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A review by notwellread
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
2.0
I was primed to expect a major step-up from the first instalment, but in that I found this instalment disappointing. However, I’m not intending to give up on this series just yet.
Plot-wise, it felt like there was relatively little movement. The story has more of a human interest emphasis to it (ironically, since few of the characters are strictly ‘human’), in which even the struggles between the main characters and the villain focus on family drama rather than actually vying for the eponymous ‘instruments’. Likewise, the more climactic moments are dominated by teenage angst and a love triangle of sorts, which admittedly have a sort of illicit pleasure to them, although I do find the incest themes rather disgusting. It’s apparent that, but that feels like a means for the author to indulge her fixation on this particular theme without committing to it wholeheartedly and rendering the book unmarketable to kids.
On the other hand, as in the first instalment, I found the worldbuilding more compelling than the story itself: my favourite part of this book by far was the introduction of the Seelie Court, where faeries (fairies) dance through the night and entertain guests, enticing unsuspecting passers-by who, if they join in the dance or eat or drink anything during their visit, will never be able to leave. Clary is cleverly tricked into ingesting a bit of fairy/faerie drink when a pixie bites her juice-stained finger and she sucks on it, and of course the penalty is an obligatory make-out session with her own brother. I also thoroughly enjoyed the references to Dante and to parts of the Bible (most memorably the story of Cain and his mysterious mark): I would like a little more insight into angels and the religious aspect of the world going forwards, since this is purportedly the world of our ‘shadowhunter’ (nephilim) protagonists.
In terms of characterisation, I still didn’t understand Clary’s dislike and envy of other young women. She’s obviously an attractive person herself (at least physically) and she has the attention of the young man she likes, so the sense of threat she feels from characters like Isabelle and Maya (a curvy, biracial werewolf who is introduced out-of-the-blue in this book without much clear relevance to the plot) doesn’t make much sense to me. There is at least a moment of self-criticism somewhere in the book where she thinks that she needs to stop feeling so antagonistically towards other women, which hints that we’ll see some development there. Apart from our protagonist, I liked the witticisms throughout this book, but because they all use them the characters rarely feel very distinct.
I sense from the ending that.
It seems Simon’s character also gets the best of both worlds (no pun intended) in the end, since.
The next instalment, [b:City of Glass|3777732|City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369452339l/3777732._SY75_.jpg|3443248], has a much better reputation than this one, so I still have hopes for a more meaningful progression of the plot — it was also originally the finale of what was supposed to be only a trilogy (before the author decided to extend the series and world seemingly indefinitely), so there must be some meaningful resolution. Nevertheless, my experiences with this instalment haven’t left me wanting to rush to the next book any time soon.
Plot-wise, it felt like there was relatively little movement. The story has more of a human interest emphasis to it (ironically, since few of the characters are strictly ‘human’), in which even the struggles between the main characters and the villain focus on family drama rather than actually vying for the eponymous ‘instruments’. Likewise, the more climactic moments are dominated by teenage angst and a love triangle of sorts, which admittedly have a sort of illicit pleasure to them, although I do find the incest themes rather disgusting. It’s apparent that
Spoiler
we’ll later discover that Jace and Clary are not actually relatedOn the other hand, as in the first instalment, I found the worldbuilding more compelling than the story itself: my favourite part of this book by far was the introduction of the Seelie Court, where faeries (fairies) dance through the night and entertain guests, enticing unsuspecting passers-by who, if they join in the dance or eat or drink anything during their visit, will never be able to leave. Clary is cleverly tricked into ingesting a bit of fairy/faerie drink when a pixie bites her juice-stained finger and she sucks on it, and of course the penalty is an obligatory make-out session with her own brother. I also thoroughly enjoyed the references to Dante and to parts of the Bible (most memorably the story of Cain and his mysterious mark): I would like a little more insight into angels and the religious aspect of the world going forwards, since this is purportedly the world of our ‘shadowhunter’ (nephilim) protagonists.
In terms of characterisation, I still didn’t understand Clary’s dislike and envy of other young women. She’s obviously an attractive person herself (at least physically) and she has the attention of the young man she likes, so the sense of threat she feels from characters like Isabelle and Maya (a curvy, biracial werewolf who is introduced out-of-the-blue in this book without much clear relevance to the plot) doesn’t make much sense to me. There is at least a moment of self-criticism somewhere in the book where she thinks that she needs to stop feeling so antagonistically towards other women, which hints that we’ll see some development there. Apart from our protagonist, I liked the witticisms throughout this book, but because they all use them the characters rarely feel very distinct.
I sense from the ending that
Spoiler
we’ll find out that the evil inquisitor woman was actually Jace’s mother or another relative, and that’s why she died for him at the last minute. However, if that’s the case, I’m not sure what happened to her son — it seemed from what she said about him that she must have known and loved him, but if Jace is her real son I’m not sure how she couldn’t have recognised him? Or, if the other boy was someone else’s son, whose he was, since I think Valentine’s son/Clary’s brother is more likely to be some third character who may either be dead or alive? I don’t think the boy the inquisitor thought was her child can also be Clary’s brother because she would know if she didn’t have that baby from his birth? Baby-swapping gets confusingIt seems Simon’s character also gets the best of both worlds (no pun intended) in the end, since
Spoiler
despite being inadvertently turned into a vampire earlier in this book, he manages to survive the glare of sunlight as the Sun rises on our heroes after their climactic battle. Presumably drinking Jace’s blood for strength after Jace volunteered himself means he’s somehow part shadowhunter or has a bit of shadowhunter angelic power that makes him impervious to sunlight now? I was hoping for more of a logistical challenge in including this character going forwards but it seems the author has sidestepped an aspect that could have made his character meaningfully different and isolated from the othersThe next instalment, [b:City of Glass|3777732|City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369452339l/3777732._SY75_.jpg|3443248], has a much better reputation than this one, so I still have hopes for a more meaningful progression of the plot — it was also originally the finale of what was supposed to be only a trilogy (before the author decided to extend the series and world seemingly indefinitely), so there must be some meaningful resolution. Nevertheless, my experiences with this instalment haven’t left me wanting to rush to the next book any time soon.