Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)

Title: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry 
Pages: 541
Challenge: YA Series


My Rating: 

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 Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters 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 new found powers to help save the Glass City -- whatever the cost? -summary from goodreads.com

Wow…. Just wow. What can I say about COG that hasn’t already been said. This was such an intense story.... in a good and in a bad way.

In this last installment, we pick up right after the events in book 2. After making their forbidden journey into Idris, Clary and Luke meet up with the rest of the gang and some new characters. They're introduced to Sebastian, another Shadowhunter, and Cary meets Amatis, Luke's sister. Then continues the epic final battle versus Valentine, and let me tell ya, it was AWESOME! *slight spoiler* I felt all giddy inside knowing that the Downworlders and Shadowhunters were working together against Valentine.

It was nice to finally get Clary's moms point of view and find out all the hidden secrets and what really happened. I enjoyed reading about all the characters! You really grow to love them and their relationships. But let me warn you.... There were certain scenes that did make me cringe. I'm talking about Jace and Clary. Deep down, I knew that Clary and Jace weren’t related, but that didn’t make the kissing scenes easier to read. I felt so torn; I loved it when Jace gave in to his emotional side and went in search of Clary (especially since he spent the majority of the book being a complete jerk)…. But at the same time I was praying they wouldn’t kiss… You're cheering for the same people that gross you out when their together... does what make sense? I don’t know, it just felt so wrong to me.

With that being said, I still loved the story and the ending! What can I say, I'm a sucker for happy endings. Plus, the Simon and Jace humor charm from the past 2 books is still present and very strong.... even during the darker parts of the novel they were both hilarious! Overall, this is an awesome ending to what I thought was a trilogy. It turns our book 4 City of Fallen Angels released earlier this year and you can bet your bottoms I will be buying it this weekend :)

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. 

 

Alex Pettyfer offered the role of Jace wayland? OMG! Please excuse me while I run out of my work office to scream my lungs out in ecstasy!

If you've read my review of book one of The Mortal Instruments, you'll know that I am completely in love with Jace Wayland! To be honest, when I heard they were making the books into movies, I was a bit hesitant... I didn't think anyone would be fit to play the role of Jace, but after reading this article, I think I might just "Midnight" the movie after all :)haha!

Taken from http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/01/alex_pettyfer_offered_another.html

Attention, out-of-touch parents! If you want to plan ahead on knowing your tween and teen daughters' movie crushes, start reading up on Alex Pettyfer. Not only is the British model turned actor about to appear in next month's DreamWorks/Touchstone adaptation of the James Frey and Jobie Hughes young-adult sci-fi novel I Am Number Four, but Vulture hears that the 20-year-old model-actor also has the offer to star in another YA-franchise coming to the big screen: Screen Gems’ adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. In fact, insiders tell us that Screen Gems chief Clint Culpepper feels so strongly about casting Pettyfer in the supernatural love story that he only wants to green-light the film if he can land the actor. Negotiations are expected to begin late this week, and a formal announcement could come as early as next.
For the uninitiated (translation: old), Clare's series is about a female teen who falls in with a tribe of "Shadowhunters" who track down and kill demons loose on the streets of New York City. The first installment, City of Bones, quickly became a best seller when it was released in 2007, and it’s easy to see why: The books are basically Twilight with demons instead of vampires. Headstrong teen girl as main character? Check! Hot-guy love interest kept at bay by a Terrible Secret? Check! Best guy friend secretly pining in the wings? Check!

A breakdown of the character Pettyfer has been offered, the sarcastic Shadowhunter Jace Wayland, calls for a heavily inked-up teen with strange symbols all over his rippling, muscular body. Fortunately, Pettyfer already has seven tats, including a Celtic cross on his chest, Arabic script on the inside of his right arm, and Chinese logograms on his lower waist; it's casting Kismet! As for the heroine, Clary Fray, last month Mortal Instruments director Scott Charles Stewart (Priest) cast 21-year-old starlet Lily Collins (who was in Priest, as well as The Blind Side). Insiders familiar with the situation say that Screen Gems now wants to polish its script a bit, but plans to start shooting the film in March, provided a deal can be made with Pettyfer.

So what do you guys think? Will Alex Pettyfer pull it off? :) Let me know!