Review of City of Glass by Cassandra Clare!!!!

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 final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.

*** SPOILER ALERT***

I was literally reeling from this book!  From the first chapter, this book had me, and I could not put it down!!

Clary's mother is still asleep, and the only way to save her is to go to the City of Glass.  Unfortunately for her, Jace has other plans.  Once she realizes Jace and the rest of the Lightwoods go without her, she decides to open the portal herself and go anyway.  Little does she know that going without an invitation into Alicante, the capital of Idris, is against the law.  This power of hers is still very new, and she's just finding out what she is capable of doing.  

Meanwhile, Simon has been brought over to Idris by Jace.  They had been attacked just before going into the portal by Forsaken, so there was little choice.  Little do they know how much trouble Simon is in by being there.  Vampires aren't welcome in the city, and one who walks in daylight is even more suspicious to them.  

Luke has been brought over along with Clary through the portal.  She ends up in Lake Lyn, which is poisonous to Shadowhunters.  She is out of her mind by the time they reach the city, and he takes her to his sister to help her.

While Clary is recovering from the Lake, Jace and his family are staying with the Penhallow's.  The family is curious about Simon, and get to know him.  Aline, the daughter, is the most curious because she's never seen one before.  Then there is Sebastian, who is the cousin of the family.  His true colors come out later in the book...

Soon they are told that Simon is going to go home.  They are going to open a portal for him to get back to New York City.  Little do they know, the new Inquistitor has plans of his own.  They are so weary of Simon they put him in jail, demanding to know things he doesn't know.  Trying to make him tell lies he's not going to tell!

Clary soon recovers, and finds out where Jace and the family are staying.  Seeing her, Isabelle attempts to stop her from entering the house.  Clary makes it past her and is stopped by Sebastian.  Seeing him, she's curious as to who he is, but gets past him as well.  When she opens the door to where Jace is, she sees him kissing Aline, and is stunned.  Jace is equally stunned to see her, but soon makes it known how truly unhappy he is to see her there.  He is hurtful, saying really nasty things to her.  He has his reasons for doing this, but they aren't clear until later in the book. Still, it's hard to see him talk to her this way, just because I know of his feelings for her!

They find out that Simon never made it to New York City, and that he is, in fact, in prison.  They go to him, make sure he's ok, and give him blood that he is desperate for.  They offer to get him out, but he refuses, thinking he might be safer just staying in there for the time being.

Sebastian, seeing Clary upset by Jace offers to walk her home.  This is her first actual conversation with Sebastian, and she's a little uneasy about him.  He offers to take to her to the warlock that she needs to see to help her mother, and the meet the next morning to go there.  Once they arrive, Clary is surprised to see that the warlock in question is not who he seems, but gets the information she needs to help her mother. She needs the Book of White, and it is in the Wayland Manor.  She also needs Jace to take her there, as he is the only one that will be able to enter it.

She doesn't tell Sebastian this, as she's still uneasy with him.  He tries to kiss her, but there is something just wrong about the whole thing to her.  It makes her even more uneasy about him.  She knows there is something going on with him; she just can't figure out what.  Yet.

She comes home to find Jace in her kitchen.  She's surprised, because of everything he had said earlier to her.  He had made it clear he didn't want to see her again, and he was sitting in her kitchen.  She's angry.  Very angry at him.  Starts throwing things at him, wanting him to hurt the way he had made her hurt.  When she tells him about the Book of White and where it is, he agrees to go with her to find it.  They go by portal, and soon find what they are looking for.

While there, they also find what Valentine was really up to.  They find an angel who he had been doing experiments on.  He's barely alive, but shows them visions of Valentine's plan; of what his true intent was when Jocelyn was pregnant.  They show him giving her demon blood while she was pregnant, and Jace believes it is his blood that is tainted.

Soon, Jace and Clary find themselves in a fight for their lives.  In order to end the angel's pain, Clary kills him.  After this, the house starts crumbling.  They barely get out alive, but afterwards Jace tells Clary she is all he thinks about.  He knows he can't have her, but he can't seem to stop his feelings for her.  He decides to do what has to be done.  Kill Valentine.

There is a character in the book that passes away, which shocked me.  It made me very sad, and I was surprised, but it made me realize just how evil one person can be.  From that moment on, I hated him... I still do!

This is where the action really starts to happen!  At this point, I could not put this book down!  I had to know what happened, because it was so damn good!!  Luke has brought the Council together, telling them in order to fight Valentine, they need to fight with downworlders.  Clary has created a new ruin that would give the Shadowhunters the power of the downworlders they were partnered with.  There would be a battle with demons, and with this ruin, they would have a chance to win.

Now Sebastian.  I hate him.  I hate him with a fiery passion!  I hate him with every fiber of my being!!  Did I mention that I hate him??  He is the definition of evil, and his actions cause the Council to second guess everything they believe in.  He almost brings the City of Glass down, but the shadowhunters prevail.  With help from the werewolves, they prevail against the evil entering the city.

To Clary's surprise, from the help of the warlock, her mother awakens.  At first she is angry, but soon, she is happy to see her.  After the first battle, Jocelyn tells what happened with Valentine.  She finds out that she had a brother named Johnathen, who had demon blood in him.  That boy is not Jace!!  Jace is not her brother.  He is the baby of Stephan Herondale, who had been killed in the original battle with Valentine.  Also, she finds out that both she and Jace have angel blood in them.  More then what they are born with that is.  Clary knows she must tell Jace, because he's on a suicide mission to kill Valentine.

Once Jace finds out where Valentine and Sebastian are hiding, he realizes that Sebastian is, in fact, Johnathen.  It's then he undertands just who Sebastian really is, and it is him who has the demon blood.  
Once he hears Valentine's plan up close, he is noticed by Sebastian.  There is a fight between them, that I was hooked on!!!  It was non-stop action!!

Clary, who is captured by Valentine, is rendered helpless by her father.  She can not speak or move, thanks to spells he has put on her.  He tells her of his plans to raise the angel.  He's convinced that Raziel will help him.  He's dead wrong.  Jace appears to try and stop him, and what happens in the following moments is heartbreaking.  Again, I was glued, having to know what was going to happen next.  I had to know what happened to Jace and Clary!!  I HAD TO KNOW!!!!

Valentine succeeds in raising the angel, but to his horror the angel knows of his actions in the past.  Knows what he plans to do to his fellow shadowhunters; knows what he's done to Jace in order to gain notoriety.  During the time Valentine is talking Raziel, Clary goes over to the runes that Valentine drew to raise the angel.  She adds to them with her own rune, causing the one request from the angel to go to her.  Raziel kills Valentine, and grants Clary her one request, which is to save Jace.

This was the perfect ending to the triology!  Everyone was happy at the end of it!  I'm convinced I could live in Idris forever!!!  Jace and Clary are free to be together, and are happy with where things are going, Jocelyn and Luke can now be together without the worry of Valentine getting between them.  The action was non-stop in this book, to the point I read it in about four days!!  I could not put it down!  When a book stops me from writing, because I have to know what's going to happen, it's worth reading again!!!!  So, I know I will be visiting Idris again!!  

Review of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . 

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

When I first saw this book, it was about two years ago on an ad for Cassie Clare on FB.  It said, "Read City of Bones for Free!"  I was like... Free book!!  Why not?!? So, I clicked on it, and it took me to her website.  Sure enough, the book was available via PDF on the site!  So, I started reading... and reading!  When I actually printed one whole chapter off to take home, I knew I had to buy it!!  

So, this is a re-read for me.  My cousin and I decided to have this be the next series for our book club, and again... I love this book!  It starts out with Clarissa Fray going to a club with her best friend Simon.  While there, she sees a girl go into a back room with a boy, who is followed by two more.  She rushes in, sees them attacking the boy and tries to stop them.  They are all surprised, because they can't understand why she can see them; as normal humans can't see them at all.  This is her first experience with Shadowhunters.  

And Jace...

It is after this, she is shown a world that normal people can't see.  She's confused, because she's seeing things that even Simon can't see and she can't understand why.  After she is attacked by a demon, Jace takes her to the Institute to get healed.  While there, she finds out that her mother, who is missing, was a shadowhunter and she herself is a shadowhunter.  She's also finding herself drawn to Jace and she doesn't know why.  He's sarcastic, obnoxious towards Simon, and too honest at times, but she sees there is more to him.  There is a vulnerability to him that he only shows to her.  For all of Jace's toughness, he is incredibly sweet to her when no one is there to see it.  He doesn't want to be seen as weak by anyone, so makes sure to keep feelings to himself.  

I love Jace!  Have loved from his first contact with Clary.  He's rough around the edges, but he's actually a very nice kid.  He's tough, but there is a softness to him when Clary is around.  You know that he would protect her to the death if he had to.  

I did not like Simon.  I found him to be annoying.  I love that he's always there to support Clary, but there are times he's a whiner.  You know what his feelings for Clary are, and you know why he's so hostile towards Jace.  She likes Jace, the way she should like Simon.  

You also meet Isabelle and Alec, who are brother and sister.  They're parents are helping to run the institute with Hodge who was exiled there for helping Valentine.  Once it is known that Valentine is still alive, after being thought dead, they find out he wants The Mortal Cup.  Something that is used to asisst in making other Shadowhunters.  Alec for reasons of his own is very angry at Clary, and makes it known pretty fast that he doesn't want her around.  Isabelle is a free spirit, who I think, likes having Clary around.  They don't become fast friends, but they do become friends eventually.  It just takes a bit of time.  

Once they retrieve the Cup, they are decieved by someone close to them.  Jace is taken by Valentine, and Clary knows she has to go after him.  After joining forces with Luke, and his werewolf pack, they set off to find Valentine and Jace.  They do find him, but they also find her mother who is asleep.  The ending of this book was shocking, but it was great!!  I was like... Wha???  The action starts about two chapters until the end and doesn't stop until the end of the book!  

I loved this book so much, that I read it in less then a week!  I could not put it down, because I had to know what happened with Jace and if he was ok!  

I've now started City of Ashes, and I'm hooked on that one as well.  I have to know what happens with them!! God, I love this series!!!!