City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare

Hey all! 

I just finished reading City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare! 

Make sure to follow this re-read with #JustAnotherShadowMarathon on Instagram, and each of my Cassie Clare book reviews here! :) 

What I love about this series is you can really follow Cassandra Clare's writing evolution - it gets better and better with each book opened, with each paged turned. It's really incredible. 

Or she's just great at writing third books? 

"To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

SPOILERS! If you haven't read the series, there's no way to not be spoiled for the following, I'm sorry! Goodbye non-spoilery people, have a great day! 

This book brings the Shadowhunter universe to the next level. We finally see this magical land of Idris and Alicante. We get some insight on Shadowhunter politics and everyday life, and we can see how extensive this whole system is - it's not just New York!

So much happens in this book! Epic battle scenes and revelations and major character deaths, everything to keeps a reader reading! And more about side characters, finally! 

I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives this book is written in - Clare is great at being able to have several storylines happening parallel to each other to create one large story. It makes the book hard to put down, and things are rarely ever at rest. 

OH and Sebastian. One of the best villains ever! 

In City of Glass, we still get a lot of the weird/gross Clary and Jace relationship they're trying to have while thinking they are siblings. THANK FREAKING GOODNESS they're not brother and sister! I mean there are so many hints that they aren't related, but it doesn't really make it any less strange, to be honest. 

I love how you start this book with a fight scene between the Shadowhunters and a group of Forsaken. To save his life, they drag Simon to Idris, a place where vampires and downworlders are technically illegal. 

Poor Simon in this book! Where City of Ashes was all like "Everyone hates Jace", this book is against Simon. He keeps being put in situations where he has no control and is helpless. However, at the end, where Clary gives him the Mark of Cain, I thought it was amazing! I can't wait to see how that plays out in the next books! Basically, no one can hurt him now, which will probably play a huge role in the upcoming books. 

In this book, we also meet Inquisitor Aldertree, who is plain awful. He seems nice and honest but can trick anyone into every situation with just a few well-chosen words. 

So Simon is in jail and has a cell neighbor who he talks to about practically everything. It turns out that his neighbor is Hodge. As soon as Simon and Hodge escape, there is what is, in my opinion, the best fight scene in the book, between our group of shadowhunting friends and Sebastian. Sebastian is an amazing fighter. He hurts almost everyone and kills Hodge, single-handedly. 

SEBASTIAN - It turns out that he's Clary's brother, which is so much more credible. Where Clary was injected with Angel blood, Sebastian was affected by demon blood. He is dark and dangerous and tbh kind of amazing. He acts all sweet and innocent at first, pretending to be Aline's cousin from Paris, but soon shows his true colors to everyone. But the devil KILLED MAX which just hurt to read! 

Did anyone else who re-read this after reading The Infernal Devices kind of get a mini heart attack when Clary described her fairytale prince as "a king's son who was under a curse that meant that everyone he loved would die." Clary is somehow dreaming of Will. When I read that I sat there kind of fangirling xD 

Here's a list of some of my favorite parts:

- When Jace and Clary found the angel Ithuriel in the basement

- When Alec and Magnus finally get together, finally there was no more tension! 

- When Simon walked up to the other vampires like 'heh can't hurt me'

- The fights in Alicante

- When Sebastian starts admitting that he's the bad guy

- The end, where Valentine summons the angel and is destroyed because of his wrong intentions, and he kills Jace, who is eventually brought back to life. 

I have to get going, but I'm giving this book a 4.5/5 feathers! This book was a lot more emotionally intense than the first few, and a fun, dynamic read! 

Have you read City of Glass? What did you think of it? Let me know! 

Stay bookish,