Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Title: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret McElderry
Pages: 453
Challenege: YA Series

My Rating:

A murderer is loose in New York City... and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary's father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, then what's his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary's brother, Jace. Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy. -summary from goodreads.com

Awesome, but not as good as the first. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great sequel, but sequels hardly ever live up to their predecessors. City of Ashes picks up right after book one. Clary’s mom continues to be in a coma, Jace is being a jerk and avoiding Clary, but I don’t blame him; he has so many things going on in his life. First he finds out he’s attracted to sister, secondly the Maxwell’s pretty much shun him out of their family, and lastly, his father is a crazy ex-shadowhunter who will stop at nothing to have him at his side.

After a couple of chapters I came to the realization that I was leaning a bit more towards “Team Simon”. You know when that happened? After the fey court scene; I felt so bad for Simon!... I was totally ok with the fact that Clary was honestly trying to move on; she was willing to give Simon a fair chance at her heart. I admired her for it; I knew how hard it was for her to accept her circumstance with Jace. We see Clary grow so much not only as a shadowhunter, but as a person as well. She truly is a worthy heroine, especially towards the end- the ship scene. Omg! I’ll say this- Clary kicked ass.

Overall, City of Ashes was a great continuation to TMI storyline. The only thing I’m not feeling is Jace/Clary sibling relationship? Am I the only one that feels a bit frustrated that we’re at the end of book 2 and still no info? I thought we were on to something when the inquisitor recognized one of Jace’s scars but then of course, she died. How convenient! I know, I’m a big baby, but I am seriously going to pick up City of Glass right after I’m done with this review. I need to know what happens… it’s not an option, it’s a must.