City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments, #2)

by Cassandra Clare

Second in Cassandra Clare's internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series about the Shadowhunters.

Discover more secrets about the Shadowhunters as they fight to protect the world from demons in the second book in the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Love and power are the deadliest temptations... Haunted by her past, Clary is dragged deeper into New York City's terrifying underworld of demons and Shadowhunters - but can she control her feelings for a boy who can never be hers? This edition contains a map and a new foreword by Cassandra Clare. Read all the sensational books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles: The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, The Bane Chronicles, The Dark Artifices, The Last Hours and The Shadowhunter's Codex.

• ISBN10: 1416914293
• ISBN13: 9781416914297
• Publish Date: 25 March 2008 (first published 1 March 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

City of Ashes City of Ashes is the second in The Mortal Instruments series and just as good as the first.  City of Bones threw some wrenches into the romance and the frustration with that is just as palpable in this book.  The action is kicked up yet another notch and the twists and turns just don't end!
 
The romance... oh, the romance.  The frustration is overwhelming at times because what you want as a reader, you just can't have.  The angst is unbelievable and it pulls you into the story, hoping page after page that you will get what you want!  Jace and Clary are tormented and so is everyone around them!!
 
But more than the romance is the story itself.  There are so many twists and turns as truths are uncovered and secrets revealed.  Just as soon as you think you know where the story may be going, things change and everything is turned on edge again.  The anticipation was wonderful.
 
One again, I am in love with the characters and the banter.  I love that the cast is diverse because it makes for some fantastic interactions that are sometimes sad, sometimes serious, and sometimes hilarious.  The banter is snarky, but intelligent and full of one-liners that I just want to find occasions to use!
 
My Recommendation
 
Definately a must-read after City of Bones!

[Katie King]

**2 stars**

My Thoughts:
Clary was a bit of a mixed bag in this book. She's still pretty annoying and still jumping to conclusions and telling everyone else what to do. She whines about Simon, she whines at the Seelie Court, she whines about Isabelle being attractive and a badass. When she's not whining, she's crying. I felt like every page mentioned something about hot tears splashing down her face. Go ahead and check, I've got time. A few times she's treated as though she just gets in the way, and I really enjoyed those parts because I feel the same way. She's like a sea of Legos keeping you from a chocolate cake - annoying and painful to deal with. Of course she doesn't let anyone tell her what to do and often involves herself where she isn't wanted. When as a result she messes things up, she usually just sits down to have a good cry. Please grow up.

On the OTHER hand, Clary is actually a lot better than she was in City of Bones. She doesn't stand around whining ALL the time anymore, just most of the time! She takes initiative when everyone goes to break out Jace. She offers up intelligent ideas and fights demons in the climax. It's so refreshing to see her so actively involved!

Jace is still pretty much the best character. He's still rough around the edges, and you see more of that as he struggles with his feelings for Clary. His reaction to Simon and Clary dating comes across a little too strong (he obviously hates Simon), which made me think about the timeline of the first book. Why are him and Clary so desperately in love - hasn't it only been like 2 weeks since she found out she was a Shadowhunter? That got me thinking about how the author doesn't really lay out her timelines very well. I still don't know exactly how far out we are from day 1. Maybe we're supposed to think it's the brotherly affections kicking in. He is pretty protective and possessive of Clary. He often tells her what she can and cannot do, and where she must be and cannot go. This combined with his arrogance painted a darker picture of him than we see in the first book. He's not quite as dreamboat-y as he was before but...still.

Simon & Clary's relationship was ridiculous. First of all, the relationships was so forced. They kiss and then he starts calling her his girlfriend in front of people and this makes her SUPER uncomfortable, but does she do anything? Nope, she just lets him keep chugging along the train tracks to heartbreak. Granted, Simon needed to pump the brakes (he got uber annoying) but nobody was telling him that. As far as he knew, Clary was super into it. Clary also treats Simon like dirt, but only when Jace is around, and you better believe that doesn't escape Simon's notice. Simon gets fed up and Clary is left wondering what she ever did to make him mad. If I were Simon I would drop her like a bag of hot potatoes. But I guess letting go of unrequited love finally realized is easier said than done. Simon needs to go out there and find him some badass nerdy vamp girl, because Clary's heart lies with another.

Plot-wise it wasn't much better than the first book. It added more necessary background information, but this plot moves slower than a turtle with arthritis. Clary's mom is still nonexistent, there's still random demon attacks that pop-up when the plot gets stale. There's the brief encounters with the other species of Downworlders - this time the werewolves and the faeries. I think the author will finally be satisfied once there's every species of Downworlder represented in a main character. Last but not least, there's still the Jace hates his dad -> meets up with his dad for a chat -> he joins him/is going to join him -> he realizes that's a bad move and rejoins the good side. I've read City of Glass (the next book) before and I know that's repeated in there as well. Yay.
 
Summary:
I have this overwhelming feeling of "been there, done that." This time around, I wasn't bored with Simon - I was annoyed with him, so that's a positive. Clary stops getting on everyone's nerves long enough to accomplish some things. Jace is in borderline abusive relationship territory. See you guys next for City of Glass.

[cherryblossommj]

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

Fair warning, if you loved this book, you might not want to read this review. Also, this review might have some spoilers in it, so I won’t read it if you haven’t finished the book yet!

When I first finished City of Bones (the first book in the series), I told myself I wouldn’t continue this series. I didn’t like CoB at all, and I thought that the rest of the series would probably be as bad. After rereading the first book a couple of weeks ago, I decided to read at least the second and third book, because those where the original books in the series (until Clare thought it might be a good idea to write three more books). I decided to read CoA because I just wanted to know how it went on, without having to read other people’s opinions, but I kinda regret it a bit. Not only where the big surprises in this book not a surprise to me because of the movie (I honestly don’t get why you would spoil stuff from the next books in the first movie, honestly!), it just wasn’t better than the first. Okay, maybe a little bit.

The first thing I noticed, was that the point of view in the book changes a lot. First they’d be telling the story from Jace’s POV, and then a couple of parts further it would be from Clary’s. Sometimes it was from Simon’s POV, or Maia’s (which is a new character, and I’ll talk about her later). Everyone probably already knows that I HATE books with multiple POV’s. Sometimes, I get used to it, when it’s done correctly. Like in Requiem, the book switched between Lena and Hana, one chapter would be told from Lena’s POV, and the other from Hana’s. (and I don't mind it at all in the Doctor Who books I've read).

This book did not do it correctly. I found it really annoying, and confusing at some points, and I just really hope the other books are not like this. There are two other things that I don’t like in books (and in real life); incest and love-triangles. And hey, guess what? This book had both of them! The way Clary and Jace were still in love with each other though they knew they were brother and sister made me feel a bit weird at some times. The whole kissing scene in that Seelie Court (or whatever it was called, I don’t remember) made me feel really bad for Simon and ugh. Gross.

And then there’s the love-triangle thing. Clary is in love with both Simon and Jace, oh no, what should she do?! Kiss both of them of course, because that’s what always happens in every book that has two love-interests for the main character. WHY DO WRITERS FEEL THE NEED TO DO THIS, HONESTLY?!

In City of Bones, I had a list of words that I didn’t know and I didn’t even bother looking them up. I don’t get why writers like to use ‘difficult’ and fancy words, while they can simply just use the easy version of it. We are teenagers (okay maybe not me, but most people that read this book are), we don’t all know the meaning of all those difficult words, we don’t feel like reading a book with a dictionary next to it! At least, I don’t. Luckily, City of Ashes had less difficult words (either that, or I just completely ignored them, that might also be it), so that made me a bit happier.

Now onto the characters. I have two favourite characters. Luke and Simon. Not only because they are played by two of my favourite characters, I just like them. Luke is a werewolf that owns a bookstore, and he’s just awesome, and Simon is just adorable.

Like I said earlier, we were introduced to a couple of new characters in this book, one of which was Maia; a fifteen (or sixteen I have no idea, I think at one point she was sixteen, and then at another she was fifteen, I might have read it wrong though) year old werewolf girl from Luke’s pack. I liked her, and I felt bad for her. Not only did she have an abusive brother, after finally getting rid of her brother, she got an abusive boyfriend who was eventually the one who changed her into a werewolf. And then she got forgotten throughout the entire book. At least, that’s what it felt like to me.

There was a part in which they were all at Luke’s house. Maia left the living room and hid in the kitchen because she’d been crying; and then we don’t hear about her for a long time. There is a tiny part afterwards in which she leaves the house and gets captured by Valentine, and then we don’t hear from her for a while. Then, on Valentine’s boat, she is tortured (HER HAIR GETS TORN OUT OF HER HEAD, she gets silver powder all over her face/body, and we all know that werewolves are ‘allergic’ to silver), and then gets freed by Clary, pushed through a hole in the wall, after which we don’t hear anything from her anymore. Though Clary asked whether she was safe (among other people), she is told that everyone is safe, but we don’t hear anything from Maia anymore. Not a word. We don’t hear whether she died, whether she’s safe, nothing.

Then there are the characters that I DIDN’T like. Clary, Jace, the Inquisitor, Valentine; Clary because she’s just really annoying. I can’t really give you a perfect example, but I was just annoyed throughout the book. And Jace, oh god Jace. He picked a fight with several werewolves, visited his father after being told he couldn’t leave the house, being a total ass to almost everyone in the book. Ugh. The Inquisitor made me want to punch a wall. Though I hate Jace, I thought she was completely unreasonable with him, not believing everything he said. She reminded me of Snape, punishing someone’s child just because you hate the parent. I can’t stand people like that. And then she dies a heroic death and saving Jace's life, wow yes totally the Snape of this story. And of course, Valentine was just an ass. Grrrrrr.

I am not the first, and I will certainly not be the last, but both CoB and CoA have some Harry Potter (not just HP though, but these were the ones that I noticed because I’m a huge HP fan of course) ‘influences’ to it. I know about Clare’s plagiarism history, so it made me feel a bit uneasy when I read those things. I’ll give you two examples from this book: Valentine is looking for the Mortal Instruments, three objects that (if I’m correct) make you the ultimate Shadowhunter. Voldemort was looking for the Deathly Hallows (okay eventually he was looking for only one, but shhhh), three objects that make you the ultimate wizard/witch. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

Then, there was a demon, called Argamon (which reminded me of Pokémon), who ‘takes the form of whatever most terrifies you’. And then apparently it also ‘feeds on fear’. A bit like a boggart and a dementor in one, what fun!

The following part might have some spoilers in them for those who haven’t read this book yet. Then there was Clary, who is a Shadowhunter. But apparently that is not enough, no! She has to be a SPECIAL Shadowhunter, because why would the main character be a normal Shadowhunter?! That’s ridiculous! No, Clary can make up her own runes, wow wow wow so special! In this book, Simon is made a vampire (which I already knew, THANK YOU COB MOVIE) and wow no not an ordinary vampire, what the hell were you thinking?! NO HE’S A VAMPIRE THAT CAN WITHSTAND SUNLIGHT WOW SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE SIMON (He’s still my favourite character though, shh). Why can’t they just be an ordinary Shadowhunter, and an ordinary vampire, ugh. (sorry I just let myself go at this bit, but ugh)

To make a long story short, I didn’t enjoy this book. I am going to read the third book, because that was supposed to be the last in the series. I don’t know if I’ll read anything beyond that, but we’ll see what happens after I’ve read the third book.

[tweetybugshouse]

loved it totally ate it up

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I don't quite know how to start this review. After reading City of Bones even though I was disappointed by the ending I wanted to continue reading. I wasn't quite ready to give up these characters. I am glad I continued as the story became more gripping. I found it quite difficult to put this book down.

Firstly I would like to say that I feel this book flowed more than the first. It was easier to read and to follow and less predictable that COB.

I felt sorry for Simon through this book because you can tell how much he is in love with Clary but she is still smitten with Jace, even after finding out he is her brother.

Clary knows its wrong but she just can't help her feelings. I found these scenes hard to read. I kept wanting to scream "he's your brother". I did however persevere.

If you ignore the I'm in love with my brother aspect of this book it's quite a good story.

[nitzan_schwarz]

JUST POSTED ON THE BLOG

City of Ashes and I started off rocky. If you read my review of City of Bones you know that I read that book twice (because I couldn't remember anything). What you don't know is that the first time I read it, I proceeded to open City of Ashes immediately. I read the prologue. I closed the book. It stayed closed for about... oh, I dunno... two years, maybe?..

I can't even explain what went wrong and why this happened. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it. But whatever it was, I kept recalling that I did in fact do that every time I considered reading the book, and so I became too afraid to actually read it.

So afraid, that I had to limit myself on a vacation by taking City of Ashes only to make myself read it. If you're like me, who take 3 physical books and a full kindle everywhere, you must understand how dire the situation truly was.

I ended up being completely baffled by my initial reaction. City of Ashes, for me, was a much superior book toCity of Bones.

Firstly, I got to like Clary better in this book. I never hated her, but I was never sure I liked her, either. Does that make any sense? Anyways, in this book Clary discovers a power that finally makes her useful. She is no longer helpless. And that makes her much more interesting, to me.

Though, I will say - I was gritting my teeth so bad at how she behaved with Simon! That is NOT okay.

As for Jace, the first book I was surprised to like this character, who is named a jerk (though usually affectionately) by many people. In this book I was once again surprised that I liked him - this time, because I strangely enjoyed his mopey and sullen attitude. It added a much needed vulnerability to his character, making him that much more relate-able.

A character that I lost some respect towards (thought I still love him) is actually Simon. Why would you go into a lair of vampires? That is such a stupid thing to do. The end of the book with him was interesting, for sure, though I don't quite understand how it was possible. Hopefully, Clare explains this in the next book (side note:did Clare explain? I can't seem to remember o-o)

My possibly favorite part of the book was listening to Simon recite Sh'ma Israel. It was very accurate, because that is the prayer a Jewish person would use (I should know lol), and I wasn't actually expecting it.

Simon also gets a possible future love interest in this book, called Maia. I hated her. She is just such a useless character, so unnecessary to the plot. Hopefully, Clare won't negate Simon to an actual relationship with her.

Two side characters I feel deserve the extra mention are Luke and fan favorite (and my favorite) Magnus Bane.

I love Luke for the fatherly feeling he gives off, and Magnus for the sparkly feeling he gives off. Both of them create a large contrast between how you (and the Shadowhunters) expect a character like themselves to be and how they really are, Luke because he is the farthest thing away from the cruel, vicious werewolf and Magnus because he is not the typical wise, bearded Mage but a colorful collection of traits that create this persona that is so much fun to be around!

I hope to see more of both these characters in the following books (with emphasis on Magnus's relationship with Alec).

"Every time you almost die, I almost die myself".

As for the romance - I was kind of on the middle with it. Sometimes I loved it, like when Jace said the quote above. At that moment? I shipped it hard. 

But then sometimes I hated it. Like when Jace started blowing up over things Clary hadn't even said, based on his wrapped interpretation on them-- and Clary wouldn't even contradict his weird assumptions, instead continuing on with the conversation as if he is right. Like, major wtf.

I think this reading experience was so much better than in City of Bones because, above all else, I got used to the writing. But I'll be honest, I still don't like it.

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OLD VERSION
To read this review and more, go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!

Back when I first read City of Bones, I picked up City of Ashes. I opened the book, read the prologue, closed the book - and never opened it again.
I can't even tell you what went wrong; as best as I can figure out, I simply wasn't in the right frame of mind for it. But whatever it was, it nagged in my head for a long time afterwards, and made it difficult opening the book again.

But this weekend, I decided I've had enough with it. I took City of Ashes, and City of Ashes only, with me for a short vacation with my parents, thus guaranteeing I'll read it.
Turns out, I needn't have worried - I didn't need much initiative to read the book once I started.
In fact, despite it being a very busy weekend filled with shopping and outdoors activities, I still managed to read about 100 pages a day!

City of Ashes, for me, was a lot better than City of Bones. Can't even put my finger on exactly how, but that's how I feel.

I got to like Clary better in this book. I never hated her, but I was never sure I liked her, you know? No? Guess that's just me, then. Anyway, in this book we find out Clary is special - and she has a special power, unique only to her. This special power makes her so much more useful than she'd been the book before, and she actually helps fight this time, making me appreciate her a lot more.
On the other hand, I disliked the whole attitude she has with Simon - making out with him just cause the guy she actually likes is... well, her brother. But contrary to other heroines, her reason for not going out with the guy she likes is pretty understandable - if only she knew Jace wasn't really her brother... ~sigh~ maybe next book she will?.
All in all - I liked Clary a lot better this book.

Same goes for Jace. Don't know about you, but I kind of enjoyed his mopey and sullen attitude this book. Seeing him a bit more vulnerable made him a lot more relate-able, and my heart went out for him because of the rough treatment he received from the Clave here.

I love Simon, but dude - you weren't that stupid last book! What were you thinking, for crying out loud, going to the lair of the vampires?! ~shakes head in dismay~
And can anyone explain to me what happened in the end of the book with him!? How is what happened to him possible? I sure hope Clare explains that in the next book, because that's a detail she has to explain - what with it being supposedly impossible and all...
But I did love the fact he said Sh'ma Yisrael when he was facing Valentine - Kudos for Clare for putting that in, as it is what a Jewish person might recite facing death (and I should know).

We got a new character this book, called Maia - and I dislike her greatly. She wasn't annoying, really, just really useless and stupid, especially with all that lashing out at Simon. I don't see why we really needed her, really.

On a side note, if we're already talking characters - I love Luke and the fatherly feeling he emits. I think it's a really wise choice to have made him the werewolf in the story, as it creates such contrast between how you think werewolf are supposed to be and how they really are. And I'm glad we saw so much more of him this book.

Another character I loved was Magnus Bane. I love the... sparkly feeling he gives off! LOL. He's so colorful and despite the pretense he doesn't care, appears like he does. I was really glad he took a more center stage this book, and I'm hoping to see more of him and Alec next book!

As for the Romance in this book - there were moments I loved it, and moments I disliked it.
Half way through Jace got pretty annoying, blowing away Clary's answer to something he said, interpreting it as if she said she thought his feelings for her were sick. But then, instead of explaining she didn't mean that - she spoke as is she did, so I was pissed at her, too.
On the other hand, some parts were just so sweet, and I positively swooned over Jace when he said:
Clary - "I almost died back there on the ship, you know."
Jace - "I know. Every time you almost die, I almost die myself.”
As for the writing - it was better than I remembered, if that makes any sense. Anyway, it was really good.
I got a bit thrown out of the story every time we got a random look into a character's head that wasn't Clary or Jace, such as Alec and Simon's few POVs.
Then again, Jace had only one POV part in the first book, and he had about a third this one - so maybe Clare's sets the ground for next book, in which Simon and Alec's POVs will have a larger part?

I both hated and loved the Ending.
On the one hand, I thought to myself WTH kind of place is that to close the book with? I think it would've been much better to have actually seen her wake up, or something.
On the other, I also felt it gave a sense of closure; the first book ended with Clary taking Jace to see Jocelyn, and this book ends with going to wake her up.

Regardless, I loved City of Ashes and will be starting to read City of Glass next week or so! Can't wait to see how the first trilogy will end :]

[thebookdisciple]

So good!

[sstaley]

Great second book in the series. I like the action, plot and characters. I like where this is heading and started book three as soon as I finished this one! Glad I am reading the series before the movie comes out next year. Always read the book first!!

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I absolutely loved City of Bones when I first read it about two years ago, so much so I was dying to read City of Ashes. However, due to my TBR pile, it took me a while to actually get to it. I picked it up towards the end of last year... yet was bored. I got 121 pages in, and decided to put it down. For whatever reason, it just wasn't doing it for me. However, after reading something about the series recently, I decided to pick it up again, and I really enjoyed it! I'm not sure what it was that stopped me from enjoying it the first time round, because I didn't have any problem this time. It must have just been the mood I was in. Saying that, although I really enjoyed it, I wasn't as blown away as I was by the first book.

It's strange because I don't really know what to say about City of Ashes. It was both action packed, yet also a book where not a lot happened. We're introduced to the Inquisitor, who is the Shadow Hunters judge for all intents and purposes. After finding out that Jace is actually Valentine's son, she is certain that Valentine sent Jace back to the Institute as a spy, and so refuses to trust Jace at all, believing every word that comes out of his mouth is a lie. She becomes a massive obstacle, locking Jace up, and stopping him from trying being able to... well, do his job, especially when Valentine is still after more power. It's because of this that it feels like nothing happens. At every turn, she's there, blocking everyone from doing anything. She does her job, because we're supposed to hate her, but I feel she just slows the story down. Our Shadow Hunters have to wait around to find a way to weasel out of the constraints - sometimes literally - they're put in. Granted, some of the things she does leads to finding out things that our characters wouldn't have known otherwise, but it just annoyed me.

Despite this, there are a number of great fight scenes and other exciting moments. There are demons and danger and some major changes for a number of characters. There are new characters, plans to thwart, and discoveries made. And growing tension between Jace and Clary. That had to be the best part of the story. Just because they've found out they're related doesn't stop them from being attracted to each other, and it causes a great amount of inner turmoil. And Simon! Poor ol' Simon! He is such a sweetie, but he does have a tough time of it in this book - even more so than in City of Bones.

There is excitement and humour, and an addictive plot. City of Ashes really is an awesome read, and I am so excited to continue with this series, and see where it goes!