City Of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #3)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: McElderry Books
Published: May 8, 2012
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Source: Amazon

What price is too high to pay, even for love?

When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other.

As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

'City of Lost Souls' made me happy. After the previous book, my expectations weren't too high, but I feel like I would have loved this book regardless. And I do, love this book. Signature to other Cassandra Clare works, it's filled with everything you could possibly want from a book. A brilliant story, awesome characters, and easy to read yet not too simple language, to name a few. Humor too! You wouldn't necessarily expect a book, or even a series like this to make you laugh, but I can honestly say that there were times where I cracked up whilst reading. It was fantastic!

Try as I might to fault this book, I just couldn't! Equally as difficult was picking my favourite aspect of it. It was that good! One of the few things I felt I enjoyed the most, however, was the story. The storyline for this series is, in ways generic, but in others, so utterly unique! This book in particular, I thought, was even more so! I thought the story was really well written, with all the sub-plots and everything! I loved how the story seemed to knit itself together, and in a seemingly effortless way too!
After ending on a high, with the previous book, 'City of Fallen Angels', I expected a slow beginning, but it wasn't slow at all, and man was I grateful for that! It didn't take forever for the characters to find out where Jace was, like I expected, and when they did, a new, very interesting plot was set in place. All the various different sub-plots were separate and connected at the same time, and how the story flowed from one to the next was smooth and awesome to read! If you're familiar with Clare's work, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Another thing that really stood out to me, was how much our characters developed in this book. There are what, eight or nine different main characters in this series, and to have developed them all, even in the slightest? I truly applaud you Cassandra Clare! I became so heavily invested in each one, including Jordan, the most recent addition, I believe. I empathised with every single one of them, shared in their excitement when they were excited, and in their sadness when they were sad. To have done that really needed planned developments and creativity!

I thought it was brilliant how this book doesn't focus just on Clary, and I know during 'City of Bones' and 'City of Ashes' I thought the books would be better from just her point of view, but now I'm really starting to appreciate the way in which these books are written. You get to really see what's happening with all of the characters, see the many characters you love change and develop, and not just one. I went from being bored by Jace, to really liking him as a character! That's saying something!

Nearing the end of the book, as I, almost literally, was tearing through the pages, did I realise another thing. Cassandra Clare has a knack for writing endings! Though the epilogue seemed painfully long before starting it, I flew through it and ended up craving more. It was the perfect mix of bringing the story together, and at the same time, setting up the plot for the next book. When Maryse showed Brother Enoch the gift from Sebastian, I got so hyped up to read on!

In all, this book was fantastic, and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book to be released in May!

I really want to hear what you guys thought of the book!
Thanks for reading guys!