City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, #5)

by Cassandra Clare

When Jace vanishes with Sebastian, Clary and the Shadowhunters struggle to piece together their shattered world and Clary infiltrates the group planning the world's destruction.

• ISBN10: 1442460644
• ISBN13: 9781442460645
• Publish Date: 1 May 2012
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

Frankly, I dont't think this was more of anything... it wasn't dirtier or sexier, it was just slightly different. And I would have less trouble with YA characters having sex than I have with YA characters using drugs *shrugs*

Merged review:

short and sweet, and completely shows Sebastian's creepyness!

Merged review:

This should have been a part of the book IMO, because it explains Magnus' later reaction perfeclty - he was already afraid as well...

[journalingirl]

Where can I find this?

Merged review:

Guessed it! And I'm glad it was cut, I cant see Alec letting Camille drink his blood.

[notajammiedodger]

I am going to do my best to write a proper review without spoilers and without just gushing about how much I love Cassandra Clare's books. She is just amazingly brilliant! Although I would not recommend reading this review if you have not read City of Fallen Angels, or you want to stay away from all things City of Lost Souls, as I will be mentioning a few thing about the characters.

City of Lost Souls picks up two weeks after the events at the end of City of Fallen Angels, Jace is missing and they have not been able to track them. I don't know how much else I can say without spoiling anything. Everybody does some dangerous stuff, and everything is super exciting.

I think one of the main reasons that I love Clare's book so much has to be her characters. They are just so amazing, every single character has so much depth and their own stories. Which I like because it's realistic, everyone has their own life stories. I love getting to know the characters stories, even small characters like Maia and Jordan and the Lightwoods parents, we get to know all of their stories and learn about them. Secondary characters are part of what really makes a story for me.

I really enjoyed the development of Simon and Izzy's relationship. It's kind of like just admit how you feel to each other! Why can you not see how the other feels about you! But they are just both so clueless, Simon because I mean he doesn't think anyone like Izzy would ever be interested in someone like him, she's beautiful, and he's just a nerdy guy. And Izzy doesn't know how to do anything about what she's feeling. She's just so used to dating guys and it doesn't mean anything. She is so cute and funny!

Sebastian kind of really interested me while reading this. It could just be me, but because I am so used to just thinking of him as this evil, demon I guess. I have forgotten that he is still a shadowhunter and he has all the same knowledge that Jace and the others do. He wasn't brought up in a cave. I know he is supposed to be totally evil and all but I just can't help but be fascinated with him. His lack of real feelings, and the confusion when he does feel anything. I am so looking forward to City of Heavenly Fire.

So, I know this wasn't the best review. I have trouble reviewing books that I really love, because I just want to gush and talk all spoilery about everything that happened. But I think I can definitely say that the ending to this series is not going to disappoint and I am actually really kind of looking forward to it, not in terms of the series ending, I don't want that to happen, but I just want to know what happens. After read City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls I don't know how I would ever have been satisfied with the series ending with City of Glass. It just seemed so unfinished. I think Clare will deliver a satisfying yet possibly horribly heart breakingly amazing ending to the series. I seriously look forward to anything written by Cassandra Clare in the future.

If you haven't read The Mortal Instruments series I would highly recommend going and getting the first book in the series City of Bones right now! I can't wait to see the cover of City of Heavenly Fire, who do you think will be on the cover? I was thinking Clary to go with the theme, because first was her and Simon, then her and Jace, I have been thinking maybe her and Sebastian. What do you think?

P.s. I really hope I didn't spoil anything in this review, but if you feel as though I did please let me know in the comments and I will edit or warn spoilers. Thanks!

This review is also on my blog The Confessions of a Book Nerd :)

[Chelsea]

We all know that Cassandra Clare should have stopped this series with the third book. She's now just milking it and writing terrible books. It's unfortunate but very true. I was not a big fan of this book.

First of all, I never had any idea what was going on with Jace. Is he good or bad or whatever? I could never tell. It was a bit silly to be honest. The author was trying to push his confusion on it. It worked because I was really confused. Nobody knows themselves that little. It was really unrealistic. Plus Clary and Jace basically became the same person. They're relationship is starting to get a little Twilight-y. That's not a good direction to go in. It got really, really cheesy. SImon and Isabelle also got really annoying. And I have no idea why Jordan and Maia are even in the book. They don't play any part, they're just there. And then there's Sebastian which is the worst name ever for a villain. He's also the worst villain ever in general.

The only reason this book is getting any stars is because the plot wasn't too bad. It could have been way better though. There were plenty of ways the author could have finished the series in this book but she really wants her money so she's dragging it out even longer. This series is starting to become a waste of time for me. I LOVED the first three books but now the series is getting boring and lame. All I can say is that she better kick it up for the next (and hopefully last) book.

[Stephanie]

I am only giving it a star because Simon is the only saving grace of this book. Most of the time I was EYEROLLING my face off (i.e. Maia and Jordan, pointless fluff for the sake of lengthening the story) And Jace's not-really-Jace-but-acts-exactly-the-same attitude was just another way to add 'romantic' scene between Jace and Clary. This book was difficult to get through, and some of the story lines that started to get interesting (Camille and Alec, and taking over the vampire clans, ahem) were completely abandoned for.. wait, more pointless scenes.

And some one please explain to me what happened to Clary as a character? Because everything established up to this point about Clary was tossed out the window in this book.

What did I just read? Is this even the same series?