This book - no, this whole series, is phenomenal. I adore Cassandra Clare and all the sarcastic remarks she writes for all her characters. Jace in this book is the epitome of a self sacrificing, loving and perfect boyfriend. The thing is, he's too perfect to me. Luckily, I love Sebastion. Oh, don't hate me, people. I love a good villain and was really sad to see Valentine go. He was a psychopath, but he was brilliant, intelligent and loved Clary's mother as much as Clary and Jace love each other. In this book, a lot happens. Cassandra has a way of ending one plot with a cliffhanger and then going to a different sub plot that turns out to be just as interesting and then ending it with another cliffhanger. It's brutal, but only makes you want to read more. Simon and Isabelle get a lot closer in a way. She opens up. Magnus and Alec, on the other hand are having a tough time. Maia and Jordan are sweet and subtle, only appearing here and there and again, Sebastion. I can't help it. He's a perfect villain. I love this book. Much better than City of Fallen Angels, which to me was a bit of a let down. Then again, it's probably only because the rest of the books were all so amazing. I say you should read it. If not, you're missing out,.

I will say this up front: I didn't really want to read this book. If you know me, you'll know I'm an absolutely huge Mortal Instruments fan (been reading them for five years, have lines memorized, recommended it to everyone I know, am obsessed). You'll also know that my love of the series dimmed after City of Fallen Angels. I didn't like it. I hate saying that. It actually feels like a stab when I say it but it's true. I didn't like City of Fallen Angels. And I didn't want to read City of Lost Souls because I didn't want to be disappointed again. And at first, I wasn't a fan. The storyline wasn't my favorite, and I was getting annoyed with my favorite characters. But, slowly and surely, Cassandra Clare won me over and now has me desperate for the finale. The plot was constantly moving and involving in this book, but not always for the better. For a portion of this book I wanted to change the name from City of Lost Souls to Clary Fray Needs to Make Better Life Choices. Seriously, this girl was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome while wearing rose-coloured glasses. It was getting a bit ridiculous, and I wasn't such a happy camper. But, Clary Fray lived up to my high expectation of her in the end, and I went back to loving her with abandon. I understand that what happen had to happen, but it took a bit of getting used to. I loved the plot of the first three, so it's a bit hard to completely love this one. I can tell that this one is going to build and build and will end with a bang though, which is keeping me on edge. I have an honest investment in these characters. I've loved them for years and truly CARE what happens to them! So, my emotions were running on high throughout the novel. Clary and Jace were just ripping my heart to shreds both in anger and in love.They've been through so much and I adore them as a couple. I get all warm and fuzzy whenever they have scenes together. They're fantastic characters with real depth and beautiful strength and I've loved watching them grow throughout the series. Then there was Simon and Izzy. I've always liked both of them, but this book made me want to sing there praises from the rooftop! They were absolutely fabulous. I couldn't get enough of the hilarious banter, undeniable chemistry, and those little glimpses of their uncertain sides of them. Isabelle is so fierce yet she has a soft fragile core that's been hurt over and over again. But she keeps fighting and I admire her for it. Simon makes me laugh out loud constantly but it was great to see the more serious and lost side of him. Magnus will forever be one of my favorite characters and he didn't disappoint in City of Lost Souls. Alec, on the other hand, caused my already iffy opinion of him to plummet. He just made poor decision after poor decision and I can't even feel bad for him. Finally (cause really, I could go on about the characters in this novel for days) there's Sebastian. You have to understand: I was a HUGE Valentine fan. Not in a "Woo Valentine! Destroy the Shadowhunters!" way but in a "Wow you are a brilliant entrancing villain and such a fantastic character" way. So, although I think Sebastian is much more sinister than Valentine (like, my skin crawls whenever he's in a scene) he isn't a character I am as interested in. That said, he's a great villain in general and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of havoc he brings to the story. The things I will always bow down to Cassandra Clare for are her boundless imagination and perfect dialogue. Creativity she has in spades and she never fails to bowl me over with it. City of Lost Souls was very well thought out, interesting, and imaginative. Her dialogue was superb. Each character has their own unique voice and I feel like I can visualize them perfectly. Cassandra Clare is a skilled, skilled writer and she did fantastically with City of Lost Souls. She made me committed to the story. I was addicted at one point, staying up until the wee hours of the morning because I had to know what was going to happen. Even in the slower moments the story flowed well and I was always interested in reading it (even if I was angry at it). City of Lost Souls restored my faith in this series, and I really did enjoy it. It made me feel all the emotions across the board which I think is an accomplishment. I'm happy I read it...although the wait for City of Heavenly Fire might just break me. - Ciara (Lost at Midnight) P.S. If you haven't seen the City of Bones trailer yet....you should do that....like NOW.

A thrilling contiuation of the mortal instrument series. It keeps you thinking and wanting more. Only downside is your following a lot of sub plots so you have to keep up. All and all a pretty good read, definitely give it a try.

I have always been a HUGE fan of The Mortal Instruments series and when City of Fallen Angels came out I was a bit disappointed, and worried that the series was going to end terribly! But when this book, City of Lost Souls, came out, it was impossible to stop reading! The plot picked up again and with all the twists and turns, and drama of course, I was thoroughly impressed! I CAN'T WAIT for City of Heavenly Fire to come out!!

My title says it all: complete let down! I was extremely excited when I heard Clare would continue with the Mortal Insturments so I picked up City of Fallen Angels RIGHT when it came out; now that one was amazing, so I was expecting great things from City of Lost Souls. I was not only annoyed with the plot and the characters but as well as the writing. It's becoming tediuos and repititive. I shall only read the next book because I love Simon.

This was a really good book. Better than City of Fallen Angels before it at any rate. I really hope that Jave and Clary will be able to be togethering in the end. Also, I hope that Sebastian is taken care of. He's a really annoying antagonist. The other thing that I hope happens in City of Heavenly Fire is that Alec and Magnus get back together. I couldn't believe that Maguns broke up with him considering he was always ferusing to tell Alec about his past. Sounds like a hypocrite to me. Anyway, in the end, I found this book really good and I look forward to the next and final book in the series.

All I can say is that the book has definetly improved from the let down that was The City of Fallen Angels but the ending once again leads to another one of those books where the two lovers can't end up together. I mean, I guess it does add interest, keeps the reader wanting more, to know where the characters end up. But, in my opinion, Jace and Cary better have a happily ever after. That's why I'm following the series anyway. Besides the point, the book did keep my attention until it was finished. I just hope that this series doesn't grow as long as the House of Night. I only have so much room on my book shelf (not that I own all of the books in this series or the House of Night).

Wow. It was perfect for what had happened at the end of book 4. It never went off topic and I found the characters were changing and we were getting to know them more. Even though a lot of diffrent things are going on, Cassandra Clare made the book so good I never wanted to out it down! It was full of surprises and the scenes were described so well, it was like I was standing in the same room and seeing what the character saw. The plot was perfect and raw. It was thrilling and never made me want to fall asleep. Well ecept when it was really late and I was trying to keep reading. But the plot was perfect and if didn't go too fast or too slow. I can't wait for the next one in the series. :D

Once i started this book i could not put it down....i loved every bit of it. all the different perspectives in the book were excellent jordan and maia, simon and izzy ,alec and magnus of course jace and clary!!! I had to go to the bookstore and buy something else to read right away because i could not stop thinking about this book....its gonna be a long wait for the last one to come out!!!!

At this point I shouldn't be surprised with this series....I just can't even believe I do this to myself. For some crazy reason I keep on with the series hoping that the author will turn things around. It just didn't happen. This book was the ultimate let-down. We waited gawd knows how long for this book to come out, and the amount of scenes with Jace and Clary is utterly (yes utterly) ridiculous. AKA THERE'S BARELY ANYTHING! And I get that Jace isn't himself, blah blah, but really? Did he have to be like that the whole book? And then how it ends off, haha...now that they are together they can't really be together because Jace is "dangerous". This is just turning into some Twilight bullsh*t. Oh but don't worry, we get to do this allllll over again cause the series lives on. Yup, there is ANOTHER book. Count that, SIX BOOKS. I'll be six feet under before this series ends. Random: -I did appreciate the other perspectives....especially the scenes with Jordan and Maia. Too bad those scenes were limited. I would like to see more from them -I'm glad I bought this book at Costco, I would have been upset to have spent full price on this one.