Review for City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

This is the second book in The Mortal Instruments series. Although this review will contain NO spoilers from City of Ashes by talking about the plot there may be unintentional spoilers from the first book in the series. I really enjoyed the first book in The Mortal Instruments series and so was very excited to get round to City of Ashes. This is a series that pretty much everybody has read so it feels good to finally jump on the wagon and see what all the fuss is about! City of Ashes picks up where City of Bones left off with Jace and Clary’s new found love for each other shattered on the discovery that they are long lost brother and sister. Both of them are trying to adjust to the news and bury the spark between them, Clary by trying to start a relationship with best friend Simon and Jace by doing what Jace does best- throwing himself into dangerous situations. But Clary and Jace aren’t the only two trying to deal with this new information. The Lightwoods- Jace’s adoptive family- are hurt that Jace is not who he appeared to be and fear that Jace knew all along that he was Valentines son and was acting as Valentines spy. The Clave are also onto Jace and appear to be taking out their hatred for his father on him. With Jace’s life on the line it’s up to Clary and co to prove that Jace’s heart lies with the Clave once and for all… What I love about this series is that there’s never a dull moment. In each book you delve deeper and deeper into the world Cassandra Clare has created learning more with each chapter about Shadowhunters and the things that go bump in the night. Like with City of Bones for the last 200 pages I found it impossible to put this book down. There’s always so much going on that you just have to know what happens next. I love it when authors develop a world so much that you want to discover everything about it and Cassandra Clare has done that with this series. The only thing that lets this series down for me is Jace. For so long I’ve heard about this amazing guy and he just doesn’t live up to what I expected. I actually don’t like him all that much and think that he behaves like a spoilt child sometimes when he doesn’t get his way. I know a lot of girls are attracted to his cockiness but he’s just a bit too arrogant for my liking. That being said I love, love, love the rest of the characters and have a particular soft spot for Simon. The witty, funny dialog really brings the characters to life and makes this series a joy to read. So many exciting things happen during the few days that take place in City of Ashes, and although I didn’t love this book quiet as much as the first one I did enjoy it all the same and would recommend it if you enjoyed the first book. I was a little lost at the beginning of the story because so much happened in City of Bones that I couldn’t remember all of it having read it a couple of months ago but I soon got back into the swing of things and when I did I loved it. I’ve heard that City of Glass is the best of the lot so I’m very excited to pick that up soon to find out what happens next. My Rating 4/5 stars ****