City of Lost Souls Review: A Good Read To Gear Up For The Series Finale
Guess who has successfully completed book 5, City of Souls in The Mortal Instruments series? Moi 🙂 After a disappointing experience with City of Fallen Angels, I thought finishing The Mortal Instruments series would be a difficult task. But thankfully, City of Souls was not as bad as the previous book. It wasn’t as bombastic as City of Glass but it was bearable. Readable. Enjoyable. The romance get steamy and frustrating at the same time. If you are a Simon fan like me then, let me tell you that Simon once again has a pivotal role to play in this book. His romance with Isabelle also sees some advancement and so does his relationship with this family or rather just his sister. Overall, the book I felt was a decent way to prepare you for the series finale.
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Walker Books
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?
(Synopsis from Goodreads.com)
I LIKE City of Lost Souls Because,
…I still like Clare’s writing. I find her writing style very interesting and despite being disappointed by her story arcs several times I keep coming back to it. She creates an atmosphere of suspense that peaks my interest and I want to know more about her fantasy world. She is also witty and humorous which makes a dull storyline readable. It is also why I expect a lot from her books. Too bad, her books seldom live up to my expectations but I never feel dissuaded from reading more of her book series. That kinda explains why I have the Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices series included in my ‘books to-buy’ list.
…I like the four main couples in this book and am rooting for each of them. Apart from Jace and Clary we have Simon and Isabelle (my most favourite couple), Magnus and Alec and Maia and Jordan. Simon is my most favourite character in this series and I like his love story with Isabelle. Their romance finally moves forward in this book and I always look forward to reading about them. Just like Jace and Clary, their romance too is sloooooooooooow and frustrating. But I still will stick it out because I want to see them together in the final book. Same goes for Magnus and Alec and Maia and Jordan. I want to see all of them happy together.
I Do NOT Like City of Lost Souls Because,
…Jace and Clary romance is such a tease. Ugh! This is the fifth book in the series and Jace and Clary are still torturing us with their slow-burn romance. I like smouldering love but four books later intense make-out session becomes a drag. I am currently on book six and even after 200 pages I see no scope of the two crossing even the third base yet. Sighs. It’s ok if they don’t do the deed but at least stop teasing us like that.
…the pace is slow initially and then picks up only to get slow again. The book starts with Clary and her gang of friends desperately looking for Jace. As a reader, it was frustrating to see Clary frustrated over the tardy progress in seeking Jace. The story picks pace once Jace is found and Clary accompanies him. But somewhere just before the climax, things start to slow down again and also gets a tad boring because we are still not privy to Sebastian’s plans. Like the previous book, I was confused in this one too because I did not know where the story was headed. I will not call this suspense but lack of clarity. The main motive remains unclear till the last page. It is only in City of Heavenly Fire that Sebastian’s intentions become clear and you finally understand the bone of contention.
Favourite Quotes in City of Lost Souls
“Isabelle snorted. ‘All the boys are gay. In this truck, anyway. Well, not you, Simon.’
‘You noticed’ said Simon.
“Jordan doesn’t really care about the blood,” Simon said now. “His whole thing is about me being comfortable with what I am. Get in touch with your inner vampire, blah, blah.”
Clary slid in next to him onto the bed and hugged a pillow. “Is your inner vampire different from your…outer vampire?”
“Definitely. He wants me to wear midriff-baring shirts and a fedora. I’m fighting it.”
Clary smiled faintly. “So your inner vampire is Magnus?”
“He grinned. It was a wicked grin, the kind that made the blood in Clary’s veins run a little faster. “You want to go on a date?”
Caught off guard, she stammered. “A wh-what?”
“A date,” Jace repeated. “Often ‘a boring thing you have to memorize in history class,’ but in this case, ‘an offering of an evening of blisteringly white-hot romance with yours truly.”
“Really?” Clary was not sure what to make of this. “Blisteringly white-hot?”
“It’s me,” said Jace. “Watching me play Scrabble is enough to make most women swoon. Imagine if I actually put in some effort.”
“How was the Seelie Queen?”
“Same as usual.”
“Raging bitch, then?”
“Pretty much.”
“You may have the worst timing since Napoleon decided the dead of winter was the right moment to invade Russia.”
Final View: If you have made it beyond City of Fallen Angels, you MUST go for City of Lost Souls. Unlike its predecessor, City of Lost Souls will not really disappoint you.
You can check out Amazon.in for a discount on this book.
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