Mortal Instruments (2) - City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Book two/six (part six wasn't released yet) of The Mortal Instruments - City of Ashes (in German City of Ashes, French La cité des cendres) I read it in German, with 473 pages. Originally published 2008.
Life actually doesn’t get any easier when you have your mother and supposedly dead father and brother back… but maybe that’s due to the fact that daddy dearest is the most wanted criminal in Shadowhunter history, her mother in a coma and her brother her sort-of-boyfriend. And when you live at a werewolf’s, have to protect you brother/boyfriend from the inquisitor and prevent a devastating war from happening. And your best friend is in a bigger danger than you’d ever dreamed of...
Clary's not like superman who simply has no weaknesses and always gets the best out of every situation, or like Zoey of House of Night who makes as many mistakes as she can and still is worshipped for that. Clary is stubborn and impulsive and fiery. She doesn't care if something's dangerous for her, unless someone else's with her, in this way she is just like her brother. She tries to do the right thing, looses her temper, blows up and makes mistakes – she’s human. She’s not an ideal person, she is not a walking virtue. She’s… refreshing.
Jace is like her, in a way. And he gets pretty bitter over what happened to him. I was so sorry for him, especially in the fairy court.
What a good thing the author had mercy and build in a few hints they aren't siblings after all... I read the book before everyone knew it, and I immediately guessed it in that part!
However. You don’t have 1 PoV anymore, but Jace’s view as well. Which is interesting and logical, since he's a protagonist as well. Plus, Clary isn’t present all the time and Jace complements that – and it just makes the book funnier, the plot tenser and the characters more endearing.
The relationship between Jace and Clary is really… well, annoying, heartwrenching, bitter, tragic and totally realistic. How they desperately try to actually see the other as their sibling but fail, because they can’t… I guess they were intended to be siblings but then the characters revolted against the author and won.
Spoiler:
I totally get why Clary was against trying out the relationship kind of thing and why she was devastated when Jace actually respected her wishes afterwards. Her situation sucks.
As for Simon: I really felt with him. I hated Clary for what she did to him! And then he had to watch this… Poor boy, life pretty much sucks for him (pun totally intended, he he). But he really got the worst card of them all.
As for the Lightwoods…
You get to know them way better, especially Izzy’s unwavering loyalty to her family and Alec’s problem. Plus, you get to know their mother and little brother.
Maryse is fascinating, absolutely fascinating. She made some really bad decisions, but she’s just… well. She’s still not a bad person, she’s… well, neutral. Neither good, nor bad, and she cares about the people she thinks of as family. Like Jace.
The other newbies are interesting as well, especially Maia.
And the inquisitor? She's a complex person and I rather like her, even though I did want to kill her from time to time.
As for Clary's powers, and Jace's... nice.
Really, they do come in handy.
Spoiler:
And I'm glad Jace didn't trust his father any more. It would have sucked it he had.
The book is great and not like other series, where the first book's good and the rest not, the second part is as breath-taking as the first.
But what I liked best was the small line between idealism and fanaticism, and how it can ruin your life… it’s gorgeously executed. Valentine really is fascinating
In brief:
I give this book a star for content, a star for the ideas, one for the style, one for the characters and another one for the ideology/fanaticism.
Prequel:
Sequel: