| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) | | | | | | | Description: | | Clary has to use all her ingenuity and newfound magical skills to get herself to the Glass City in Idris, the secretive Shadowhunters’ home country, where she is forbidden to go—for it is only there that she can find the cure to her mother’s enchanted sleeping sickness. When Valentine attacks the city and destroys the demon towers, Clary and her allies are all who stand between him and the total annihilation of all Shadowhunters. Love is a mortal sin and the past tangles inextricably with the present as Clary and Jace face down their father in this third volume of The Mortal Instruments. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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Average Customer Review:
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55 of 64 found the following review helpful:
 A satisfying endingMar 25, 2009
By A. Reader
Although my expectations were too high for City of Bones, I have to say that the series has gotten better with every book, leading to a very satisfying City of Glass read. Questions get answered; plot points get tied up, and you're left with a happy fuzzy feeling in the end.
I really enjoyed the characters in the books, especially CoG. Each character has really come a long way, and even when I disagreed with a character, I felt that they were completely within character; their personalities drove the plot, rather than a having series of random events they were just responding to. I also love that - with a few exceptions (Malachi, Sebastian) - they were all so multidimensional, shades of gray in a morally ambiguous world.
On Jace and Clary - I'd give this a 4/5, mainly because I've always felt a little awkward about their relationship, and it's not just the sibling thing. There were some beautiful and heartbreaking moments - again, back to characterization, I was definitely thinking "That's so Jace!" sometimes - but I also got the feeling that their relationship was unnecessarily drawn out. Maybe it's because I never got a good sense of Clary's relationship to the Lightwoods (early on, Clary saying to Isabelle, "But I thought you liked me!" and then later confronting Isabelle about not liking her, for example). But even though I'm happy with how things ended up, I think Clary and Jace really shined brighter when they were apart in this book, than in their scenes together.
On the other hand, some of the "minor" characters were wonderful. Alec and Magnus are a riot ("Your city is under attack...The wards have broken, and the streets are full of demons. And you want to know why I haven't called you?"). Aldertree reminded me of Umbridge. Simon grows up, while still maintaining his nerdiness.
I was not as fond of the thematic progress of the book, possibly because I'm re-reading Harry Potter right now and it seems so familiar, and the same ideas are in almost every fantasy book. You are the sum of your actions, not of your birth. Do what is right, and not what is easy. Villians always end up defeated because they just had to show off, and forgot some key thing. People are never who they say they are, and never trust a death to be final.
So I tend to be an impatient reader, and this might just be my fault, but I also found that skipping pages in the book didn't really make me miss much. You'll get the whole story just from reading Joceyln's talk with Clary and then the last chapter. The middle of the book was great, with some great moments, but I didn't feel the same compunction to read every word, the way I do with some other books.
Overall, even with my negative points, I'm really happy with this book. You'll laugh (Cassie has some great lines, and I'm a fan of anything nerdy). You'll be frustrated with the characters. Sometimes, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it first. In the end, this book delivers a very satisfying read - I'd imagine it sort of tastes like butterbeer.
27 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 A Perfect EndingMar 25, 2009
By Heather
I couldn't have asked for a better ending. I got everything I wanted. I don't want to summarize the book, I'll leave that to others, but I will say that there are some heartbreakingly beautiful scenes in this book. The characters became more developed and more endearing, especially Jace. His sarcastic wit is certainly present in this book; however, he is no longer hiding behind his carefully constructed facade. His torment over Clary is glaringly obvious from the first chapter.
I noticed that another review stated that she wished Clary and Jace hadn't have been as close as they were until they knew the truth about not being related, but I have to disagree. Clary was the only person in the world that made Jace feel like he belonged and she was the only person he belonged to and the fact that she didn't turn away from him when he told her that he loved her probably meant more to him than her waiting until she knew the truth to love him back the same way. He had resigned himself to love her always, no matter what, and I'm glad that he got to know that she had resigned herself to the same fate.
Cassandra Clare works magic with this novel. The excitement begins on the first page and doesn't stop until the final sentence. She brings everything full circle for a completely satisfying ending - even though fans would be more than happy to read about these beloved characters forever, I know I will miss them.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
What an ending...Feb 28, 2012
By Jussy Who
City of Glass opens with Clary and friends about to head to Alicante, the City of Glass, the hidden home of the Nephilim. However, things don't go as planned though. Simon is thrown into jail and Clary is separated from everyone except for Luke and must find her own way to Alicante. Once she's finally in the city, she finds Jace doesn't want her in the city. There she meets Sebastion another Shadowhunter who has a dark and terrible secret.
I think Clary is the perfect heroine and has come into her own by the end of the book. She's not too harsh, not too soft. No matter how afraid, she would do anything to save her family and friends.
Jace as always is the epitome of tortured hero. His character is darker in this book but he is still a good guy underneath it all.
The story is full of twists, one huge one in the form of Sebastian!
City of Glass has everything you would want in a book and for me has the perfect ending.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
4.5 stars Goes out with a bangMar 31, 2011
By Jem
After finishing City of Glass, I finally understand why these books are best-selling. The first two books were average, with just enough to keep me interested but nothing special. This volume knocked it out of the ballpark. The main characters become fully developed and the plot kicks into high gear with nearly non-stop action. Book two ended on a cliffhanger with someone telling Clary how to wake her mother. This book picks up immediately from there with everyone traveling to the fabled Alicante. The last Mortal Instrument is here, and Valentine will come for it. I was very happy to see the other characters (Luke, Alec, Magnus, et al) get fully involved in the story, as well as their relationships solidifying along with Jace and Clary's.
The book wasn't perfect. There are still more than a few info dumps, and the "forbidden love" between Jace and Clary dragged on way to long before being resolved. Still, the good significantly outweighed the bad. The mythology of Shadowhunters is expanded upon. Valentine's plot is more convoluted than previously hinted at and our heroes actually formulate plans in response to it, rather than just reacting to individual incidents. I especially loved that Valentine's downfall was so perfectly executed (the how and the who). Though the conclusion is very satisfying, there are just a few threads left with potential for more books. Overall, this trilogy was well worth reading and I look forward to the forthcoming City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments, Book 4), and the spin-off series "Infernal Devices."
19 of 27 found the following review helpful:
 I'm tornApr 23, 2009
By August R
I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I had some issues with this one. I FELT all 500+ pages, unfortunately. It seemed to take forever to get to the point of the book and then once we got there it was just okay. I was getting into the book a bit more toward the end, but I found myself thinking, geez, how many more pages do I have to go. I was annoyed with the death in the book. I felt very much that it was a death just to have a death and it didn't really add anything to the story.
I also found myself skimming a lot in this book. Clare really likes describing scenery and that's not a problem but when it seems to go on for pages then it's just too much. I never really connected with Clary either. That has been a constant throughout the series. I felt like she was just there to allow Clare to explain her world and we never really get who she actually is. Simon said she was fiesty or something like that, but I never really saw it that way. She was mostly passive and after a while I lost her completely.
I did think there were some creative things in the book. The world building, the biblical/angel details, all of that was very interesting to me. I am not familiar with alot of the things that people were saying the books resembles so I can't complain about any lack of originality. But with that said, I wasn't really suprised by anything that happened so maybe it did read like something I'd read/seen before.
And was it just me or was the epilogue longer than it needed to be? I Some of the information didn't seem at all needed. The scene with the Faery Queen was totally a waste of a page and a half. So many different pov's that didn't really show us anything we needed closure on.
All the same, I didn't hate the book, and I didn't want to throw it across the room like I did with Eclipse, but I don't see me reading it again. I will probably pick up the next book Clare releases because I do like aspects of her storytelling.
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