Girls*Heart* Books: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare: Review

City of Lost Souls

Mortal Instruments Book #5
By : Cassandra Clare
Published By: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Can the lost be reclaimed? What price is too high to pay for love? Who can be trusted when sin and salvation collide?
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge.
Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series. (from Goodreads)

City of Lost Souls is the fifth book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. This installment picks up two weeks from the end of City of Fallen Angels and really hits the ground running. There isn't a dull moment to be found in the entire book. In my opinion, this was one of the best in the series so far.

Clare's characters are the very best part of her books, in my opinion. Their depth and growth in this episode is evident in their actions and, in some cases, the lack thereof. Clary, especially, is changing and growing (thankfully!) and instead of wanting to smack her in every other chapter, there was only once when I felt she needed to get a stern talking to. Magnus remains my very favorite character in this series, though. He adds humor, intelligence and of course, his own special brand of sarcasm to the mix and I don't know if I'd enjoy the books as much were he not present.

Like it's predecessors, this book is bulging with action, romance and humor. The narrative flows seamlessly between perspectives and helps to keep you enthralled with the unfolding drama. Clare has given us another gem to devour. These books are among my very favorites and I am eagerly awaiting the last part of this series.

My Rating:

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel.

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