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1.) City of Bones ★★★
2.) City of Ashes ★★

Friends, I did it! I read the whole trilogy! Over a decade late, but aren’t you proud? And more importantly, I can finally move on to TID with Clockwork Angel! And I am so hyped, because I know this is the start of the series that you all really love! And I hope I do, too! And I got really excited seeing some names that I’ve vaguely seen you all scream about!

“Each tomb looked like a little house; some even had metal or wire gates, and the names of Shadowhunter families were carved over the doors. CARTWRIGHT. MERRYWEATHER. HIGHTOWER. BLACKWELL. MIDWINTER. She stopped at one: HERONDALE.”

City of Glass has the cast whisked away (some easily, some not so easily) to the City of Glass, AKA: Idris, which is the Shadowhunter’s home country! Valentine may or may not have started to build a demon army, and the gang hopes that they can get the council to listen to them. Oh, and Clary is desperate to save her mom, and is willing to do anything to wake her up. Because while her mother sleeps, she is also locking away many secrets.

“My mom got the spell that put her in this state from a warlock—Ragnor Fell. Madeleine says we need to track him down if we want to know how to reverse the spell.”

Okay, so going into this series, I knew very few spoilers. And I was very surprised when the Jace and Clary “dilemma” came up, just because I had never heard anyone mention in. Therefore, I also thought it would be a quick fix. Okay, so the “reveal” is at the very end of City of Bones, but the mentality and thought lasts until 80% into this third book! I couldn’t believe it! And even though I knew (and hoped and prayed) that you all wouldn’t lead me astray and that the “twist” wouldn’t be true, it still took a lot of enjoyment out of this book for me, because for the most part, Jace and Clary thought it was real. Also, Jace and Clary both do and say a lot of problematic shit, that has nothing to do with the way they feel about each other. Jace especially.

“Jace knew he was being cruel, and he barely cared. Hurting people he loved was almost as good as hurting himself when he was in this kind of mood.”

Okay, so I’ve broken down the characters in the other two reviews I’ve done for this series, so I figured I’d just keep doing it. (Especially because these reviews are probably boring because everyone but me read them ten-years-ago!) And like always, I have a lot of feelings.

➽ Clary – Clary is just a bland main character. I don’t love her as much as others. I don’t hate her as much as others. I honestly just feel neutral towards her, but I still say that she is rather forgettable. Which is sad, since I suppose she is the star. But I think the shining light of all three books has been the side characters.

➽ Jace – Jace legit is the worst part of this book, too. Which, he is the second leading character, so, also probably a bad sign. But he’s just miserable to read about because he doesn’t care about “the situation” where Clary at least tries to not be… gross about it. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, he legit screams at Clary in this book and says some pretty abusive and hurtful things. Like, I just honestly don’t like Jace. I’m sorry. But it’s the truth. Probably my least favorite character, including the villains.

➽ Simon – Okay, so Simon completely won me over and captured my heart and soul during this book. I honestly loved everything about it. And I think that’s mostly because…

➽ Isabelle – …I am about to go down on the ship of Isabelle and Simon. Like, you all, I love their chemistry and their entire dynamic. And Isabelle is my favorite character of any of these books so far, so I just am going to put her happiness first always and forever. Thanks.

➽ Magnus – Magnus is also my favorite. And I don’t want to give Cassandra Clare too much credit (I seriously can’t get over the incest, I’m sorry), but I think she did a really amazing job with creating Magnus Bane. All my friends are obsessed with him, I’m obsessed with him, and I think he’s such a bright shining light in 2000’s literature.

➽ Alec – I feel like I like Alec more and more each book. Probably because of Magnus, but still! And the end of this book? Not that anyone should ever feel any pressure to come out, but the end of this book just made me really happy.

➽ Max – Like, I’m still shook.

➽ Luke – I was living for Luke in this entire book. Like, I instantly loved his character, and I just grow to like him more and more each book. Also, he deserves all the love and happiness in the world.

➽ Jocelyn – I actually do like Clary’s mom. I wish she would have been awake and present for more of this trilogy. And I do think it was a little deus ex machina how she shows up, bearing all the information that we needed so long ago. But I still enjoyed her and her character.

➽ Amatis – Luke’s sister is honestly my new favorite, too! Like, maybe I’m too old to be reading these for the first time, and I’m just connecting with all the (way older than me) adults, because I can’t connect with these teenagers? But regardless, Amatis has been through so much, but I love her already. Amazing new addition to the cast!

➽ Maia – Maia wasn’t in this book that much, but I still really like what I did see of her. And I’m saying this while knowing she is going to be a point of a triangle that I’m not ready to think about.

➽ Samuel – IS THIS DUDE… PURPLE?

➽ Person in the cell next to Simon – Like, I actually loved this twist and was so here for it. Until, someone ruined it. But still, I was living for it. Big fan.

➽ Seelie Queen – Like, Clary is going to regret that power move of an epilogue.

➽ Aline – Um… is this new character Asian and queer? Because, I think she is, and I think I’m head over heels in love with her already.

➽ Sebastian – A little obvious, but still a fun twist and character I honestly really enjoyed following.

➽ Valentine – Like, I enjoyed Valentine a lot in this one. I think he was way less “mustache twirling” villain in this book. And I loved the portrayal on how people can be awful humans, but they are still capable of doing good things. We all have good and bad inside us, and Valentine is a good example of what happens when you do more bad than good. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting soft, but I liked him as the villain of this book.

“People aren’t born good or bad. Maybe they’re born with tendencies either way, but it’s the way you live your life that matters.”

Trigger and content warnings for murder, death, incestuous thoughts and resulting actions, torture, medical experimentations, captivity, abandonment, talk of thoughts of suicide, suicide, and war themes.

Overall, I am happy I read this trilogy, instead of just skipping it. I’m not sure if it was completely needed, but I hope that it will feel worth it. I also think this series holds up better than a lot of others that were published during the same time, Naruto references and all. I’ll be honest, this really is more of 2.5 star read for me, and I should probably bump it down to two stars, but I just enjoyed it so much more than City of Ashes that I’m going to bump it up to three. Also, Izzy and Simon deserve that star on their own, let’s be real. Okay, friends, I can’t wait to finally dive into Clockwork Angel!

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