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Friday, April 12, 2013

City of Ashes Book Review

Rawr Reader,

   I've had this book for several weeks and I've wanted to read it immediately, but I had other books I needed to read first. But it doesn't matter because I finally got to reading this! Yay! Alright, in all honesty I wasn't blown away with City of Bones, but that cliffhanger made me really want to know what happened with Clary, Jace and Simon (ahh Simon, I love you). This is City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, and this synopsis is provided by Goodreads:



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?


Reference:
   I heard about this book from the first book. Obviously, right? :P

                                                                          Review:
(safe for those who haven't read this book yet)
   Okay, because I have an uncontrollable need to finish interesting series, I got this book because I admit, I liked the atmosphere of this world. I simply liked the first book, but this book I felt delivered a lot more and for that I gave this book one more star.
    Since I already knew the characters and places, I guess I didn't find this book as overwhelming, and I felt more attached to the characters. Or when something happened to them, I reacted more. The first book I felt had a bunch going on and while a lot does in this too, it isn't as fast-paced. (What? I'm complaining about pacing?) Also, nothing was revealed in this book like it was by the end of the first book. (See spoilers below for my guess at a possible revelation.) Overall I was very pleased with this book and I can't find much to complain about.
    Oh! Actually, there is something that bothered me. I felt that these people were cut off a lot. Specifically Clary. Like every time she tried to speak--
    She'd get cut off.
    Annoying isn't it? Maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine, like let the characters talk already! It was affective in some moments, but it became to recurrent and consistent in Clary's character. No me gusta.  
    The cliffhanger wasn't very cliffhanging in my opinion. I thought it'd be more dramatic, since I think this was initially a trilogy. Now, well years ago when they decided to continue on with the series, that it's become six-seven however many books there are so far, I want to see how this story has stretched out.
     What keeps bringing back to this story I think is ultimately the humor between the characters. In reality, teenagers are smart***es and I think that the author emulated that well in her characters.
    And if you're thinking I'd end this review without saying anything about my favorite, you were cleverly mistaken. Yes, I still love Simon.


I give this book 3/5 stars. I found this one more enjoyable than City of Bones.



Author's Quote:
“I'll just have them change the entry in the demonology textbook from 'almost extinct' to 'not extinct enough for Alec. He prefers his monsters really, really extinct.' Will that make you happy?” 
― Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes


My Goodreads:


Next To Read:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien


River Song's Spoilers:
(unsafe for those who haven't read this book yet, so don't read this section)
     Alright I accidentally read beforehand that Simon would turn into a vampire. So unfortunately I wasn't that surprised. 
    I'm just waiting for Jace and Clary to turn out not to be related. I mean, I would kind of feel disappointed since clearly Jace and Clary still care for each other. On page 417, when Clary is telling Valentine about how his first child, Valentine cuts her off and says "I wasn't talking about--" Whhhaaaat???? Is he implying something? That maybe he was referring to another child? I mean Jocelyn never confirmed Jace was her kid, so maybe she isn't his mom. And while I haven't read the next book yet, I read the synopsis and it is going to introduce another Shadowhunter: Sebastian. (How convenient it's a guy...) And he's mysterious? Hmm, I wonder if he has a lost childhood and no memory of a family. I wonder if he'll have resembling eyes or hair or smile or mannerism that reminds Clary of someone. I wonder if it turns out he is her older brother.   :o
     I may be totally wrong and way off the mark, but hey, worth a guess. Can't keep your plots too predictable. I just really need to know what happens. Grrr series.


Until Next Time,
Nicole Ciel

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