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Book Reviews of City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5)

City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5)
City of Lost Souls - Mortal Instruments, Bk 5
Author: Cassandra Clare
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ISBN-13: 9781442416864
ISBN-10: 1442416866
Publication Date: 5/8/2012
Pages: 544
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 74

4.1 stars, based on 74 ratings
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

8 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

bratz54 avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 1024 more book reviews
Continues off where City of Fallen Angels leaves off.
Clary does want she can to find Jace or his whereabouts, when one night after seeing Jace and Sabation in the library of the Institute, Jace comes to here to take her with him where hes been at. At a price that Clary has to pay with her current life. Alex and Mangus hare having problems in their love life, Izzy and Simon are afraid to come forward and tell each other their true feelings. Jordan and Maia are together and comment their love for each other. Everything is coming together and towards the end this is a fight between the Good Shadowhunters and the new and evil army of Shadowhunters that Sabation and Lilith create. I cant wait to read the last book to see where is all comes together. And see how the Clockwork series is involved.

( Sorry for my bad spelling don't help when my book is in a bookcase away form my computer.)
2lilmonkees avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 74 more book reviews
Ugh I'm so upset with this series. The 1st 3 were Amazing!! The next 2 have been horrible, slow, uneventful. Just so so boring. It was very hard to make myself finish this book and only did for a reading challenge. I will not continue this series and just wish it had ended after the 3. So so not happy with the add ons. :( love clary and jace, but it's just not the same in the latest 2. Bummed.
reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 15 more book reviews
I love Sebastian, what can I say? He's evil and manipulative but deep down all he wants is not to be lonely. So he decides to bond Jace to him causing him to be evil as well. As if he isn't a big enough jerk at times right? Anyway, so Clary being her wanna be bad ass self decides to run off with the duo alone while telepathically updating Simon via some pretty cool magic rings. I need to get myself a pair of those, for real! It's a great story, it keeps you interested, and it had a great ending. Everything you could ever come to expect from another great Cassandra Clare novel.

This book was by far my favorite. That tends to happen a lot with me. The further I get into a series, the more I like each book after the previous one. Maybe it's because Clare's writing just keeps getting better. Or maybe it's because I finally know what happens with the cliffhanger she always leaves us. That's what I love about Clare. She always leaves us wondering what's going to happen next. In return, we simply MUST read the next book. I'm very sad that the next will be the last, but I'm looking forward to a ton of movies in the future! So even though the series may be coming to an end, the Mortal Instruments takeover has only just begun. Move over Twilight, there's a new obsession in the making!
reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 363 more book reviews
Good read
jade19721 avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 115 more book reviews
After reading this I think the title should be changed to City of Horny Teenagers.

"Hey honey, a demon war is upon us. What do you say we go make out."

I'm thinking a little less of the "hey I wanna go rip your clothes off and do you" and more of the " Let's kick some demon ass and put an end to this" probably would have been a lot better. Now don't get me wrong, I do like a bit of some romance going on in my books, but honestly when it takes over the main story it makes me want to toss my breakfast. I really do hope Jace and Clary finally get it on in the last book and I hope they do it in the beginning because I really do not want to have to go through another 500 pages of the "Yes I want to, but I want to make sure Jace is Jace". In fact I hope everyone gets a little in the first part of the book so we can get on with the rest of the story. I want to see a little more demon ass kicking going on.

Now that I got my gripe out of the way, I believe I can carry on with the rest of the review. In my reviews of the previous books I complained about the writing and how immature it seemed. I do have to say that it has been improving steadily since book 3. I'm a bit more happier that I don't feel like I'm reading a short story created by a 12 year old. The problems that the characters are getting into or out of seem a bit more mature than the beginning. I'm quite happy to see the clan growing up (sniff..sniff). Clary still is a bit reckless, but I can understand that a bit more considering she was raised by Jocelyn. It's always better to tell your kids the truth instead of hiding it from them.

I can't wait to see how the last book will play out
daylily77 avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 236 more book reviews
A little slower than the other books. Still love the storyline though. Will continue on.
virago avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 267 more book reviews
A Very Low 3 Stars. If it wasn't for Simon in all his awesomeness it wouldn't have even gotten 2 stars.

Lots of rambling and possible spoilers ahead:

*ugh* Where do I even start?! This wasn't as terrible as a lot of people say it is...once you sift through the ridiculous amount of Clary whining over Jace. Can I just say that Jace under Sebastathan's control was much more likable than normal Jace?! CC really wrote him as an unlikable character. And it's funny because his love for himself and confidence could be compared with Magnus', but where Magnus is sassy and hilarious, Jace is conceited to the point where he seems like he's truly in love with himself, and it's just U.G.L.Y. (He ain't got no alibi!)

And is it wrong that I LOVE Sebastathan? Where I hated Valentine because he was just a crazy zealot, I love Sebastathan because he's just pure evil. Valentine mistook his crazy self righteousness for pure intentions. Sebastathan knows he's evil and is surprisingly okay with it. Although deep down I think he does wish he was capable of love and being loved--specifically by Jace and Clary. That just may be his downfall. Or maybe not. More than likely Jace and new his heavenly fire along with Clary's blind, dumb luck will be the end for Sebastathan.

And once again Clary races off into danger to save Jace without regard to herself or anyone else. Simon, Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus all risked their lives by summoning a greater demon and an actual angel of the lord, but at least they went in with a plan and they all worked together. Clary sees Jace in trouble and just goes running blindly into the unknown leaving everyone else to (potentially) pick up the pieces if her non-plan is an epic fail. Which it usually is. I get love, love so deep and passionate that you would potentially let the world burn to save your beloved, but that's only in thought not in deed. Once she stopped and thought about what was happening, she realized what a ginormously huge mistake she made by not letting Jace sacrifice himself. Jace knew what the cost of saving himself would be, and he didn't want to pay it. Now Sebastathan is on the loose with an Infernal Cup and revenge on his mind. He will very likely make a huge shadowhunter-hunter army. There will be a huge war and lots of people who didn't have to die, will in fact die. I'll say it again, Clary is selfish and thoughtless. It would have probably broken her to lose Jace, but the world would have kept on turning, Magnus is proof of it. I just feel like her selfishness is constantly rewarded. The amount of angst this couple exudes is just too much. I know it's teenage love, but DAMN!

Isabelle needs to get over herself and tell Simon how she feels. She's the first one to think men should be tripping over themselves for her--that no one is worthy of her greatness, so why would anyone feel like they could truly have her? Why would they express their undying love if they know they're unworthy of her? That they'll just be shot down? She's another one with just a little too much conceit for my taste. I love a strong, confident, badass woman, but there's a thin line between self assurance and narcissism.

And poor, sad, clueless Alec. I feel so, so bad for him. He's never done a relationship--even his familial relationships seem to be seriously lacking in the relationship department. Magnus was one hundred percent right to break-up with him--I sure as hell would have--but I still feel bad for Alec. He doesn't know what to do with these feels he's having, and quite frankly there isn't any one to talk to about them. His parents are useless, his sister is too self involved, Jace and Clary can't see past one another, and he has no other true friends--he'd ever go to Simon. He was scared, and jealous, and confused, but it didn't make what he did right, even if he did realize what a dumb ass he was and decided to do the right thing in the end. It was so wrong to try to make such an enormous decision for Magnus. He should have spoken to Magnus about it; if he had been honest, he would have learned that Magnus was already considering it, and that would have probably been enough to ease his fears. But he didn't talk to the man he supposedly loved and ended up losing him. Poora, poora, pussy cat. (Anyone who gets that reference has my respect as a lover of old school!)

And poor Magnus! How must he feel being betrayed by someone he loves so deeply. He never wanted to, or thought he could be in love with a shadowhunter, but he made an exception for Alec--not that he could have stopped himself from loving him, but he could have stayed away from him. Magnus risked a lot getting involved with a young, inexperienced, closeted, shadowhunter. He risked his heart, his life, and quite frankly his sanity to be with Alec and he was repaid with treachery. And what's worse, he was actually considering giving up his immortality so that he could grow old with Alec. That's like the ultimate slap in the face!

Now with all that being said, Alec didn't mean any harm, and he really had come to his senses before he did anything irreparably stupid. I truly hope Magnus doesn't take too long to realize this and they get back together. But I'm sure the road to a Malec reunion will be long and full of *shudder* angst. I never knew there could be too much teenage angst in an YA series and yet we have this series. I'm committed now; five books deep, there's no turning back. There had just better be an epic reunion of Alec and Magnus in the next book...and less Clace wangst!
danielleraybuck avatar reviewed City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments, Bk 5) on + 76 more book reviews
another meh one, I'm going to stop reading the series.