look like the away he is described in the book. He kind of looks like he's had collagen or something put in his lips, HA HA. Or maybe a fishy pout... hmm... Yet again we have a city to emphasise the title 'City....' But this city doesn't actually the city we have had in the last two books. This time, we have Alicante, Idris' capital city. It actually is slightly incorrect in it's technicalities, because I don't believe the entire city is made of the glass stuff, and the ward-tower things are supposed to be especially outstanding, compared to the rest of the city. I would have thought them to be the only glass stuff, and also pointier and taller than the rest of the buildings. But anyway... what can you do? Sebastian has some nondescript, un-inked-in runes on him, but I have no idea if they are doing anything. Their are pretties all around him too, but they seem to just be decoration, so as to make the book look more interesting. It kind of looks tie dye... LOL!
Why The Title?: Well, it's fairly simple. In the book, Idris is known as the City of Glass, because the big pointy towers are made out of this stuff that looks like glass. Something for those who have already read City of Glass, and I'm not positive this is true, but apparently a City of Glass has something to do with homosexuality, and I do believe a certain jean-clad boy and a certain glitter covered boy GET IT ON IN THIS BOOK! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Team Magnus! All the way!
How Did I Get My Hands On This Book?: The same as the last one, I read the rest of the series, enjoyed it, and hey, book three was there when I picked up the rest of the series from my book club, so... I just read it when I finished City of Ashes.
Blurb:
Super Super Short Summary: Valentine has made his way to the final Mortal Instrument, the Mortal Mirror, and it's up to Clary, Jace, and the team to save the world once again.
Short Plot and Extended Plot combined (My short plot was reeeeally long): After a lot of kerfuffle, everybody ends up in Idris.
Madeleine dies due to a Forsaken attack.
Jace and the Lightwoods stay at the Penhallow's house.
Clary stays with Luke's sister, Amatis.
Clary goes to find Jace and they have a major MAJOR fight.
Simon unwittingly walks straight into an unfair prison sentence.
Clary tells Sebastian about her mother and the sorcerer she needs to find.
A day or two later, Sebastian takes her to meet said sorcerer, only to find Magnus.
Magnus freezes Sebastian and tells Clary that the sorcerer has been killed, but if she finds... 'the white book' he should be able to wake her mother up.
Sebastian kisses Clary and tells her about Simon being in jail.
When Clary gets home, Jace is there. She fights with him about Simon, then they leave for the old Wayland manor to find 'the white book'.
As well as finding the book, they find a secret passage, and in the dark dark passage is a dark dark room and in the dark dark room... there is... A SKELETAL ANGEL!!!???
The angel, Ithuriel, shows them memories from the past...duh, and Jace finds out that he is part-demon.
Ithuriel ends up killing himself (In a good way) The manor collapses because his energy holds it up.
Jace is hit hard by his now known knowledge and ends up kissing Clary, then they have another fight.
In super awkward silence, they walk back to Alicante, only to find the entire city in flames and demons running around everywhere.
Lightwood children, Sebastian and Aline are attacked by the demons.
Jace and Clary go to the Hall of Accords.
Clary gives the book to Magnus and Sebastian is angry about it. He then tells her that Simon is still in jail.
Clary, Jace and Alec rush to save Simon. They do, then they save Samuel, who turns out to be... HODGE!!!
He tells them that the Mortal Mirror is actually Lake Lyn, then random Sebastian steps out and kills him.
Because his cover is blown, Sebastian admits to being Valentine's spy, Simon attacks him so he flees.
The foursome go back to the Hall of Accords, only to find out that Sebastian has killed Max.
Aline reveals pictures of the real Sebastian, and that our Sebastian was an imposter.
In the Hall of Accords, Valentine projects himself, kills the Inquisitor, then tells everybody that they will have to make him their leader, or fight innumerable demons.
The next day Simon sleeps with Isabelle. but not sexually.
Jace confesses his love for her and they sleep together, not sexually.
In the morning he's gone, only leaving a note and his Morgenstern ring.
She keeps the ring, goes downstairs to find Simon and Isabelle and they talk.
Cue dramatic entrance. Who is it? Jocelyn. What is Clary's first reaction? You took my life away!
Jace goes to find Sebastian.
Clary and Simon realise that the Clave has decided to surrender.
Clary shows the Alliance rune to the Clave.
They eventually agree, and so the Shadowhunters join their powers with the Downworlders.
Magnus and Alec... PASH!!! Eeep!!!
Jocelyn tells Clary she has angel blood in her, Jace actually isn't her brother and he has angel blood too, and Sebastian is the bro with the demon blood.
Raphael appears as a projection and tells everyone that the vampires will only join the battle if they bring Simon to him. (Presumably to be killed since he is a threat to them.)
In panic, Clary bestows upon Simon, The Mark Of Cain, which will bring the wrath of god upon anyone who harms Simon.
Simon goes to the vampires, and because of the Mark, Raphael lets him go, but he has to be a loner, and he has to fight in the war.
Meanwhile, a quick summary of Jace's adventures are... Jace finds Sebastian and Valentine, Valentine leaves for the battle, Sebastian captures Jace, they fight... a lot, and just when Jace is about to die, Isabelle interferes and starts to fight Sebastian. Jace ends it by stabbing him through the back and into his heart.
Jace heals himself then goes after Valentine who is at Lake Lyn, about to use Clary as a sacrifice to summon Raziel.
Jace fights Valentine, and Valentine kills Jace. He actually seems to mourn his death.
The sacrifice begins the ritual and Valentine begins the summoning.
Clary tampers the runes used to summon Raziel.
Raziel kills Valentine then, because of Clary's wishes, brings Jace back from the dead.
Jace and Clary attend a party and Jace tells her about a box Amatis gave him which contains letters and small belongings from his biological father, in a hope to get Jace to warm to him. (Jace's dad is dead and so is his mum.)
So, in the end, Jace and Clary are together, Magnus and Alec are officially together, Simon is getting cozy with both Isabelle and Maia, Sebastian is "dead", Valentine is definitely dead, Jocelyn has admitted that she is in love with Luke, Hodge dies, and... Max dies.
Characters: Clarissa (Clary) Fray (Morgenstern) (Fairchild): is doing her thing. She definitely seems to have grown as a character, maturity wise. In this book she figures out - most of - her problems with Jace, and the relationship between her and Simon is finally normal. We find out that she has quite a lot of pent up emotions about the entire thing, for example; that she had her memories stolen from her, and that she had a brother, and all that...stuff. She also finds out who her real brother is in this book, and that she has angel blood.
Jocelyn Fray (Fairchild) (Morgenstern): awakes from her magical slumber, only to reveal herself to Clary, and be grotesquely scolded for taking away her memories. We also see the real glory of how Jocelyn was before she moved herself into the human world. She also provides a sigh of relief and a YAY for all fans of Jace <3 Clary. Oh, she also tells Amatis (Kind of) that she is in love with... LUKE! Eeeeeeeeeep!
Lucian (Luke) Graymark (Garroway): Really steps up into his protective dad role. He jumps after Clary when she makes the portal, and he creates an army to protect her. Isn't that sweet? He also gets the girl in the book. Ha ha.
Jonathan (Jace) Christopher (Morgenstern) (Wayland) (Herondale)... (?): is extremely confused about himself. He saves Simon though, which is extremely admirable. We also find out that he doesn't actually have a name, because he has been a changeling from the moment he was cut out of Celine's stomach. :( All his names are purely biological, or what he's picked up along the way. During the book, he discovers that he has demon blood, and becomes very upset. When he finds out that he is not actually Clary's brother, and that he too has angel blood, I'm guessing that a LOT of weight has been taken off his chest. BTW, this is a bit of a spoiler, so don't read if you don't want to know, but HE DIES!!!! Then comes back to life. But don't be led into a false sense of security, in the next book, City of Fallen Angels, some pretty big problems arise from this one simple fact = He was brought back, but he was brought back WRONG. Remind you of anything?
Valentine Morgenstern: is still evil, and it seems that in his day, he was certainly getting around. LOL. One surprising thing, is that he actually feels something for Jace. After all, he did raise him, he just couldn't stop the niceness that came with the angel blood, meaning that he has a more... kindly? approach to him. After he kills Jace, he actually mourns for a few seconds. Turns out Jace isn't his biological son though, he demented his own son with demon blood, and hid him away from Jace a short while away, while also successfully raising them both. He also hates Clary because Jocelyn loves her more than him. He ends up being killed by Raziel because Clary altered his summoning runes.
Simon Lewis: is a Daylighter. A vampire who can walk in the sun, also because of being buried in a Jewish cemetery, he is only affected by Jewish holy marks. He also gets it on with Isabelle, and seems to be getting slightly on the naughtier side of friendly with Maia too. How will this play out in City of Fallen Angels? You'll have to read it yourself, or read the review. He is definitely growing as a character too. He is becoming more mature and understanding. He is also slowly growing out of comedy relief, sure he still comes out with ha-ha's but they are not as frequent as City of Bones, when he was still getting used to everything.
Isabelle Lightwood: is getting a bit horny with Simon. Lordy! When Max is killed she blames herself, even though she was knocked out by Sebastian around the same time.
Alec Lightwood: has matured considerably since City of Bones. And for fans of Magnus and Alex, you won't be disappointing with a really big MEGA PASH! You be ecstatic! He doesn't seem to be as mournful over Max's death as Isabelle.
Hodge Starkweather (Samuel): it is probably because of my trusting nature, but I never even twigged to the connection between Samuel and Hodge until it was spelt out write in front of my face. Am I thick? Or was everyone else surprised? Well now we know where Hodge was when he didn't reappear in City of Ashes.
The Silent Brothers: are still kicking, but barely. In the last book, City of Ashes, I thought that all the Silent Brothers had been killed, but in this book we find out that there is still a small bunch of them left doing their duty.
Raphael: seems to take on a not-so-friendly role in this book. I genuinely liked him in the past two books, and I guess I still do, but throughout City of Glass, Raphael threatens to kill Simon, banishes Simon, tells him a heap of white lies, refuses to help in the war unless Simon sacrifices himself, then ends up just fighting then doing his thing... which isn't much... except being reeeeeally vain.
Magnus Bane: gets LUCKY! And he poses as Wizard-What's-His-Face, then wakes up Clary's mum. My GOD I love him. Note the Build-A-Bear bisexual rabbit with dear Magnus as his namesake. -sigh-
The Ex-Inquisitor (Imogen Herondale): is dead as doornail, but her past secrets are... REVEALED! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The New Inquisitor (Forgot his name...): has never been mentioned before, and I never really liked him, but I was genuinely surprised when he was killed by Valentine, and I was MILDLY sad. If I can even say that. But I guess he did sacrifice himself, and in my eyes, that is noble.
Maryse Lightwood: is warmer towards Jace. She is pretty morbid after the death of her baby boy, and seems to be getting stronger... you know, like in the MIIIIIIIIIIIIIND.
Robert Lightwood: is (I'm guessing) also pretty down about Maxy Waxy Woo Woo. But I wouldn't know, BECAUSE HE NEVER GETS MENTIONED!
Max Lightwood: is being ever so cute until, BLAM! He hits his character's final finale, in which we don't even get a first hand look at. What is the point of his death anyway? A distraction? A reason for deeper emotions in the surviving characters? Mindless slaughter?! Who knows!
Madeleine: dies about 2 seconds into the book. WHAT. A. SHAME. I know I cried.
The Faerie (Seelie) Queen: is doing stuff that I can't really remember. I think she does some shiz about letting the faeries join the war.
Maia Roberts: joins in the war aswell, and seems to be getting suspiciously close to Simon... will tension arise in the next book between the love triangle of Isabelle, Maia and Simon?
Stephen Herondale:'s secrets are also being revealed, and his box reveals Jace's past... except Jace don't feel no connection to him!
Amatis Graymark (Herondale): is introduced in this book as the never-mentioned-before-long-lost-sister of Luke/Lucian. She used to be married to Jace's father, Stephen, but after Luke was turned into a werewolf, Valentine ordered the divorce of the pair, and the marriage of Stephen and Celine. She believed the lies that Valentine spread about Luke, and practically banished Luke from Idris. She accepts Clary though, and during the mini-war, I believe that her heart starts to warm up once again with the knowledge of truth and forgiveness.
Celine Herondale: was apparently really young when she was married to Stephen... like 19... which isn't that young... but still. When she was pregnant and found out that Stephen had been killed, she committed suicide and Valentine or Hodge had to cut Jace straight out of her corpse, hurrah.
Sebastian (Jonathon Christopher)Verlac (Morgenstern): is HALF DEMON SCUUUUUUUUUUUM! Also a spyyyyyyy. Also Valentine's REAL son. Also the reeeeeeeal Jonathon Christopher. When he was a baby or still inside Jocelyn as reeeeeally little baby, he was infused with demon blood by Lilith, who you will meet in the next book. He was raised aware of Jace, but never meeting him, in a little shack thing a short while away from where Jace was raised, the mansion. He grew up totally eeeeeeeeeebil, and ends up being the murderer of little Max, the almost murderer of Isabelle, and the one who took down the wards around Idris, letting the demons in to rain havoc upon everywhere. He is killed by Jace by plunging his sword through his back so it gets his heart, but when people went back to get his corpse... HE WASN'T THERE. Aggggggghhhhhhhhh.So my dearies, Sebastian is actually Clary's brother, but he is evil, and he kissed CLARY!!! Incest!
Aline Penhallow: tried to get intimate with Jace. FFAAAAAIIIIILLLLLLL. Her parents house is where the Lightwoods stayed while in Idris.
Malachi: SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! EEEEEBILLLLLLL!!!!!
Quirks To Make You Think, OMG!: Well, there are random anime references and even if I couldn't exactly find or remember anything, there might be Blah Blah: A Modern Faerie Tale references. There are also people from The Infernal Devices that apparently reappear. It is said it is good to have read Clockwork Angel beforehand, but you don't have to.
Sequels and Prequels?:
City of Bones
(The Mortal Instruments #1)
City of Ashes
(The Mortal Instruments #2)
City of Fallen Angels
(The Mortal Instruments #4)
City of Lost Souls
(The Mortal Instruments #5)
City of Heavenly Fire
(The Mortal Instruments #6)
Clockwork Angel
(The Infernal Devices #1)
Clockwork Prince
(The Infernal Devices #2)
The Dark Artifices series (Not Out Yet)
Movie Adaptations Or Vice Versa?: The City of Bones movie is coming out in 2012 with the name, The Mortal Instruments.
Thus ends another bloody long review. Damn!
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