City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Book Two)

Cassandra Clare Website

Book Details: Written by New York Times Best Selling Author Cassandra Clare. Published March 25th, 2008. 453 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Synopsis of City of Ashes: City of Bones ends with the disappointing information that Clary and Jace are brother and sister and their father is Valentine, an evil mastermind and murderer. Clary has her mother back but she is still in a magical sleep state that no one knows how to get her out of.  Clary has moved in with Luke, who she recently discovered is a werewolf, and she has started dating her best friend Simon. Now that The Clave, the ruling government of the shadowhunters, knows who Jace's father really is The Inquisitor, leader of The Clave, comes to the institute in New York to interrogate Jace. Inquisitor Herondale believes that Jace was put there as a spy for Valentine and treats him like a criminal the moment she meets him. She sends him to the underground city of bones prison for the night until she can properly interrogate him.

Clary discovers from Isabelle that Jace has been sent to the prison and immediately meets Isabelle and Alec to help break Jace out. Before they can reach the city of bones, Valentine shows up with the demon of fear to steal the next mortal instrument, the sword.  Jace refuses to leave with his father, he wants no part of the crazy Valentine has created. Clary, Alec and Isabelle show up in the underground city to discover blood and death everywhere they look. They find Jace locked up and huddled in his cell Clary breaks him out and together they all leave to with the intention of sending back The Clave. On their way back out they run into a group of shadowhunters responding to a distress call.  The Inquisitor again believes Jace has a part to play in the break in and puts him under house arrest under the custody of Magnus Bane.

While with Magnus, the Queen of the faeries requests the presence of Jace, Clary and Isabelle. Simon tags along, because anywhere Clary goes he goes, and the gang runs into a little trouble with the queen leaving them all confused and upset. Later that night Simon has a run in with some downworlders that he will never come back from.  Jace finally realizes where Valentine is hiding after some demons attack Luke. Jace borrows a vampire motorcycle in order to fly to his fathers location, again refusing to join up with Valentine even after he offers to spare all of Jace's friends. 

The inquisitor plans to bargain with Valentine, Jace's life for the mortal instruments, which ends in an all out battle of good and evil.  All our favorite characters very narrowly escape with their lives. In the end Clary is confronted at the hospital by an old friend of her mothers, telling her to find the warlock Ragnor Fell in order to make the antidote needed to wake her mother up. 

My Thoughts: Never a dull moment!! This series is impossible to set down, even reading this the second time around I can't get enough!  It is hard to watch Jace and Clary struggle over their feelings for each other even after finding out they are brother and sister. I cannot believe what happens to Simon on multiple occasions in this book but all of it happens for a reason and makes the book that much better! 

Luke is definitely one of my favorite characters, always there for Clary and her friends when they need him. I loved that he finally confesses to Clary how much he loves her mother. Also I love when the Inqisitor sees the birth mark on Jace's shoulder, I had already read the prequel series The Infernal Devices and knew immediately what the birthmark meant, great foreshadowing!!  The book ends in an all out battle making it impossible to stop reading!! Overall I love this series!!