Wednesday 20 June 2012

Teen book review - ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls’ by Cassandra Clare

Published by Walker Books
RRP £10.99 (large paperback)
ISBN 9781406332940
Reviewed by Lynsey Evans

‘The Mortal Instruments’ first book ‘City of Bones’ landed on the book shelves back in 2007 and the series was originally only going to be trilogy. Fortunately, it is such a fab series it has developed from a trilogy to 6 parts, plus 2 prequels have also been written for the series.

I have been a fan of this series since the start and it is a great read for teens and adults, though it seems plenty of adults have read the Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games series, ‘The Mortal Instruments’ doesn’t appear to be in this league … yet. Why? Who knows as ‘The Mortal Instruments’  is as good as any of these other teen phenomenoms. As proof of its greatness the first book in the series ‘The City of Bones’ is being made into a Hollywood Blockbuster, with Lily Collins cast as Clary and Jamie Campbell-Bower as Jace, and I for one, cannot wait!

If you haven’t yet read any of this brilliant, thrilling urban fantasy series, do so, now. Meet Clary Fray, an “ordinary” girl, who realises she’s not so ordinary when she sees 3 teens kill someone. These teens are covered in strange markings and no one else appears to see them. This is the start of Clary’s adventures as she discovers the Clave, the Nephilim (who are part angel and fight demons – also known as Shadowhunters), their rules, their ways and how she is part of their world. The adventures keep coming thick and fast in the next 3 books in the series, encountering faeries, vampires, lots of demons, the Mortal Instruments, the villan Valentine, the Clave, warlocks, a romantic storyline and much, much more. It’s absolutely engrossing and when ‘City of Lost Souls’ arrived for review, I was excited to see what happens next after the ‘City of Fallen Angels’.

‘City of Lost Souls’ doesn’t disappoint, it’s as action and romance-packed as ever, with the moral dilemmas, the danger, the demons, the angels, the shadowhunters, Simon’s wit and sarcasm, revenge, betrayal, the twists and turns, the highs and lows we love and have come to expect when reading The Mortal Instruments series.

When Clary discovers both Sebastian and Jace are alive after Jace and Sebastian ‘Jonathan Morgenstern’ Verlac’s encounter with Lilith. But Jace isn’t the same now he’s bound to Sebastian with demon blood – hurt or kill either one and they’ll both die. Jace looks the same, but his thoughts are the same as Sebastian’s, which is only going to end in tears. With Sebastian taking up where Valentine left off, Clary has a choice leave her family, her friends and the Clave and join them to be with Jace forever and safe with Sebastian or follow the Clave’s rules – which say both Jace and Sebastian are a threat and need to be killed. Then there’s Simon and Isabelle, Maia and Jordan, Alec and Magnus – with dilemmas of their own. Each character bears a heavy weight on their shoulders in this instalment, each book growing darker in the characters’ battle between good and evil.

An absolutely brilliant read, totally engrossing, you have to read it, I cannot recommend the Mortal Instruments series enough. A must-read if ever there was one!

Recommended for readers aged 14+

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