Review: City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Lost Souls

Series: The Mortal Instruments #5

Previous books in this series: City of Bones (#1) | City of Ashes (#2) | City of Glass (#3) | City of Fallen Angels (#4)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: May 2012

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

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?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

My rating: ★★★★★

But there was something about the coldness at the back of this Jace’s eyes that shook her, something far off and unreachable that made it harder than ever to push away the question always at the back of her mind: Is any of the real Jace still in there? Is there anything left to save?

Soo, Jace is gone and is being influenced by Sebastian and I am not okay 😭

Seeing Jace act all buddy-buddy with Sebastian hurt my soul so much! I missed Jace! 😭 And then seeing Jace be himself, but not really? Doubly hurt. Every time he says something quippy, he sounds like Jace and it makes me laugh. But then I remember that he's tied to Sebastian and he's not really himself and I just 😩 Stop making me laugh when I want to cry.

“Clary?” Jace tilted his head to the side, studying her face. “You do—you still love me, don't you?”
“I love Jace Lightwood,” she said. “I don’t know who you are.”

At one point in the book, Clary actually infiltrates the boys while using the faerie ring to communicate with Simon. It was a pretty smart idea—that way she can keep an eye on Jace, but I don’t know. Not much happened during this part. I kind of felt like this section almost dragged a bit. Nothing was really happening. Team Good (Simon, Isabelle, Magnus, and Alec) nor Team Evil (Clary, cause she’s with the boys) had any leads... Team Good kept hitting dead end after dead end, while Team Evil was just sort of... hanging out? Neither boy really divulged anything to Clary. I don’t know... it was weird because I've never felt this way with other Cassie Clare books. It just felt slow and I wanted Jace back immediately! Lol.

One thing that does happen is that they go to this faery party and Jace and Clary have this intense makeout session I would've normally loved! BUT I did not fully enjoy it, knowing that this was not the real Jace. There were other makeout scenes here and there and I was just not into them. Which is almost shocking to me because I love Jace and Clary! But I was just acutely aware that Jace is not Jace and I just could not enjoy those scenes knowing that 😩

HOWEVER, we do get Jace back before the book is over and I could not be more happy! 😭 I honestly don't know if I could've taken another book without the real Jace... it was torture! And Jace having the heavenly fire is an interesting development—I’m wondering how that’s going to play into the next book.

Oh, and when Jace and Sebastian were bonded, I honestly thought Sebastian wasn't all that bad because Jace might have been influencing him through the link, but NO! He's just really good at lying! And he had going on with Clary was super disgusting and totally not okay! The way he was acting with Clary made me feel gross! He just didn’t act like a sibling would and he invaded her space a lot and was just... it was gross. That's the only way I can describe it. Back in CoG, I thought he kissed Clary just to mess with her, but now I don’t know 🤢

“Well,” she said. “You’re my brother. I would have loved you. I would have... had to.”
[Sebastian] kept looking at her with the same still, intent gaze. She wondered if she should ask him if he thought that meant he would have loved her, too. Like a sister. But she had a feeling he had no idea what that meant.

And okay, back in the first three books of TMI, when we thought Clary and Jace were siblings, I did not feel this way... sooo idk what that says about me 🤷‍♀️😅 Lol. It’s been over TEN years since I first read this series, but I think I had the strong suspicion that they were not indeed related, and that’s why I was okay with it? Man, I don’t know. Lol.

As for Alec and Magnus, we saw them quite a bit in this book, since in the last one they were away on the vacation they went on in The Red Scrolls of Magic! They are so cute together and they are just my favorite! However, Alec is kinda freaking out when it comes to Magnus and his immortality and he himself being mortal... that I get. What I didn't get and found kind of annoying was that he was also freaking out about the number of lovers Magnus has had in the past. Like, it’s not his fault he’s lived for that long. And you couldn’t possibly expect him to be alone for hundreds of years. So what the heck! This was a weird turn on their relationship and I just really hope they figure things out because I really do love them together!

And one character who finally got his shit together is Simon! Finally! And also good cause I love him and Izzy together. That time he told her a bedtime story and the bedtime story turned out to be Star Wars? Cutest thing ever! 🖤 And another couple that were also being super cute were Jordan (aka Kyle) and Maia! One interaction that I really enjoyed was a conversation between Isabelle and Jordan and Jordan telling her to go and tell Simon how she felt and just giving her advice. It was very unexpected but heartwarming, and that’s why I loved it! And the interaction between Simon and his sister... that broke my heart! I just adore the characters in this series... they’re all great! And yes, they do have their issues and they’re far from perfect, but that’s what makes them so interesting!

And I of course love Clary as our main character. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little iffy on some of her decisions, but she’s really smart and can handle herself. Her fighting skills have improved and she is just awesome! All she needed was a little training. And I also just have to mention that apparently one of her favorite anime is Bleach... I LOVE Bleach!!

She has good taste in anime. We should be friends 😉 Lol.

So I obviously loved this book, even with the slowness in the middle. I love the characters and I just missed the hell out of Jace throughout this whole book. But that incredible fight in the end made it all worth it! I’m very interested to see how this will all end, because Sebastian has some awful things planned. I don’t think I’m ready for the end. It’s going to break my heart. I know it 😩

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The Herondales and their hate for ducks is hilarious! It has to be hereditary at this point, right? 😂

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊