The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes

City of Bones was so incredibly corny that I couldn't help but read the next one right away.

And I had already checked out City of Ashes at the same time anyway.

So.

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Same old, same old. Jace and Clary still struggle with their feelings for each other even though they discovered that they are brother and sister. Okay. So I guess I get this now. It's an interesting plot point (especially in a YA novel, since romance and sexual tension tends to sell), because they didn't grow up together, so having romantic feelings isn't all that far-fetched. And then when you find out something so strange as your crush being your long lost sibling (and your father is an evil mastermind), well...like I said, makes for an interesting plot point.

I started to like the characters more in this book, though Clare's writing still majorly sucks. It still feels like she wasn't really trying to create her own material; it felt more like a glorified fanfiction. And she could still take out most of the similes and not lose anything. I mean, really, how many times can you use "like an iceberg" before you notice it???? (I think she used that one twice in City of Bones and twice in City of Ashes. Still too many times.)

I do have to give her credit for her world building, though. Her visions of Idris (the Shadowhunter country) and Downworld New York are believable. She also sticks mostly to fantasy convention in that her vampires and werewolves and even the faeries are familiar. Not like some books I could name. *coughTwilightcough* Then again, Twilight went out on a limb and created an entirely different fantasy world...those books are a guilty pleasure of mine because I pretend to hate them but they're actually not that terrible. But I digress.

Oh, and the demons that Shadowhunters are sworn to kill? They are TERRIFYING. Clare has a good eye for what makes you shudder, that's for sure. Especially when she writes about Agramon, the Fear Demon. Oooh.

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I won't say anything more about the story; again, because of spoilers. I would rather not write a review that contains spoilers, and I only do it once in a great while. So, while this book was better than the first one, I still only give it 2 1/2 stars. Maybe 3.

At any rate, I think I'll leave Jace, Clary, Isabelle, and Alec alone for awhile and read something else.