Book Review: City of Glass (#3 The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare

My Rating:

Book: City of Glass (#3 The Mortal Instruments)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publication date: September 1st, 2009

Synopsis:
To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering 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 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 final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments

My Review:

After having read the City of Bones and City of Ashes, book One and Two of the Mortal Instruments series, I was not entirely convinced whether I liked the series or not. Hence, I was not sure what to exactly expect from City of Glass.

But boy, was I (pleasantly) surprised...! Words cannot express how much I enjoyed this book and how it has completely (positively) altered my perception about the series. It consistently put me on the edge of my seat and I was completely sucked into the entire plot and all situations the old and new characters found themselves in. I found myself struggling to put this book down. In my opinion there are so many things to praise about this book, so let's start off with covering the most essential points.

Plot
The start of the book was instantly grasping. Now that Clary's new found amazing powers as a Shadowhunter is out in the open, she is set out to go to the City of Glass to meet with the Clave. However, Clary's motives to go to the City are quite different as her mother is still in fatal danger and it is up to her to go to the City of Glass to retrieve what may be the most important thing for Clarly to save her mother. According to Jace, Clary will not be safe in the City of Glass where she will be within grasping reach of the conspicuous Clave, now knowing she posses powers stronger than anyone expected. He therefore decides to leave to the City with his family without Clary. After one thrilling scene to the next, Clary finds out that Jace has tricked her by leaving her behind, and decides to go to the City of Glass by herself, on her own terms, whatever the consequences may be. The moment she sets foot in this strange but familiar City, Clary is put in one mind twisting situation to the next.

Each character goes through their own problematic and stomach twisting ordeals, which is quite familiar in Cassandra's books of this serie, however this time each and every story is consistently thrilling and enticing! I was on vacation when I read this book and I have to say, I could not keep my eyes away from this book, even if this sometimes meant missing the beautiful scenery my family and I had the privilege to endear throughout our road trip through Turkey!

Characters
I was always a bit turned off by how vulnerable Clary was, despite the potential she may  have with her new powers. But not only physically, but also emotionally, Clary has changed and increased immensely. She was no longer going to settle for any more "no's" "I can't/you can't", and people telling her to do other than what she believed. She took action for herself and was not scared to use her power this time to get what she needed the most.
Clary and Jace's relationship was ever so annoying as it always has been in my opinion. Both of them always hesitating, should they be together or not?
But despite this constant annoying attraction that unfortunately still lingered 90% of this book, their individual development was very fun read! New characters are introduced, for example members of the Clave and Sebastian (swooooon). The connection and relationship between Sebastian and Clary was my favorite! It is quite strange and confusing, romantic, and eventually horrific (*wink*wink*) The twist towards the end of the book is so overwhelming and unexpected, something which seems to be Cassandra Clare's strength: completely and utterly shocking the heck out of her readers!


From beginning to end the book was enthralling, dramatic, exciting, new, and dangerous! This has definitely been the book from the series to tip over my perception on this series from doubting it to absolutely loving it!