City of Ashes & City of Glass

City of Ashes – From the Publisher…

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?

City of Glass – From the Publisher…

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters 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?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of bestselling series the Mortal Instruments.

From Me…
 
I finished these two books in the same weekend, so I thought I would review them at the same time.  Jace and Clary are enthralling, and I can’t help but feel drawn to their relationship.  I have a problem with Clary though.  I  like her, but sometimes she just gets on my nerves!  I guess I prefer strong female leads, and don’t get me wrong, she is strong!  She also continually gets herself in situations that she needs to be saved from, which seems familiar (Bella anyone?).  I wish she would choose her path.  She can’t continually pretend to be normal, yet insist on putting herself in Shadowhunter situations.  She’s just putting herself and others at risk.

The writing in the book is really good, especially for YA.  I am laughing outloud at points.  Jace’s personality consistently uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism, but the way he says things are so comical.  He is by far my favorite character.  He’s also compelling in the way that he loves Clary.  He loves her as if she precious. He touches her as if she is precious.  What more could a girl want???

The story that carries these two books is compelling as well, though some of the side stories are skippable.  I get mad sometimes when she switches from one character to another, because I don’t care about the other characters when they aren’t involved in the main action or story.

These books are definitely worth reading!  I have had a lot of fun with these chracters, and I already know that I will miss them when the series is finished.