City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
(The Mortal Instruments: Two)
With each passing day Clay is beginning to find it harder and harder to treat her mother’s condition in hospital as temporary and often has to forcibly correct herself when she doesn’t. Thankfully though not everyone has forgotten her mother’s existence in this perilous world of demons and monsters. Clay’s ‘uncle’, Luke has hardly left Clay’s mother’s side since she was admitted into hospital but, with her condition unchanging, how long can Luke afford to stay by her side, letting exhaustion and lack of sleep slowly grind him down, when he has both a werewolf pack and Clay to look after?
Concern and anger in New York begins to rise with the appearance of a dead werewolf and fairy child, the fairy child found drained of blood and the werewolf child had, thankfully been found before a shadowy figure had time to complete the process. But why would anyone want to drain all the blood from their victims? Who else but, Valintine would be daring and foolish enough to brake The Accords by doing such a thing? The Accords being the only means by which this mythical and monster-filled society can function and life side by side in peace. Could these killings have something to do with Valentine’s raid on the Silent City? Will the revelation of Clay and Jace being related and nothing less than bother and sister to one another, be enough to stand in the way of their love for one another?
The return of Isabelle and Alex’s parents to the institute, brings tension and friction with it, concerning Jace’s heritage. The realisation that Jace is not in fact the son of Michael Wayland, the family’s long dead friend but, actually the son of Valentine, the Clave’s greatest enemy and the man who almost destroyed Isabelle and Alec’s parent’s lives and any chance of a happy future together, leads to anger and a sense of betrayal on all sides. With the timely arrival of The Inquisitor, could Jace be framed and locked up for the crime of simply being born? And could it all be a trick of the light or is Simon really getting skinnier, with more pronounced bones and darker eyes?
Teen Rating: Another brilliant read with plenty of twists and turns and a great series of books on a whole, even if the Netflix series may lead you to think otherwise. 13+ 4.1 /5
