The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Erm. Well honestly, this one was a bit of a disappointment.

I mean, yes, there were high stakes and awesome supporting characters and most of the things that define Cassie Clare's writing.

But Cassie let the convoluted romances take over a little bit, and I didn't like that. The thing is, CoFA was originally meant to be a Simon-centric graphic novel about what happens after CoG. I could see that a lot in CoFA. Simon was basically stuck in a love triangle between Maia and Izzy (although the girl he needs to be with was really obvious to me... SIMABELLE, ANYONE? Or Isamon, I suppose... XP). He gained much more significance as a character in the plot due to his new status as a Daylighter and a Wanderer (meaning he possesses the Mark of Cain). Suddenly (perhaps a little too suddenly), everyone wanted him on their side.

Then, of course, there was CLACE. And when Jace isn't himself, that drives me just a little bit crazy. Just a little bit.

Okay, a lot crazy.

And Maia and Jordan was cute but a little unnecessary. I just don't get the point of Maia being in the story at all, you know?

URG. I'm doing it again, being too critical when I honestly would totally fail and writing something like this.

(BTW, when I join Figment sometime this summer, I'll be debuting my new novel and possibly a rewrite of The Universe Quilt.)

Lilith was an interesting villain, but it kind of felt like Cassie was spending a little too much time prepping for the actual villain, who is obviously Sebastian. I'm really interested to see how Jace and Sebastian will play out their peculiar little bond thingy.

So I know this review is pretty fuzzy and un-detailed because that's what book reviewers do when they get lazy (or maybe it's just me). The City of Bones movie release date has changed to AUGUST 21.

SHADOWHUNTERS. JUST... MY LIFE.

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?

This was definitely better. I loved the ending.

However, it seems like Cassie is losing steam a bit (no, that was NOT a steampunk reference or anything). The first trilogy (Bones, Ashes, Glass) was so completely amazing that this second one seems like a bit of a letdown. Honestly, it may have been better if she just stopped at Glass. Although that doesn't mean I'm not going to read City of Heavenly Fire (coming March 2014).

Here's the summary for that, by the way:

ERCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance?

No cover yet, though apparently it'll be revealed "when you least expect it".

Other than the REALLY, REALLY AWK-SAUCE SHOWER SEX SCENE the relationships were okay. Still don't know why Maia and Jordan really exist. Simon and Izzy are awesome. JACE IS STILL NOT HIMSELF. CLACE. SERIOUSLY GUYS. NOOOOO.

So I'm willing to be very generous when it comes to Shadowhunter books, right? But the second trilogy... I don't know... it seems like Cassie should probably stop now. I'd like to see what she can do in other worlds.

That said, I'll still read any new Shadowhunter books that come out. ;)

Oh yes, TDA (Dark Artifices)'s first book is Lady Midnight. The series stars Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn, and Cristina Rosales. (Julian apparently appears in CoHF and he also appears briefly in CoLS.)

Summary for that:

Los Angeles, 2012. It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of oblivion and Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs lost her parents. After the blood and violence she witnessed as a child, Emma has dedicated her life to the eradication of demons and being the best, fastest and deadliest Shadowhunter since Jace Lightwood. Raised in the Los Angeles Institute, Emma is paired as a parabatai with her best friend, Julian. As Emma hunts those who caused the death of her parents, the trail they’re following leads back to those they’ve always been taught to trust. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with Julian — her closest friend and, because he is her parabatai, the one person in the world she’s absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against the glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

No cover either. March 2015 for this. Heh. Hopefully Emma Carstairs is a nice heroine. The love triangle is apparently between *gasp* two girls and a guy this time. *shrugs*

So yeah. I guess you won't be seeing much Shadowhunter stuff here for a while >.<

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Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

By now, everyone is aware of my OBSESSION with all things SHADOWHUNTER. (It is becoming super, super hard to say whether I like TID or TMI more, but I'm leaning towards TID for some reason even though I hate Tessa. Possibly because of Will and Jem and Charlotte and Jessamine and Henry. Although I do love Jace and Simon and Isabelle and Alec. And I love Magnus from both, obviously.)

The thing about Cassie's writing is her CHARACTERS. OMIGOODNESS. Especially her SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. It's not so much her heroines - somehow the characters around them seem so much more complex. Like Will and Jem are so much more layered than Tessa is. And Jace is so much more complicated than Clary. Sometimes it even gets to the point where it seems like the MCs are simply vessels through which Cassie can communicate her awesome supporting characters. I mean, I'm fine with that, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Shadowhunters, but I don't know. Hopefully The Dark Artifices will have a good heroine. Emma Carstairs sounds pretty kick-butt. :)

Anyhow, City of Ashes was reeeallly good. Unfortunately, the whole time JACE IS CLARY'S BROTHER AND THAT IS SOOOO NOT COOL >:( also, it makes everything awkward between Simon and Clary when I'm screaming SIMON AND IZZY NEED TO GET TOGETHER, OBVIOUSLY. 

And it seems like Cassie is one of those incredibly gifted people who can keep a story going, awesomely and with a fast pace, using third-person past tense. I, for one, seem to be completely incapable of doing this (The Universe Quilt COUGH COUGH COUGH). So of course she deserves a huge pat on the back for that. (Actually, a huge pat on the back would amount to more of a slap, so maybe not.)

Well. (AGAIN I WILL BUG EVERYONE ABOUT THE CITY OF BONES MOVIE. AUGUST THE TWENTY-THIRD, GUYS. GAH.)

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?

This book - this book - this book - IT IS THE BEST TMI BOOK SO FAR. :'D

The stakes become epic and the final battle in Alicante is like BOOM BOOM BOOM AND I WAS JUST SITTING THERE LIKE OH MY OH MY OH MY OH MY OH MY GOOSSSSHH. Every twenty minutes or so I had to kind of pause and take a few deep breaths. Not because of the book, but because I was drowning in the general awesomeness.

Like I said above, the supporting characters that Cassie creates are just GENIUS. And they really come into their own here in City of Glass - especially Jace. His personality and the sort of self-destructive internal journey that he takes is just heartbreaking. The conflict between what he THINKS is his demonic nature (and therefore his "father", Valentine) and what he wants to be, particularly with Clary, is something that I really loved. Like, masterful. ("Masterful" is always an adjective I've wanted to have someone describe my work with. Unfortunately, as of now that occurrence is highly unlikely. *sigh*)

The only thing that confused me was that Alec had never killed a demon before Glass, right? So why was no one making a big deal about the fact that he killed like a thousand demons out in the battle? This bothered me probably more than it should have XD

The conclusive scene, the whole climax - it was amazing. I MEAN RAZIEL JUST LIKE EXPLODED OUT OF LAKE LYN AND TOTALLY PWNED VALENTINE AND AGGGGGGHHHHHH AND THEN JACE AND CLARY AND GAH. I think at that point I was this close *opens fingers just over a millimeter away from each other* to fainting. The only thing, though, about this scene was the indirectness of it all. I mean, when it came down to it, the only person who defeated Valentine was Valentine himself. (I mean you could say the Angel Raziel did it, but Valentine summoned the Angel, so...) So maybe Clary did do that underhanded little rune thing with the ritual. But that was in a moment of weakness and desperation. And I did get that she wanted Jace alive and so she used her wish on him (I MEAN WHO DOESN'T WANT JACE ALIVE? JACE IS LIKE... JACE JACE JACE *swoons*). But that might just set City of Fallen Angels up for a whole bunch of "I love you" gushiness. And that would not look good with Jace, because Jace isn't a gushy person.

Anyhow, I'm being too critical. City of Glass really was breathtaking, and amazing and awesome and *trails away into incoherent fangirl babble*...

So I'm going to go read Fallen Angels now, okay everyone? :)

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When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

CASSIE CLARE STRIKES AGAIN.

JACE JACE JACE JACE JACE JACE *FLAILS ARMS WILDLY* 

Now I can't decide whether I like Jace or Will more. *huffs*

I IS OBSESSED AGAIN.

I LIKE CLARY MORE THAN TESSA, THOUGH.

MUST GO READ CITY OF ASHES NOW.

READREADREADREADREADREAD.

THE COVER IS AWKWARD. PAY IT NO MIND.

SO PSYCHED FOR THE MOVIE.

AHAHAHAHA *yay*

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