City of Lost Souls

Cassandra Clare

May 2012 · The Mortal Instruments Book 5 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

What price is too high to pay, even for love? Plunge into fifth installment the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Ratings and reviews

Sebastian has kidnapped Jace and no one can discover where he has taken him to. The Clave has de-prioritized the search for Jace, and Clary must wait in painful anxiety for two weeks before she can even begin the desperate pursuit of her boyfriend, Jace. In dire urgency, Clary and a few friends visit the Seelie Queen to ask for her help in ascertaining where Sebastian is detaining Jace. But when Jace surprises Clary with his sudden and unexpected appearance at her house, Clary finds herself confused and stupefied by Jace’s startling condition. An invitation is extended out to Clary to come with him and Sebastian as a potential cohort to her brothers’ diabolical plans. Clary must decide whether there is a boundary between honorability and abandoned immorality that can be crossed in the salvation for the one person that matters to her. From the glassy emerald-colored waters of the Venice canals to the cobblestone and lantern-lined streets of Prague, Cassandra Clare introduces us with delirious and lustrous portrayal the lucent world of the Shadowhunters and the other fantastical creatures that live alongside them. In the "City of Lost Souls" there is a careful treatment of the characters which reveals with subtlety, the delicate passions, the tenacity, and the flaws which give so much substance and validity to the personalities of Clary, Jace, and Sebastian. There is a universal question prevalent in the story, of whether the blood which runs through our veins can make us corrupt and amoral or sane and righteous depending upon the characters of the people we share this blood with. This conflict of having a murderer of a brother and a villainous criminal of a father torments Clary and adds dimension and overall depth to this sparklingly-woven adventure of the fatal test of love and blood.

Jace, where oh where did Jace go ? This guy gets himself in so much trouble. Now he's disappeared along with the evil Sebastian's body. Of course everyone if frantically trying to figure out what happened. They just went 'poof' gone, no clues left behind. Their search is hampered by the Clave's investigations. Red tape rearing it's ugly head, it's even here. There belief that Jace and Sebastian are both dead comes crashing around them with the stabbing of somebody near and dear to the gang. Life hangs, death is near and nobody knows what to do. Clary can't let him go, she can't let him be dead, never again. The doomed adventure begins. There is major dark mojo and twists to discover. People have changed, or have they ? The only way to know is to jump into the black and hope for a light. My only complaint- It was very good, except the Jace/ Clary- connecting, not connecting, getting together/staying apart..endless teasing. It is time to bring them together or tear them apart this is getting ridiculous ! I know it is YA, but this author has had them to the point of banging the bedpost for 5 books now, 5 ! She makes it so important in the story, they think about it, get all hot and bothered only to pull away at the last moment. This one was the worst for dragging it out for yet another book.

Sebastian and Jace have been bound by Lilith’s blood magic. Their minds have begun to align with one another, sharing each other’s beliefs. And to make matters worse, one cannot be harmed without the other sharing their pain. While the Clave sees Jace as expendable and will do anything to rid the world of Sebastian, Clary and the others are desperate to find a way to separate the boys. But time is against them as they try to find a near impossible solution. Clary is once again racing to save Jace. But while the first time I read this book, I devoured every page, this time around it took me a bit longer to finish reading. The themes were too similar to the earlier novel, and it felt like a repeat of what I’d just read. City of Lost Souls does take a markedly darker turn and starts to push on some taboos that made me feel awkward reading. In that effect it was well written and hit all the buttons it meant to. However, the secondary characters and subplots that create the City of Lost Souls overtook the actual plot. There is much less emphasis on Jace and Clary, and a lot more relationship drama with every other couple in the book. I don’t need to know what every single couple is doing. There are characters that are barely seen yet I can tell you exactly how their relationship is doing. I want more world building; I want more background and story outside of relationship troubles. I was happy to see the Iron Sisters, though I do wish more time were spent with them. Readers are only allowed a glimpse into their culture and beliefs. They seemed sharp-witted and fastidious in their ways. But then again, I don’t really know because their scene was so brief in comparison to the vampires, werewolves, or even the Silent Brothers in earlier novels. City of Lost Souls was missing the conflicts and tension the earlier novels displayed so well. The relationship filler also needed to be cut back to allow the main plot to progress at a better rate. Too many stories were told within the pages of this book. I think for some it would have been best if they had their own separate novel.

About the author

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com.