This series just keeps getting better and better. With the cliffhanger from the first book, City of Bones, I had to dive into this one immediately after finishing — even now, reading this book for what’s now the third time! While Cassandra Clare is somewhat formulaic in her stories, I still think she’s an amazing writer who can keep her readers engaged until the very end. This story, City of Ashes, is about Clary coming into her newfound powers, having to deal with her newfound brother — not boyfriend — Jace, and there’s still the hunt for Valentine. To me, Valentine is like the Voldemort of these books. He’s there, he’s evil, and he just can’t stay away from the shadow hunters. I was crushed — crushed! — at the end of City of Bones when we found out that Jace and Clary were brother and sister and was still on pins and needles through this entire book awaiting the ending (– this is how bad my memory is. I was still completely entranced by the book and had no clue what was going on. I knew bits and pieces but a lot of it was still a surprise.). The best thing about Cassandra Clare’s writing is her characters. It’s hard not to love Jace — even if the narrator (a different one from the previous book) makes him sound snarky — and it’s easy to hate Simon. Even if Simon and Clary keep trying to have some kind of romantic connection, I just don’t see it because I hate Simon. I can never understand why Clary doesn’t hate him, too. My only problem with these books — and with the characters — is that Clary never listens. She’s whiny and is constantly fawning over either Jace or Simon and just can’t make up her mind (which is a little reminiscent of a girl named Bella Swan). I’m not sure if it’s just the narrator of the audiobook, or if it’s Simon’s character in general, but I found him to be snarky, smug, and just an arrogant “butt-faced miscreant” (to quote the Gilmore Girls). He drove me nuts, to no end! I did, however, really love Isabelle’s character (even if she sounded a bit ditzy) and I am completely enamoured with Magnus Bane. Even now, now that I’ve already listened to two of the audiobooks in this series, I’m still hesitant about listening to a female narrate Magnus, but each narrator has gotten it right. I can’t wait to finally listen to a male narrator in the fourth book of this series (and Ed Westwick, at that. A very swoon-worthy male!), and really, I’m quite happy to finally be reading this series again after so many years. Like I’ve said, Cassandra Clare is just a darn good writer. She can suck you in from the first pages into her world of shadow hunters, werewolves, demons, warlocks … it’s just a great world to be in!

In the second book we find Clary and Jace struggling to accept that they brother and sister and nothing more even thought their feelings tell otherwise. If that wasn’t enough they have to go through the stares and whispers as now everyone knows that they are Valentine’s children. I loved this book as much as the first one and maybe more. You get to know the characters better and see the powerful but strange relationship Jace and Clary have. The drama is bigger and the pain and acceptance that Jace and Clary are siblings are enough to handle without the murders. Someone is murdering Downworlders and Simon is acting strange. Magnus is acting as usual but somehow has focused more on Alec. Isabelle is insane as always and Jace more brooding as it can get. Valentine is supposed to be the villain but to me he didn’t seem like one. His actions seemed to be planted on the go and he lacked motivation. As the bad guy I thought I would some minions working for him.... where are they when you need them? I can’t think of a villain that didn’t have or didn’t control other people for personal use. But we find out later on why is that (on the 3rd book) so I am not going to spoil it for you. J When the second mortal instrument is stolen though, they suspect Jace. Jace is now wondering what to do next to prove that he is innocent and for the first time we see him scared as he faces the accusations. Overall.... I loved it! One of favourites for sure and I can’t wait for the third book. You should definitely read this one if you want a strong, suffering love story with a dark and funny adventure background. I didn’t give it 5 stars as the previous book because I thought it needed more action scenes.

This is the second in The Mortal Instruments series, in which Clary, who has recently discovered a whole world of Shadowhunters, demons, vampires and werewolves, hiding in the real world. I love the idea of a whole world hiding in plain sight, as it were. In this book, Clary and the Shadowhunters are trying to stop Valentine, her father, from using demons to take over the world. The story is exciting and there is lots of action. However, I still did not like this book as much as the first one, City of Bones. I felt as if this was a transition book, with everyone running around and reacting to things rather than a strong overall story. I know there is the plot of stopping Valentine, but everyone just keeps reacting. I was also a little disappointed that Clary was not stronger. After the first book, I was hoping that she would become a more take charge, competent character. I felt like she spent running around after others and when she did do something, it was by accident. However, she is still young and this book did only take place days after the first one, so I still hold out hope for her. This novel, like the first, does have some interesting twists and foreshadows even more - which definitely keeps the reader reading and waiting for the next book. I don't want to say too much about this, but I am hoping for some big shake ups in the third book. Jace, the young, good looking jerk from the first book, does soften a bit in this one, which is nice. I am not sure about the relationship between Clary and Jace though. I don't want to give away any of the plot (if you have not read City of Bones, you may want to stop reading now), but I don't like the story line of them being brother and sister, but still having a romantic attraction. I can also see the foreshadowing that they are not actually brother and sister, but they think that they are and I find the whole scenario a bit much and kind of creepy. I found some of the other characters in this book to be the most interesting, for example, Simon, Mangus, Alec and Isabelle. They are really good, interesting supporting characters with a lot of personality and are not as caught up in feeling so morose (except for maybe Alec). I did enjoy reading City of Ashes - it is a fun summer read, and will certainly read the next in the series. I can really see teenage girls liking this book, as well as those who like urban fantasy.

After reading the first book City of Bones there was no way i could not keep going. I couldnt put the book down. It just keeps you wondering whats next.

Absolutely love this series!!!! Such a great series. I was a little worried in the beginning but the series is fantastic!

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great follow up to City of Bones, that being said it sort of reminded me of "the Two Towers" from the Lord of the Rings. A book that while a great stepping stone in an epic tale, it can't quite stand alone. That being said it's a part of a series and was not meant to stand on it's own. Readers of this will voraciously head for City of Glass once they close the cover on City of Ashes.

IF you read Book 1, City of Bones, THEN, there aren’t any spoilers in this review. If you’re reading this review, I assume you read Book 1. City of Ashes is book 2 in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. (I was going to say trilogy, but I just realized there is a Book 4 coming out in the near future, so I’ll stick to series). I believe City of Ashes has a strong and exciting story line. As in book 1, the story is mainly told from Clary’s perspective. This is perfect since you get to live, and feel, her still quite “human” and “every day” girl reactions, and wonder in this new and secret world of the Shadowhunters. The story will take you through the development of important events happening in book 1 (City of Bones), such as her new disturbing and confusing relationship with her new found brother, JACE. The boy she desires, but, of course, can’t, and shouldn’t, have. You’ll feel their struggle with the fact that they are brother and sister. Or her strong feelings for SIMON, her lifelong best friend. The boy she would rather have as a brother and not a boy friend. All this drama, without it being the center of the story, adds to all the excitement going on. Their characters, Clary, Jace and Simon, are more profoundly developed, and you get to learn a lot more about them. We also get to learn more about some other characters we met in Book 1, like Alec, Luke, Magnus (who I love), etc; their roles and personalities are more deeply defined. And some new characters join in the ride. For example, we get to meet Isabelle and Alec’s parents: MARYSE and ROBERT LIGHTWOOD. You will also have the delight to meet IMOGEN, The Inquisitor. A bit of a pain, for she is the one who determines the right type of punishment in the Shadowhunter world. You can think of her as the leader, or representative, of what we could call the Shadowhunter Police Force! She takes care of rebellions and infractions. And let’s not forget VALENTINE! In my City of Bones review, I mentioned I found Valentine to not be scary and evil enough. Not too convincing, I thought, as the evil guy. Well… that changes in City of Ashes. Now that we know he’s Jace and Clary’s father, and that he’s running after the Mortal Instruments, you’ll get to see how evil he can be to his 2 children, without mentioning the rest, and his lust for power and destruction. Personally I now think that Ms. Clare managed to give Valentine a quite intriguing role. I can’t wait to see what he’s up to next, in book 3. You’ll love to hate him! There is a lot of emotional tension all through the story. It’s a fast paced, well written, engaging and intriguing read. I’m all excited about Book 3 . Happy reading!

City of Ashes was an excellent sequel to City of Bones. Cassandra Clare's writing has a tone and personality to it that makes me feel like we'd get along great. Theres a sarcasm and darkness that is somehow light as a feather, flowing beautifully. The action is steady and the characters interesting. What really draws me in though is the structure of the world, the hierarchies and prejudices. I've been thinking a lot about what MMO (massive multiplayer online role playing game) I want to get into, and yesterday I made the argument to my boyfriend that Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments would make a fantastic game. You could be a shadowhunter, vampire, werewolf, warlock, fay or mundane. There's so much potential there, especially with the potential for designing runes if you were a character like Clary. If such a game is ever made, I will definitely check it out. *spoiler alert if you haven't read City of Bones The one major thing that bothered me about this book is that it's marketed as sexy but the major "love story" is between characters who believe themselves to be siblings. I'm pretty confident that Jace will turn out not to be the Jonathan they believe he is, but the situation is just icky. Any sexual tension just makes me feel awkward, witnessing incest isn't my cup of tea (not that I like tea...). I'm already halfway through City of Glass, so I'll be posting about that soon.

I have to admit that my reaction to the first book in this series, City of Bones, was not the most positive; however, Cassandra Clare has taken the framework that she lays through the first novel and expands it into the realm of fantastical brilliance! Again, I am not a fan of Clare's writing style, but the story itself is so entrancing and the characters that I loved after reading the first book continue to get better and better! I liked the first book, but I loved this one! Clary, Jace and their friends are such an an amazing cast of characters and I am so looking forward to reading what happens in the third novel!

-- After the being shoved into a world of demons and other downworlders, Clary is dealing with things surprisingly well considering everything that is going on around her. But as Valentine’s plan starts to become clearer, and important people in the Clave can’t be trusted to follow the law, bad things start to happen one after the other – and something has to be done. While Jace is deciding who’s side he’s on, and Simon is going through a transformation that will change his whole life, Clary is still trying to find a way to wake up her mother – and make sure to defeat Valentine once and for all. -- I have to say a few thing about this book. I really enjoyed it, and I love this one just like I loved the first one, but that comes with some of the same problems. I remember last time saying things about how it was a little bit too full of descriptions and that sort of thing… well the writing style didn’t really improve for this book. I kept on getting distracted because of the amount of describing that was going on – especially in the actions scenes. I don’t know… it might be because I was tired and just reading this book because I had nothing better to do, but I felt like the plot didn’t really develop all that much. I mean, it was interesting and engaging but almost just a middle sort of thing before the next book (which is pretty much what it was.) But still… I don’t know. There was one thing that I have always loved about the first book that continued onto this one. Which was the constant romance problems going on between the characters… I think that was the root of my interest level, because honestly, there was parts in that book that were just amazing to read. Amazing novel, amazing series, AS ALWAYS. Don’t mind my grump. Yeah, I was going to put 3.5 but I settled for 4. So, here is the website as usual. http://cassandraclare.com/cms/home LATER CHEESE GRATERS, MRR