CATCHALL
Oh, man, this book was bad.
It was so bad, in fact, that by the time I finished I was breaking out in hysterical laughter. Apparently it was was more hysterical than usual, too, because my boyfriend actually shot me a concerned look and asked me if perhaps I thought a visit to a doctor was in order.
My boyfriend hates doctors.
Look, I hate to say it about this book, but it' true. I didn't hate City of Fallen Angels as much as so many people did, but City of Lost Souls is an entirely different story.
It was awful.
THE HEROINE
CLARY
I wasn't really sure how I felt about Clary in this one. She was a bit too reckless and often jumped into things before thinking the better of it. That was really disappointing, as in the last book it seemed like she matured and I feel like she regressed a little in this one. She didn't really think, and while I can kind of understand that, her constantly placing herself in danger really got old really quickly. I found myself wishing she would think through her actions more throughly for once and stop making so many a sty decisions.
THE LOVE INTEREST
JACE
We don't actually see a whole lot of normal-Jace in this one, which is really a shame, because he probably could have made the book so much better. Unfortunately, he was possessed (nothing you didn't know) throughout most of the book. Even though he's not possessed in the traditional form, he might as well be. He didn't have free will or the chance to act the way he normally would have and became boring and annoying until the end of the book.
THE OTHER SECONDARY CHARACTERS
MAGNUS
Yay for my favorite character! He's amazing as always in this book, and his level of dedication is astonishing. I love him so much and love the way he's confident and knows exactly who he is. He's not afraid to take risks, but he also knows when to step back. He will never be anything but amazing, and if I don't stop this now I will spend the remainder of this review gushing about him, so I'm gonna shut up now.
SIMON
I'm still a bit unsure how to feel about Simon. He's changed drastically from the first book and in some ways is almost unfamiliar. But in other ways, he's still the same fiercely loyal person. I do love him, and I think that we'll see more of him later. I like getting his POV.
ISABELLE
I like Isabelle more in this book than I think I did in any of the other books put together. She shows more vulnerability in this book than she's shown in the past, which was especially nice to see. No one is perfect, and finally we see a bit of her softer side. So that was a plus.
ALEC
What I want to know is what happened to the hot and mature Alec from the first three books. Like, seriously? Why did he turn into such a whiny and immature loser? I can hardly get through two pages without wanting to slap him for being such an idiot. I miss him and want him to come back.
MAIA
I like Maia. I think she's sweet, but I also enjoyed seeing how she matured in this book. She really comes into her own and mature and makes some difficult choices. She really sheds that layer of innocence in this one.
JORDAN
I have always liked Jordan, possibly because i like his name and I am that shallow. ;) But in all honesty, I do like him. I like how he continually tries to make up for his mistakes, instead of ignoring them. Instead of erasing the past, he wants to fix it. That shows great insight and also maturity, which is really admirable and very nice to see.
SEBASTIAN
So, I actually have more interest in Sebastian than, say, Clary at the moment. He actually is rather interesting. I honestly would enjoy hearing more about him and seriously wish we got something more from his POV. I know he's evil, but he's also interesting, and that's more than I can say for Clary at the moment. I would like to see how he ends up. He's a definitely layered character.
THE PLOT
For about 300 pages or so, the plot of this book wasn't great, but it was tolerable. And entertaining, and so therefore fairly good.
Note that this book is longer than 300 pages.
It could have gotten better, I suppose, but it didn't. It's total shame, because I'd had really high hopes for whatever reason.
But as I approached the 400s especially, the hysterical aforementioned laughter began to bubble in my throat. And by the time I was finished, it was a full-on laughing fit because everything was so freaking ridiculous.
At first, it was pretty believable and sane, but it started to approach such ridiculous things that the first half of the book was completely wasted and felt absolutely pointless.
I thought it was so bagful it was actually funny.
So, I really didn't overall care for the plot too much. It was honestly a waste and I thought it was mostly unnecessary. i wish it had held more interest for me, but it didn't.
THE ROMANCE
There is some Clary-Jace romance in this book, but not very much, because he's all under-the-influence and all, so he's not himself. There were, however, what were definitely some sweet and swoon-worthy moments. Clary is almost pathetic but I actually excuse that. What I did enjoy in this book was seeing the development of the secondary romances, like Isabelle and Simon and Maia and Jordan. They were very sweet and also very different, but they were both beautiful in their own ways. What I did not like in this book was Alec and Magnus. Since Alec has become annoying and immature, Magnus should just go find someone more deserving to be with anyway.
THE WRITING
One thing I cannot deny is that Cassandra's writing is absolutely beautiful. It always has been, and most likely always will be. It's lush, gorgeous, and descriptive. The imagery it evokes is pristine and flawless and her talent is worthy of envy. The main problem I had was that since the first book, she's adopted more and more flip-flopping POVs. At first I really liked this, but now it's getting tiring and old and difficult to keep track of.
THE ENDING
Honestly, I'm not gonna lie: I found this pretty ridiculous too. It was laughably bad and felt like desperate attempt for another book when it could have really been easily ended. It was dumb in my opinion and I really didn't like it or find it to be a good ending at all. I was extremely disappointed as endings can make of break a book. This book is broken.
WRAPUP
This book did not impress me at all. I will be reading City of Heavenly Fire, if only because I do feel that I need to know how everything ends and how she'll manage to make it into an entirely new book. And of course I'll be reading Clockwork Princess, as I've been enjoyed The Infernal Devices much more than The Mortal Instruments. I'm currently undecided about reading Lady Midnight and The Dark Artifices series, but we'll see. it's looking like a no-go unless COHF is better than I expect (among other things, because I do not have high expectations).
FINE.