Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Published May 8, 2012 by
The author: Tumblr // Twitter
The book: Goodreads // Amazon UK
My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act without Clary. For Clary is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace's soul. Clary is willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love? - Summary from Goodreads

My Review

I have always enjoyed The Mortal Instruments Series. It consistently continues to be a favorite of mine, even after the very slight let down of City of Fallen Angels (#4), a controversial topic in the fandom. City of Lost Souls, however, is definitely a return to excellence within this snarky paranormal world. It recaptures the spirit of the series and reaffirms Cassandra Clare's decision to create a six book series out of a trilogy. This fifth instalment will have you wishing there will be more than six books!

Let me get to my one and only gripe first. I still don't know what to call him. Sebastian? Jonathan? I have no clue. If I had my way, it would be Jonathan, as that is actually his name rather than one name he took on for a couple weeks, but he's still constantly referred to as Sebastian! It doesn't make sense to me. While he is basically evil in corporeal form, he was actually well written in this book. I wavered multiple times on whether he might actually be concerned for Clary.

Now that that's all out of the way, let me talk about characters that didn't confuse me. In fact, I love them. Clary has grown into such a brave main character! Yes, she's obsessed with Jace, and in this book she takes risks and really holds her own. Since the beginning of the series, Isabelle in my opinion, has gone from being rather vapid to being one of the most complicated characters. What I love about this book is that every character has their own complications and side plots that weave together brilliantly. Just brilliantly.

Overall, this is an instalment to the series that in my opinion validates Cassandra Clare's decision to expand on the trilogy. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but the story was so good it makes me want to jump straight into the final instalment! If you were a bit *meh* with City of Fallen Angels, I definitely suggest reading City of Lost Souls. It's got everything you would want from this series!