Reviews with content warning for War - City of Ashes

This book was soo much better than city of bones. It had multiple perspectives of the characters making the story line more interesting and allowing me to understand and connect with the characters more.
I felt really bad for Jace throughout this book because he had the right intentions the whole way through he just didn’t know how to express them. Especially with the Inquisitor. I thought he was quite blunt and could have tried harder to prove he was innocent. I thought it was really cool how he could jump really high and fall from high places and land perfectly.
When they went to the Seelie Court I thought it was really cool for them to be in a different environment and I loved how visual it was and cool the entrance was. I did think it was a bit strange and weird how the Queen made Jace and Clary kiss but I guess they aren’t actually siblings so it’s okay.
I was shocked when Simon was actually a vampire!! Like I thought it was completely unexpected but quite cool to find out how people became vampires. Also it was shocking at the end how he can be in sunlight which is really strange but I’m sure there is some sort of reasoning behind it that will be explained later.
Clary’s ability to create new runes is super cool! And she was extremely powerful and talented when she managed to destroy Valentines boat with a single rune. I loved her and Luke’s relationship!
The epilogue was really interesting with Madeline. I thought her character may return again after Clary and seen her at the Silent City. I am really curious to what the spell was!
And finally Magnus is such a great character I wish we could see more of him and his relationship with Alec!
Overall, this book is more intense and intriguing than the first book. I can’t wait to read the next one !

Content Warnings

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I enjoyed the 1st book of this series a lot more than this installment. I found Clary to be incredibly annoying and her antics made it difficult to get through. She was constantly rushing into danger without thinking despite having more experience as a shadow hunter since the 1st book, and was constantly putting others in danger because she would rush into situations without a second thought.

I also found the dynamic between her and

Jace to be absolutely horrific. Why this type of relationship (where they are in love with each other and then find out they are long lost siblings) was included as a major plot point of Clary’s romantic interests is a complete mystery to me. It offers no value other than to make Jace a forbidden love in the ABSOLUTE WORST WAY POSSIBLE. It’s gross, especially when they have to kiss in front of the Seelie Queen and the rest of the gang just brushes it off as if it is no big deal, except for Simon who had the only normal reaction of walking away angry.

The spoiler above plus how annoying I find Clary are making it super difficult for me to want to move on to the next book, despite the fact that I am invested and interested in uncovering Valentine’s ultimate goal. I also found this book to be pretty boring for the majority of it, other than the last ~3-4 chapters where all of the action takes place. I will probably get on to the 3rd book at some point in the future since I do at least know that

it is revealed in the 3rd book that Clary and Jace are not actually related

and I want to see more of what Valentine does, plus how everyone plans on stopping him. This book also ended with a pretty good cliff hanger that I want to see resolved.

Although I will be making my way through the next book eventually, I still want to emphasize that the only thing keeping this from a 1 star rating are the lovely secondary characters of Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus Bane. Magnus Bane is a mood and vibe, and I love that for

Alec since he needs any semblance of normal social interactions away from Clary/Jace/only his family

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Details:
Narrated by Natalie Moore
Unabridged

Despite going pretty much straight into the sequel, the inital scene threw me off and had me discombobulated on how much time had passed

(especially with how Jace was acting and the relationship developing with Simon and Clary)

Simon has been through shit - to me, he is the star of the show and I want everything good for him. Honestly, I just want to protect him with everything I have. I hope the situations he's been through doesn't fester over this endless time and create a villan out of him.

The angst was real in this installment. Particularly with the trio of Clary, Jace and Simon and now Mia? I feel really weird about certain dynamics continue to unfold and I really hope the direction of romance changes cause... eww.

I'm really hoping that it turns out Jace and Clary aren't siblings because that forced kiss in the fae court wasn't really forced and that made me feel icky... and also, poor Simon, my heart hurts for him!!

I still really enjoyed City of Ashes and found it incredibly high action, great entertainment and fast paced, but I definitely would say I preferred City of Bones just that little bit more.

Looking forward to seeing how I feel about book 3.

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irisvdn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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lcesario's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Not bad, not great. I can’t stand the broody behavior because he can’t sleep with his sister. It’s entertainingly cringe enough, just not what I remembered reading as a kid.

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