City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) in Pick-a-Shelf

Sep 22, 2009 Christina rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, incest, 2009-reads, werewolves

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. WHAT THE HELL DID THE INQUISITOR SAY TO JACE????

You cannot play chinese whisper on your deathbed and not have it brought up again. I spent the rest of the novel waiting for Jace to go OH BTW, WE'RE NOT RELATED, but it's as if The Inquisitor's final words meant nothing. And CLEARLY they meant something. Irritation. (Btw, I don't know if that's what she said. I'm just assuming.)

The ending was drawn out way too much. I found myself tuning out over the battle scenes. Unless you can write a really fa WHAT THE HELL DID THE INQUISITOR SAY TO JACE????

You cannot play chinese whisper on your deathbed and not have it brought up again. I spent the rest of the novel waiting for Jace to go OH BTW, WE'RE NOT RELATED, but it's as if The Inquisitor's final words meant nothing. And CLEARLY they meant something. Irritation. (Btw, I don't know if that's what she said. I'm just assuming.)

The ending was drawn out way too much. I found myself tuning out over the battle scenes. Unless you can write a really fantastic battle scene, don't draw yours out for 50 pages. I will tune out. I will fall asleep. And I will wake up and continue reading and have no bloody idea what's going on but not care because I just want it over with.

There was also the repetition of descriptions that just drove me nuts. How many times do I need to read about the smell of blood and sweat and COPPER? I am sick of the word copper.

Clare also needs to learn how to use her techniques wisely. The amount of times she drew out suspense drove me nuts - and not in a omfgicantstopreadingthisILOVETHISBOOK sort of way. I can recall at least five times revelatory moments/conversations were interrupted - and not CONTINUED - leaving the reader (or just me) in absolute frustration. Ie, the Inquisitor's death scene. I don't mind suspense being drawn out, but for the love of God, it gets to a point where I don't care what happens to the characters, just tell me what I want to KNOW.

Okay... now that I've gotten all of that off my chest. Rofl. Um... there was some fantastic dialogue in this book? I was in stitches over Jace and Simon's banter. Jace is just hilarious in general. I used to love Simon, but now he's died and been reborn so many times I'm just fed up with it. The final cliffhanger was interesting - I definitely want to read the third book for that.

Mainly, I'm still reading it because I'm waiting for Clare to go HA HA! FOOLED YOU! THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY RELATED! over Jace and Clary. The hints are there. It's very possible I'm imagining these hints though, and maybe J and C really are related, in which case I look forward to them making two headed babies in the future. ...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Tara rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 12, 2009 Yz the Whyz rated it really liked it

Shelves: cassandra-clare, 2012-challenge-books, 2012-reads

Hmmm....what can I say?

When I finished City of Bones, I felt that I enjoyed the experience but I was in no hurry to continue the series. Now that I've read the second book, I felt a slight urgency to continue. Obviously that is a good sign, that City of Ashes is an improvement over the 1st book.

I like the world Cassandra Clare had created. I enjoyed the conflict and even the villain. However, I'm sort of blah with the love triangle in the story. I really have no opinion about Clary, and Jace is ...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Tien rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

I really wanted to love this series and yet, even after reading the second book, I'm still undecided. After finishing the first book, I wasn't sure if I was going to pick up the second book because I just wasn't curious enough and was happy enough to leave off where it was. Being slightly OCD means I just had to round up the series.

It was slightly confusing to begin with because I read the first book a few months ago and I'm kinda fuzzy on some of the details to begin with. However, it was pret ...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Sabrina rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2011, series, paranormal

City of Ashes is the second installment in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series. We continue to follow the story of Clarissa (Clary), Jace, and the Shadowhunters as they battle demons. Alongside the Shadowhunters are the Downworlders, those creatures/humans who are part demon, including vampires, werewolves, and faerie folk, who have a tenuous relationship among themselves and with the Shadowhunters.

****************SPOILER FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE FIRST BOOK*************
Clary an City of Ashes is the second installment in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series. We continue to follow the story of Clarissa (Clary), Jace, and the Shadowhunters as they battle demons. Alongside the Shadowhunters are the Downworlders, those creatures/humans who are part demon, including vampires, werewolves, and faerie folk, who have a tenuous relationship among themselves and with the Shadowhunters.

****************SPOILER FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE FIRST BOOK*************
Clary and Jace not only find themselves fighting demons, but Clary must now deal with the fact that she too is a Shadowhunter, born into the world of the Nephilim through her mother and her father. Clary is trying to find a way to bring her mother out of a magically induced comma while she also struggles with the idea that not only are she and Jace brother and sister but they are the offspring of Valentine, a rogue Shadowhunter and founder of the Circle. Valentine is taking the charge of the Nephilim or Shadowhunters to an extreme. He is determined to not only rid the world of demons but of every Downworlder, even if it means going against the Clave (the governing body of the Shadowhunters) and destorying Shadowhunters in the process.
****************END OF SPOILER*****************

As with the first book in the series, the writing in City of Ashes is sharp. Clare has a way with infusing wicked humor into her story even in moments of high tension. She does this is a way that doesn't seem forced and works very well with her characters' personalities. Her characters are interesting, dynamic and well-crafted. Unlike the first book in the series, this one had far fewer places where the plot was thin. In fact, there was only one place where Clare foreshadowed a bit too strongly an event that was to come later in the text.

I found myself hooked from page one, and I nearly finished the book in one sitting. I was so absorbed in the world Clare has created that I didn't realize until I looked up at one point and glanced at the clock that is was far, far past my bedtime, and as much as I wanted to read on, I thought that, perhaps, sleep was a good idea. So, instead of a one sitting read, I finished the book as soon as I got up. And I find myself wanting to go pick up the next book in the series, but I have a few others on my list that I need to tackle first. ...more

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