City of Ashes #2 by Cassandra Clare

Genre: Paranormal Mix

Hardcover: 453 Pages

Published: March 25, 2008

Series: The Mortal Instruments

            1. City of Bones

            2. City of Ashes

            3. City of Glass

            4. City of Fallen Angels

            5. City of Lost Souls

            6. City of Heavenly Fire

Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Down-world, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

My Review:

My initial thoughts about this book: I don't even like this book. So why do I kind of like it!?

Everyone seems to be in love with this series and I will admit the first book in this series was pretty good. After the unexpected ending of City of Bones, my interest levels had increased. I wanted to know more about Clary and Jace, their relationship and the back ground on the lore. Although I enjoyed reading this book, I did have some issues with the characters, the plot, and the background story.

While the writing has shown some improvement from the previous book, it wasn't engaging enough. I felt like a third person looking into the Mortal Instruments, where sometimes I would miss many small details that would turn out to be big deals. It is a big book and sometimes I found it to drag in some places.  

Not to mention the incest. I mean can you say EWWWWW!!? Jace and Clary like each other a lot. They spend time together even though they suspect that they are brother and sister. Like OMG!! That was just a HUGEEEE mood killer in this installment!! I guess that's why I rated this book with only three stars, and I honestly didn't see that twist coming.  Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling the hype with the second installment. However, I will be continuing this series just to see where the story goes. Hopefully, the ending isn't disappointing like The Infernal Devices.