halfgirlpup 's review for:

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

2.75

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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2.75/5 — i hate it here but also i need to know what happens next 😭

OKAY. City of Glass. i’ve just closed the book and i'm pacing around my room like a feral victorian child whose father forbade her from reading novels past sundown.

where do i even begin?? this is the third book in The Mortal Instruments and somehow still manages to be both the most fun so far and the most frustrating. like cassandra clare really said “what if we just let chaos drive the plot” and honestly, respect.

first things first: let's talk characters because i have THOUGHTS. many. endless. chaotic.

clary. babe. sweetie. my girl. why are you like this. how does someone with so much plot armor and raw rune-creating power consistently make the worst possible decisions??? like i admire the drive, the initiative, the sheer stubbornness, but also i feel like every chapter i was yelling “STOP” into the void while she was opening portals and ignoring very obvious red flags. that said … i do like how she's starting to come into her own power. she’s growing. she’s just doing it like. very dramatically and dangerously. tee hee.

jace. he’s not okay and it shows. like this man is spiraling and no one is stopping him?? he’s jumping off towers, throwing himself into danger, snapping at everyone, and monologuing in corners like he’s auditioning for a vampire diaries reboot. he also spends 80% of this book convinced he’s cursed and unlovable and i’m just like sir, therapy. BUT. i will say. the moment he stabbed sebastian in the back? chef’s kiss. i stood up and clapped. finally one (1) good decision.

simon. MY BABY. my emo daywalker prince. he’s honestly the only character who consistently makes sense to me and it’s so tragic. he just wants to play his music and not die and maybe flirt with maia a little and now he’s caught up in ancient angel-vampire politics. also him being the moral compass of the group while literally being undead?? iconic. also he has like fifteen near-death experiences and just shrugs them off. KING.

isabelle. god. what do i even say. she’s so cool. she’s so hot. she’s so underwritten. like why is this girl constantly fighting demons in stilettos and keeping everyone alive and yet barely getting any page time??? justice for isabelle. actually justice for all the female characters tbh because why are they just side dishes in the chaos soup that is this plot?? she’s more than just badass character archetype or alec’s sister or clary’s occasional emotional support girlie. GIVE HER MORE.

alec. my sarcastic closeted king. he finally admits he’s in love with magnus (YAY!!) but also he chooses to kiss him during an apocalypse-level emergency (?????). i mean slay but also boy read the room. his whole arc is like one long anxiety attack and i feel for him. he’s trying to be loyal, trying to be brave, trying to not die, and also just maybe kiss a warlock who is 400 years old and sparkles. priorities.

magnus. what do you MEAN he just shows up in a glittery cloak and saves the day AGAIN. he’s not even trying anymore. he’s just being effortlessly iconic. he’s barely in the book and yet he steals every scene. i want a separate book that’s just him doing magic and being petty. make it happen.

sebastian. unhinged. manipulative. gaslight gatekeep girlboss. honestly the second he stepped into idris i knew something was wrong. the vibes were rancid. he gives off the same energy as those tumblr fanboys who pretend to like feminism so you’ll fall in love with them and then find out they own a copy of Mein Kampf. he’s SO interesting though. creepy, twisted, weirdly charming, and insanely stab-worthy. i wish he suffered more though.

valentine. listen. he’s supposed to be the Big Bad, the ultimate villain. and sure, he’s twisted, and genocidal, and manipulative in a white man with a messiah complex way. BUT. i’m sorry. he didn’t feel that threatening? like he’s supposed to be this terrifying madman and i’m just like. okay?? he kills some people and does evil monologues but i feel like he could’ve been so muchworse. like. give me more! scare me!!

okay. now themes. do they exist? kind of! there’s a lot about identity, free will, love versus duty, family trauma, and the ethics of power. but honestly they’re often buried under sarcastic banter and magical explosions. there’s also a subtle undercurrent of “found family” stuff which i do adore.

the writing style ... well. it’s very wattpad-coded. everyone’s always “murmuring darkly” or “staring with eyes like golden fire” and describing things with the urgency of a mid-2000s evanescence music video. but i mean. i signed up for melodrama and i GOT it. the pacing is chaotic. the plot twists are twisty. the dialogue is 70% sarcasm. it’s fine.

so like. yes. this book was better than the first two. the stakes felt higher. the plot was less of a confused spaghetti mess. there was character growth (or at least attempts at it). and we finally—FINALLY—get confirmation that clary and jace are not siblings. (cheers!) 

but also … it’s still a mess. a glorious, campy, ridiculous mess. and i will ABSOLUTELY be reading the next one because i hate peace.

tldr:
 𖤐 better than book 1 and 2 but still kind of mid
 𖤐 clace are NOT siblings now so i can ship them with slightly less guilt
 𖤐 izzy is a queen. simon is a king. sebastian is the joker. valentine is an underwhelming voldemort.
 𖤐 cassie clare pls let female characters BREATHE
 𖤐 magnus sparkle bane supremacy
 𖤐 i need to read infernal devices immediately. like yesterday.