Audio Book Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?

My Review:  For the third audio book, it was a different woman who read the story and it bothered me a little at first. I prefer when they use the same person throughout  the hole series, but eventually, I forgot all about it because the story was so good. City of Glass was by far my favorite book of The Mortal Instruments. The pacing was great, there where a lot of unexpected turn of events, there was drama, romance action, and comedy, I mean come on, what's not to love about this book! In the first two novels, I often thought Clary needed a reality check because she was childish, extremely impulsive and selfish at times. She caused so many problems and I was always thinking, why isn't there anyone who puts her in her place!?! But finally, someone did in book three yeah! And then Clary slowly became more responsible and rational and I enjoyed following her personnel growth through this book. I do not know if City of Glass was supposed to be the last book in The Mortal Instruments, but it could've been. Everything came together at the end and I would've been satisfied if the saga ended with this third book. If you haven't read the series yet, I do recommend it even though I didn't really like the first book, because it definitely does get better with book two and three. 

Nina xx

I'm currently:

Listening: Audio book City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Reading: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Playing: Bioshock (I know, I know! It's taking me forever to finish it...)

Craving: Poutine

Nina xx

Audio Book Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

***** There will be spoilers for the first book in the series, but none for this one! *****

Synopsis: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what''s normal when you''re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who''s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn''t ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary''s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil -- and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings -- and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?
In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City''s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

My review: First of all, I was hesitant buying City of Ashes because I liked the first one but I didn't love it and to my surprise, I thought this book was a lot better than the first one. The story was read by another woman and I did like the way she told the story better . At the end of City of Bones, you learn that Jace is Clary's brother and I was so surprised. You see it coming but you think, there is no way the author is going to go there because they have such strong feelings for each other and they did kiss... But it went there and this is actually the thing that made me buy the sequel because I was just too curious to know what was going to happen in City of Ashes. Through out the hole book, I was screaming please let him not be her brother!!! They love each other!! And I know Simon is a very nice boy and would make a great boyfriend, but come on! He is the best friend that makes you think of a brother... In this book, there was action, romance, deaths, surprises, demons, blood, happiness, sadness, passion, I loved it! This series has become my guilty pleasure. I listen to it when I do my dishes, while I'm on the bus, and even at work sometimes! The story holds it self, there where no moments when I thought there were contradictions in the plot. It's not the fighting against Valentine and the ''mean'' Downworlders  that captivated me, it was more the relationships that developed between the characters that intrigued me. There are a lot of unanswered questions  in this novel and that is what makes you want to jump immediately to City of Glass, the third book in the series. I intend to read the hole series, but I heard the sixth book doesn't come out until 2014 and normally, I don't like to wait that long for books to come out and I wish I could make the five other books last longer, but now that I've started  The Mortal Instruments series, I just can't stop myself.

Nina xx

Audio Book Review: The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

******* There will be no spoilers in this review! *******

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.

But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know.... 

My review: I was warned before buying the audio version of this book that it wasn't that good and that I should read it, but instead I purchased the audio book anyways and to be honest, I had to listen to the story twice. The first time I ended up not finishing the audio book because I wasn't into it, but recently, I came across a lot of good reviews about the series so I thought why not give it another try. The second time I enjoyed it more but it wasn't one of my favorite book. I felt like Clary was just a follower, she never really fought and  seemed like a damsel in distress that needed to be saved all the time. The thing that pushed me to finish the story was the love triangle between Clary, Jace and Simon because I'm a big sucker for romance and there is a huge twist in the end that left me eager to see what was going to happen next. If it wasn't for those two things, I probably wouldn't have continued  the series. Also, at times the girl who was telling the story seemed off for example, Clary should have been angry or surprised but the voice she used was calm.
These were just my thoughts on the book and I know a lot of people adored The Mortal Instruments  but I think you have to get to the third book to truly enjoy the series because apparently you get explanations to all the questions unanswered in the two first books.

Nina xx

I'm currently:

Reading: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

                          

             

Listening: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

                                 

Playing: Bioshock

Nina xx