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ashe01's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Grief, Incest, Gore, War, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Vomit, and Kidnapping
breedawnwriter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Cassandra Clare has done it again. I literally could NOT put this book down—I read it in like two days.
The tension between Jace and Clary in this book was entirely unhinged, and I loved every single freaking moment of it.
The tension between Jace and Clary in this book was entirely unhinged, and I loved every single freaking moment of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Incest, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Child death
Minor: Cannibalism
lenarthoe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Murder, Child death, Gore, Death, Violence, and Blood
audragio's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The blatant incestual tendencies cause me to give it a low rating
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, Incest, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Cursing, and Blood
rachwalker's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Incest
qcupquake's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
City of Ashes:
3.25/5
- yk i could really do without the wholemaking clary and jace kiss while they still believe they're siblings but yk thanks bc i definitely needed that in my head. that was so gross i was actually disgusted. it wasn't that they kissed, it was that they kissed while they sTILL BELIEVE THEY ARE SIBLINGS
- idk if Cassy Clare meant to make The Inquisitor an EXTREMELY unlikeable character, but if she did, she did a damn good job of it. i celebrated when she died
- valentine is also an extremely well written villain. i like his charm but at the same time it's what makes me despise him
- i personally liked City of Bones more but this was still nice :)
- i liked the action and the humor that we established in the first book
3.25/5
- yk i could really do without the whole
- idk if Cassy Clare meant to make The Inquisitor an EXTREMELY unlikeable character, but if she did, she did a damn good job of it. i
- valentine is also an extremely well written villain. i like his charm but at the same time it's what makes me despise him
- i personally liked City of Bones more but this was still nice :)
- i liked the action and the humor that we established in the first book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Incest, Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Child death
t_swizzle's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Warning there is a lot of incest in this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Incest
Moderate: Torture, Incest, Violence, and Gore
savvyrosereads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Updated rating: 4.5/5 stars.
The Mortal Instruments has always been one of my favorite series, but until this reread I would have said City of Ashes was among my least favorite of the individual books. But this reread reminded me how many incredible moments this book holds—moments of friendship, sacrifice, bravery, and love—not to mention how much happens in terms of character and plot development for the larger series. So now, I truly think this one might be among my series favorites. I'm so glad I read it again.
Original review (3 stars, 2013): Alright, so first and foremost I want to say that I refuse to write reviews with spoilers, so, in the interest of not spoiling either this OR City of Bones, this review will likely be very vague. But here goes:
Characters: Still freaking amazing. Slightly evolved, but in good ways.
World: Still freaking amazing. Still under-explained in parts, but so intriguing and exciting and awesome.
Plot: Still MERGH. But better than the first book, in many ways. More issues and twists and side plots to deal with, and I was kept guessing until the very end, which was nice. I didn't like how a few things ended up, but I know it's being set up for the rest of the series, so I can forgive most of it.
The structure of the book was a little jarring in places too, because I'm not a HUGE fan of switching POVs, especially during action-packed sequences, because as soon as I get excited and on the edge of my seat about one situation, I'm switched to another section of the book. That said, I felt like each POV was needed exactly how it was written, and once I adjusted to the switches I didn't mind them: they gave depth to some previously under-explored characters, and added insight to the main characters as well. The ending was an exciting but abrupt cliffhanger, so I know one thing for sure: I cannot wait to get started on City of Glass.
The Mortal Instruments has always been one of my favorite series, but until this reread I would have said City of Ashes was among my least favorite of the individual books. But this reread reminded me how many incredible moments this book holds—moments of friendship, sacrifice, bravery, and love—not to mention how much happens in terms of character and plot development for the larger series. So now, I truly think this one might be among my series favorites. I'm so glad I read it again.
Original review (3 stars, 2013): Alright, so first and foremost I want to say that I refuse to write reviews with spoilers, so, in the interest of not spoiling either this OR City of Bones, this review will likely be very vague. But here goes:
Characters: Still freaking amazing. Slightly evolved, but in good ways.
World: Still freaking amazing. Still under-explained in parts, but so intriguing and exciting and awesome.
Plot: Still MERGH. But better than the first book, in many ways. More issues and twists and side plots to deal with, and I was kept guessing until the very end, which was nice. I didn't like how a few things ended up, but I know it's being set up for the rest of the series, so I can forgive most of it.
The structure of the book was a little jarring in places too, because I'm not a HUGE fan of switching POVs, especially during action-packed sequences, because as soon as I get excited and on the edge of my seat about one situation, I'm switched to another section of the book. That said, I felt like each POV was needed exactly how it was written, and once I adjusted to the switches I didn't mind them: they gave depth to some previously under-explored characters, and added insight to the main characters as well. The ending was an exciting but abrupt cliffhanger, so I know one thing for sure: I cannot wait to get started on City of Glass.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Violence
booking_along's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
reread 2023:
not a lot actually happens in this book. it’s very much an extension and a filler kind of book to bridge different plot points together. to expect what happened in book one with the valentine plot and the clary/jace trope.
there are some small things happening -different developments that are not what everyone expected to happen that might be explored in other books later or some small thing was learned that might turn into something later on but nothing came out it in this book.
mostly this books was filled with the horrendous tropes
1. of two people that are supposedly in love with each other (but on reality don’t really know each other well enough to even know that or try to actually get to know each other to see if it’s true either -but who needs that if you can really ride that incestual train trope as long as possible?)
2. adults being incapable of behaving as if they are NOT two years old and throwing a tamper tandrum because not everything is happening as they want it to.
3. people on power misusing that power and abusing other with it and adult just watching as if it’s fun.
4. bickering and fighting o of all kinds. because who needs to talk if you can behave childishly?
and okay look.
i get that most of the characters we follow are 15-17 and that’s fine.
some of their behavior i can excuse because of that but most adults in this are horrible and for no reason other than page fillers and added drama.
and even how most things happen in this book. tween the teens is just to dramatize the moments instead trying to write an actual individual plot for this book.
the big fight scene in this is the one that was missing from the first book so really it all was just a prolonged and stretched out addition to the first book and i dislike that.
while i didn’t mind the first book from this as much, i do have to say that this second book was a huge disappointment and i can now see why i would have no motivation to try and continue on because this just felt like a book that was published for money instead of a good story.
let’s hope the third book actually has a bit of something more than this and actually takes this story somewhere!
first read review:
This book series....
I just have a hard time with it, and honestly mostly because the rather icky factor of the whole Clary and Jace thing. i mean really.
The first book was okay, nothing world changing for me and nothing i would rave about as everyone else seems to be doing. But still it was okay.
This book, it was just... I mean the actual parts that didn't have the really icky sister-brother "lets make out or talk about how much i want to make out with you or think about how much i would love to make out with you" scenes were okay. They were pretty good. I enjoy the action moments and the overall world seems interesting and the writing that Clare has is fast paced and pretty easy to get through....
But that icky factor of brother-sister love that goes into the sexual aspect instead of the family thing? That is just.... ICK! Sorry, but how come so many people seem to completely overread those many, many moments?
I don't get it.
I mean i will read the rest of the series. Just so see if it finally get better and i can't stop until i actually completely finished reading a series, i kind of suck like that but its just...
I really hope that this whole sibling-love stuff finally is over with because that is just the biggest ICK factor for me and i can't get over it long enough to actually enjoy the rest of the book as much as i might if that would not be included in the books!
Okay enough ranting about that...
the overall book -other then Clary and Jace ICK factor (sorry couldn't resist that is just sooooo wrong for me i can't even....)- was pretty good. I felt like its as a bit better then City of Bones, in the way that the characters had more depth -but maybe that was just because it is a second book and we already knew the characters and didn't just meet them. I don't know, maybe the second book is just a bit better then the first one.
I liked the power and fight moments, i did enjoy the big end fight scene and how that turned out.
I love Luke and Clary's relationship and how they just seem to work so perfectly in the parent/child relationship.
I kind of love Simon -and its just horrible what is happening with him in this book!
And i could have gone totally on board with Simon and Clary -is that a spoiler? If so sorry.
So all in all, this book is not bad. I still don't get the hype. Really don't. I mean its not bad, the writing is okay. But really? What is so special about this other then the incest?
3 to 3.5 stars and i will see how i feel about this series after the next book.
not a lot actually happens in this book. it’s very much an extension and a filler kind of book to bridge different plot points together. to expect what happened in book one with the valentine plot and the clary/jace trope.
there are some small things happening -different developments that are not what everyone expected to happen that might be explored in other books later or some small thing was learned that might turn into something later on but nothing came out it in this book.
mostly this books was filled with the horrendous tropes
1. of two people that are supposedly in love with each other (but on reality don’t really know each other well enough to even know that or try to actually get to know each other to see if it’s true either -but who needs that if you can really ride that incestual train trope as long as possible?)
2. adults being incapable of behaving as if they are NOT two years old and throwing a tamper tandrum because not everything is happening as they want it to.
3. people on power misusing that power and abusing other with it and adult just watching as if it’s fun.
4. bickering and fighting o of all kinds. because who needs to talk if you can behave childishly?
and okay look.
i get that most of the characters we follow are 15-17 and that’s fine.
some of their behavior i can excuse because of that but most adults in this are horrible and for no reason other than page fillers and added drama.
and even how most things happen in this book. tween the teens is just to dramatize the moments instead trying to write an actual individual plot for this book.
the big fight scene in this is the one that was missing from the first book so really it all was just a prolonged and stretched out addition to the first book and i dislike that.
while i didn’t mind the first book from this as much, i do have to say that this second book was a huge disappointment and i can now see why i would have no motivation to try and continue on because this just felt like a book that was published for money instead of a good story.
let’s hope the third book actually has a bit of something more than this and actually takes this story somewhere!
first read review:
This book series....
I just have a hard time with it, and honestly mostly because the rather icky factor of the whole Clary and Jace thing. i mean really.
The first book was okay, nothing world changing for me and nothing i would rave about as everyone else seems to be doing. But still it was okay.
This book, it was just... I mean the actual parts that didn't have the really icky sister-brother "lets make out or talk about how much i want to make out with you or think about how much i would love to make out with you" scenes were okay. They were pretty good. I enjoy the action moments and the overall world seems interesting and the writing that Clare has is fast paced and pretty easy to get through....
But that icky factor of brother-sister love that goes into the sexual aspect instead of the family thing? That is just.... ICK! Sorry, but how come so many people seem to completely overread those many, many moments?
I don't get it.
I mean i will read the rest of the series. Just so see if it finally get better and i can't stop until i actually completely finished reading a series, i kind of suck like that but its just...
I really hope that this whole sibling-love stuff finally is over with because that is just the biggest ICK factor for me and i can't get over it long enough to actually enjoy the rest of the book as much as i might if that would not be included in the books!
Okay enough ranting about that...
the overall book -other then Clary and Jace ICK factor (sorry couldn't resist that is just sooooo wrong for me i can't even....)- was pretty good. I felt like its as a bit better then City of Bones, in the way that the characters had more depth -but maybe that was just because it is a second book and we already knew the characters and didn't just meet them. I don't know, maybe the second book is just a bit better then the first one.
I liked the power and fight moments, i did enjoy the big end fight scene and how that turned out.
I love Luke and Clary's relationship and how they just seem to work so perfectly in the parent/child relationship.
I kind of love Simon -and its just horrible what is happening with him in this book!
And i could have gone totally on board with Simon and Clary -is that a spoiler? If so sorry.
So all in all, this book is not bad. I still don't get the hype. Really don't. I mean its not bad, the writing is okay. But really? What is so special about this other then the incest?
3 to 3.5 stars and i will see how i feel about this series after the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Incest, Emotional abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child death
ioana_26_tid's review
adventurous
funny
relaxing
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Incest, Hate crime, and Gore
Minor: Child death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder