City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Glass	Loved it	Graded
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Elements: Vampires, fallen angels
Series: Book 1 of the Mortal Instruments series

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters -- never mind that enter-ing 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 Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters 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?

It's taken me an unusually long time to complete this review. Every time a series ends, there's the feeling of loss that I won't be reading from any of the characters' point of views again. The words just don't seem to come to my mind. Apologies in advance.

(spoiler)
The Mortal Instruments is mainly from Clary's point of view, but I dunno, I loved reading from Jace's POV more. Maybe it's just cause it's a change from Clary's voice. Jace is definitely one of the most real and intriguing characters I've read in a while. And sometimes, I find I love the male protagonists more than the female protagonists. :D

Sort of like Twilight, ey? The main reason us girls read Twilight is to fawn over Edward, or at least, find out why he's so captivating to other girls. Don't deny it. *narrows eyes* It's always "I love Edward/Jacob/Taylor/Rob Pattinson." Never "I love Bella/Kristen Stewart/Alice!"

More importantly... is TMI going to be made into a movie or three? In my opinion, it's definitely a Silver Screen must.

Rambling aside, I definitely love love loved this series. Note the 3 "love"s. The action was non stop, the plot was tight and the writing was amazingly lucid. Just a few things that were frustrating for me.

1) The main reason I read City of Glass was to read more about Jace and whether he's really Clary's brother. Never mind the war and Valentine! One thing that really gave it away was the fact that they just seem to kiss at least once in every book. Hellloooo...!

If that wasn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is. I mean, consider the fact that when Sebastian tries to kiss Clary, she gets the feeling of wrongness. And guess what, he's really Clary's brother!

2) The fact that Max dies seems sort of convenient to me, in the way that it just emphasizes the ongoing war. He was a Lightwood, but we readers didn't really get to know him that well to get attached to him. So basically, we don't feel the pain of actually losing him, we feel the Jace, Alec and Isabelle's pain of losing him.

Okay, enough whinging.

Fans should note that Cassandra Clare is "working on an outline for a series that focuses on Simon. The other characters would be in it, but I can't say how central they'd be. I also can't say when it will be published or anything — all I've got is an outline, which I have not showed to my publisher. If they do want it, and I hope they do, it'll be at least a few years before it ever comes out: the Clockwork books are next, and nothing's going to change that."

Full blog post* by Cassandra here. Along with a bunch of answers to questions you might have. You know what we must do, right? Bombard the publishers/agents/Cassandra with pleas to publish the Simon Series! And look, it's Sebastian on the cover! Maybe it's Simon or Alec, but I like the idea of it being Sebastian.

*As for her answer to question 11, I thought she was talking about Jace and wondered why she described him as a sick individual. My bad.

Recommended for:
Fans of urban fantasy, twists, turns and epic tales ala Harry Potter.