City of Lost Souls (Cassandra Clare)

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Disclaimer: this summary will almost definitely be confusing unless you have read the other books in the Mortal Instruments series.  Which I recommend that you do.

         Less than half an hour after the demon Lilith was banished, Jace disappears.  Also missing is the corpse of Sebastian, Clary Fray's hated brother.  The Clave has searched for both boys, but they have given up to focus their energy on other problems.  Clary is sick with worry for Jace, but soon he shows up at her house - with Sebastian, who is alive - and asks her to come and live with them.  Jace reveals that he and Sebastian were bound together both physically and mentally by Lilith.  Despite the fact that he is in on Sebastian's twisted new plan, Clary can't bear to abandon Jace.  Clary risks everything to go with Jace and try to save him from Sebastian and from himself.  Meanwhile, Jace's closest friends are trying to find a way to sever the bond and separate him from Sebastian.  The Clave will stop at nothing to kill Sebastian, even if it means hurting one of their own.  If Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, and Magnus don't succeed, the Clave will take Sebastian out - despite the fact that Jace will die in the process.

         I always enjoy reading Cassandra Clare's books, and City of Lost Souls was no exception.  Though the concept behind the Mortal Instruments series seemed strange to me at first, it's really easy to get sucked into the New York City that is crawling with warlocks, Shadowhunters, vampires and demons.  All of the books in this series (and its companion series, the Infernal Devices) are full of evil plots by power-hungry psychopaths and epic plans to stop them from taking over.  Cassandra Clare usually achieves the perfect balance between romance and bone-chilling encounters with creepy demon things.  I definitely recommend this series - start with the first book, City of Bones.

Rating: 4/5
Completed: June 15, 2012