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A review by cloudbooks
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Man this book. It's clear that Clare is getting the hang of writing convincing stories now. Her books seem to follow the same build up and climax and it makes it rather predictable. Still, I don't feel bored out of my mind reading them as much anymore. Maybe that's a sign they're getting better?
I'm still incredibly bothered there's 6 books and not 3. I still don't see the point of starting another trilogy and just smash them together into a series. Sebastian as a character is twisted as ever and I honestly enjoyed him. But I don't see why that qualified him to be the antagonist of 3 books. Surely we've had enough? Also the incest. The incest is such a hard no. I thought we were over that? But no, no. The actual incest was just introduced. It seems like Clare just couldn't drop the topic and decided we needed more fuel for our nightmares.
Story-wise, I hated how the book ended. The way she wraps up the subplots in the epilogue because suddenly the main plot took all the main focus? Not a fan. You don't lead me down the subplot lines only to drop them for 150 pages and pick them up once the main story is over. It was like she just needed fodder for more pages. What was the point of introducing Camille and just... not even give us a satisfying end to her story?
The Jordan/Maia pairing is so pointless now. Jordan was really only introduced to give Maia a love interest and their whole story revolves around them making out. It's all they do. Their whole purpose in the book is just to make out. And that's on top of all Jace/Clary make out sessions which we get plenty of.
Clary remains impossible to love. She's so blindly loyal to Jace, she should probably see a therapist. She goes about getting herself in trouble, making life hell for everyone else, and when she comes back she doesn't really care that she brought herself and everyone else in danger. Maybe just... let the adults handle it, kids? Maybe just actually remain seated and maybe, just maybe, we'll have a more interesting book.
I liked Magnus character in this though. He stays true to himself even when he has to take impossible decisions. He's seemingly the only mature character in this whole series.
I probably won't read this series again. I'm glad I'm getting through it but only so I can warn others to stay away.
I'm still incredibly bothered there's 6 books and not 3. I still don't see the point of starting another trilogy and just smash them together into a series. Sebastian as a character is twisted as ever and I honestly enjoyed him. But I don't see why that qualified him to be the antagonist of 3 books. Surely we've had enough? Also the incest. The incest is such a hard no. I thought we were over that? But no, no. The actual incest was just introduced. It seems like Clare just couldn't drop the topic and decided we needed more fuel for our nightmares.
Story-wise, I hated how the book ended. The way she wraps up the subplots in the epilogue because suddenly the main plot took all the main focus? Not a fan. You don't lead me down the subplot lines only to drop them for 150 pages and pick them up once the main story is over. It was like she just needed fodder for more pages. What was the point of introducing Camille and just... not even give us a satisfying end to her story?
The Jordan/Maia pairing is so pointless now. Jordan was really only introduced to give Maia a love interest and their whole story revolves around them making out. It's all they do. Their whole purpose in the book is just to make out. And that's on top of all Jace/Clary make out sessions which we get plenty of.
Clary remains impossible to love. She's so blindly loyal to Jace, she should probably see a therapist. She goes about getting herself in trouble, making life hell for everyone else, and when she comes back she doesn't really care that she brought herself and everyone else in danger. Maybe just... let the adults handle it, kids? Maybe just actually remain seated and maybe, just maybe, we'll have a more interesting book.
I liked Magnus character in this though. He stays true to himself even when he has to take impossible decisions. He's seemingly the only mature character in this whole series.
I probably won't read this series again. I'm glad I'm getting through it but only so I can warn others to stay away.