Review: City of Lost Souls

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments Book 5) by Cassandra Clare-Notes & Highlights

1. The book is about the demon, Lilith, who has just been destroyed and Jace and Sebastian are missing. The Clave's magic cannot locate either boy, but Jace still meets Clary and she soon discovers that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle bargain with the Seelie Queen, contemplate deals with demons, and turn to the weapon-making Iron Sisters, who might be able to forge a weapon that can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. They must do it without Clary because she is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. Love. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series. 

2. Supernatural

3. Jace Wayland had always been independent and somehow self-possessed, having been taught not to betray himself to emotions as a child. In the previous book he was possessed by the Greater demon, Lilith, and he hurt Clary, so he couldn't face her with what he did.

Clary Fray is incredibly stubborn and sarcastic, traits born out of her mother's over-protectiveness. She is also a very caring and compassionate person. She is a really determined young woman, she wants answers to how to find Jace, so she uses the bell the Seelie Queen gave her so she can summon her, but it comes with a risk. She takes that risk with her friends, all to save Jace.

4. I am on Chapter 2 and I am enjoying it so far.

5. I would recommend this book because there are so many questions to be answered in this series that you just have to read on to figure them out. She's willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

I think I bought this book online at discoverbooks.com or thriftbooks.com

---

“He had grown up within the walls of the Brooklyn row house” (1).

I think that these townhouses are absolutely gorgeous! I want to live in one someday. I just wish it didn’t have so many windows.

“There were no clocks in Isabelle’s black and hot-pink powder-puff bedroom, just piles of clothes, heaps of books, stacks of weapons, a vanity overflowing with sparkling makeup, used brushes, and open drawers spilling lacy slips, sheer tights, and feather boas. It had a certain backstage-at-La-Cage-aux-Folles design aesthetic, but over the past two weeks Clary had spent enough time among the glittering mess to have begun to find it comforting” (7).

I love it! 💖💖💖😍 *heart eyes*

The way that Clare describes Isabelle’s room reminds me a bit of Sex and the City.

La-Cage-aux-Folles is a 1973 musical by Harvey Fierstein and Jean Poiret.

“...Not with Jace missing. You must all be so worried.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I know people have probably said all sorts of stupid things to you about him. The way they do when they don’t really know what to say. I just—I wanted to tell you something.’ She ducked away from a passer-by with impatience and moved closer to the Lightwoods and Clary, lowering her voice. ‘Alec, Izzy—I remember once when you guys came to see us in Idris. I was thirteen and Jace was—I think he was twelve. He wanted to see Brocelind Forest, so we borrowed some horses and rode there one day. Of course, we got lost. Brocelind’s impenetrable. It got darker and the woods got thicker and I was terrified. I thought we’d die there. But Jace was never scared. He was never anything but sure we’d find our way out. It took hours, but he did it. He got us out of there. I was so grateful but he just looked at me like I was crazy. Like of course he’d get us out. Failing wasn’t an option. I’m just saying—he’ll find his way back to you. I know it.’

Clary didn’t think she’d ever seen Izzy cry, and she was clearly trying not to now. Her eyes were suspiciously wide and shining. Alec was looking at his shoes. Clary felt a wellspring of misery wanting to leap up inside her but forced it down; she couldn’t think about Jace when he was twelve, couldn’t think about him lost in the darkness, or she’d think about him now, lost somewhere, trapped somewhere, needing her help, expecting her to come, and she’d break. ‘Aline,’ she said, seeing that neither Isabelle nor Alec could speak. ‘Thank you.’

Aline flashed a shy smile. ‘I mean it’” (26).

♥️

“He looked about twelve, with an impish grin and the same shocking blue-green eyes as his sister, though his hair was dark brown. ‘We’re back. We should probably go before Jules destroys the whole place. Not to mention that I have no idea where Tibs and Livvy have gone.’

‘They were eating wax,’ the boy—Jules—supplied helpfully.

‘Oh, God,’ Helen groaned, and then looked apologetic. ‘Never mind me. I’ve got six younger brothers and sisters and one older. It’s always a zoo’” (27).

So Julian Blackthorn was twelve years old in 2012? In my physical copy of the book it says, “I’ve got five younger brothers and sisters and one older,” and the audiobook said six like it says here. I need to confirm. Okay, so I looked at the Blackthorn family tree and I don’t know what Helen is talking about. I don't think she had an older sibling because the family tree doesn’t show it. Unless there is a secret that Cassandra Clare is keeping and she dropped an easter egg here. 🥚

“‘Basia coquum,’ Simon said. ‘Or whatever their motto is.’ 

‘It's ‘Descensus Averno facilis est.’ ‘The descent into hell is easy,’’ said Alec. ‘You just said ‘Kiss the cook.’ 

‘Dammit,’ said Simon. ‘I knew Jace was screwing with me’” (29).

“Magnus’s door was cracked slightly open, and the sounds of music playing softly wafted out into the hall. Today it was Tchaikovsky.

…

It smelled like the things he associated with Magnus: ink, cologne, Lapsang Souchong tea, the burned-sugar smell of magic” (39).

I added a song of Tchaikovsky’s in my “The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare” Spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/09rE17Eu4dSiPj7olRNXGf?si=13865bb8589641b3

Lapsang Souchong tea is a strong black tea. I could smell all that Alec described!

“Simon, who had been sitting on the bed playing with his DS, looked up at her in surprise. ‘Everything okay?’

She tried to smile at him. He was a familiar sight in this room—they’d slept over at Luke’s often enough when they were growing up. She’d done what she could to make this room hers instead of a spare room. Photos of herself and Simon, the Lightwoods, herself with Jace and with her family, were stuck haphazardly into the frame of the mirror over the dresser. Luke had given her a drawing board, and her art supplies were sorted neatly into a stack of cubbyholes beside it.

…

Evidence of her Shadowhunter life lay scattered about as well—a fat copy of The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her notes and drawings scribbled into the margins, a shelf of books on the occult and paranormal, her stele atop her desk, and a new globe, given to her by Luke, that showed Idris, bordered in gold, in the center of Europe. And Simon, sitting in the middle of her bed, cross-legged, was one of the few things that belonged both to her old life and her new one. He looked at her with his eyes dark in his pale face, the glimmer of the Mark of Cain barely visible on his forehead” (44).

“The first day the Council had interrogated her, she’d come home and crawled into bed. She’d lain there wide awake until there’d been a knock on her window and Simon had crawled inside, nearly tumbling onto the floor. He’d climbed onto the bed and stretched out beside her without a word. His skin had been cold from the outside, and he’d smelled like city air and oncoming winter chill. 

She had touched her shoulder to his, dissolving a tiny part of the tension that clamped her body like a clenched fist. His hand had been cold, but it had been familiar, like the texture of his corduroy jacket against her arm.

‘How long can you stay?’ she had whispered into the darkness.

‘As long as you want.’

She’d turned on her side to look at him. ‘Won’t Izzy mind?’

‘She’s the one who told me I should come over here. She said you weren’t sleeping, and if having me with you will make you feel better, I can stay. Or I could just stay until you fall asleep.’

Clary had exhaled her relief. ‘Stay all night,’ she’d said. ‘Please.’

He had. That night she had had no bad dreams.

As long as he was there, her sleep was dreamless and blank, a dark ocean of nothingness. A painless oblivion” (46-47).

I really do love Simon and Clary’s relationship so much! It kind of reminds me of Naomi and Ely. Their love for each other is so precious! ♥️♥️ *best friends emoji*

“Between the locked bookshelves were glass display cases. Each held something of rare and beautiful workmanship … a pendant in the shape of an angel whose wings were clockwork cogs and gears” (55).

♡ OMG!

So Clary was sneaking into the Institute’s library to steal a set of gold rings for the Seelie Queen and those rings were in this locked bookcase. I love that Tessa’s Clockwork Angel is kept safe in the New York Institute library. I have always wondered if she would keep that pendant now that it was empty of her guardian angel. I also wonder where she is right now.

“...said Simon, leaning back against a boulder. The autumn sunlight turned his eyes the color of coffee grounds” (67).

🤎

For some reason, because Luke owns a bookstore I also imagine him owning a coffee shop and being the barista serving handmade coffee that he made with the siphon method. And I bet that his coffee shop and bookstore would both smell so good! Mmm! 😌

“The other part of her, the part that had hidden her parents’ secret from her brothers all her life, wanted to curl up on the landing and be alone with her misery” (147).

“‘No,’ said Magnus. ‘To love as you choose, that takes strength. The thing is, I wanted you here for him. There are things I can’t do for him, can’t give him.’ For a moment Magnus looked oddly vulnerable himself. ‘You have known Jace as long as he has. You can give him understanding I can’t. And he loves you.’

‘Of course he loves me. I’m his sister.’

‘Blood isn’t love,’ said Magnus, and his voice was bitter. ‘Just ask Clary’” (152).

I think Magnus is talking about Clary and her brother Jonathon (Sebastion). Even though their blood-related, Clary doesn't love him, though he is her REAL brother. 

This quote reminds me of this scene in Drake and Josh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_YsB31zkFE

“Slowly she touched the ring on her right hand with the fingers of her left. Simon?

The reply came immediately. Yeah?

Where are you?

Walking toward the subway. Did you Portal home?

Luke’s. If Jace comes like I think he will, this is where he’ll come to.

A silence. Then, Well, I guess you know how to get me if you need me.

I guess I do. Clary took a deep breath. Simon?

Yeah?

I love you.

A pause. I love you, too.

And that was all. There was no click, as when you hung up a phone; Clary just sensed a severing of their connection, as if a cord had been cut inside her head. She wondered if this was what Alec meant when he talked about the breaking of the parabatai bond” (153).

♥️

“He shoved the bottle back into the fridge and headed for his room. It would be the first night he’d slept at home in a week. He’d grown used to having someone to share a bed with, a body to roll against in the middle of the night. He liked the way Clary fit against him, curled asleep with her head on her hand; and, if he had to admit it to himself, he liked that she couldn’t sleep unless he was with her. It made him feel indispensable and needed—even if the fact that Jocelyn didn’t appear to care whether he slept in her daughter’s bed or not did underscore that Clary’s mother apparently regarded him as about as sexually threatening as a goldfish.

Of course, he and Clary had shared beds often, from the time they were five until they were about twelve. That might have had something to do with it, he mused, pushing his bedroom door open. Most of those nights they’d spent engaged in torrid activities, like having contests to see who could take the longest to eat a single Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Or they’d sneaked in a portable DVD player and—” (154).

So cute! XD ♥️ *blushes* 

“‘Ignis aurum probat,’

…

‘It means “Fire tests gold.”’

…

‘They don't just mean forges and metalwork. They mean that adversity tests one's strength of character. In difficult times, in dark times, some people shine’” (185).

“She tightened her hand on Jace’s. She felt very far away here from everything in her life, distant in a way that she had not felt in Idris. Venice shared with Alicante the sense of being a place out of time, torn from the past, as if she had stepped into a painting or the pages of a book. But it was also a real place, one she had grown up knowing about, wanting to visit. She looked sidelong at Jace, who was gazing down the canal. The steely blue light was on him, too, darkening his eyes, the shadows under his cheekbones, the lines of his mouth. When he caught her gaze on him, he looked over and smiled” (217).

“She thought of what he had said about the city sinking, and the spaces between the stars, and remembered the lines of a Leonard Cohen song that Simon’s band used to cover, not very well. ‘There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in’” (219).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWmh6KJAXY

“The way the memory of someone who had once lived in a house might linger even after they were gone, like a sort of psychic imprint…” (231).

“...One must preserve some mystery in one's relationship, Alec Lightwood. A book that one has not read yet is always more exciting than a book one has memorized’” (250).

“He felt like he’d been caught up in a tornado and deposited somewhere very far away, where nothing was familiar” (268).

“Clary’s hand tensed on her fork, her knuckles whitening. She hated that little voice in her head. Like the Seelie Queen, it planted doubts where there shouldn’t be doubts, asked questions that had no answer” (271).

“Maryse rolled her shoulders back. She felt cramped and tired and old. ‘Brother Zachariah. I was expecting—Well. It doesn’t matter.’

Brother Enoch? He is senior to me, but I thought perhaps that your call might have something to do with the disappearance of your adoptive son. I have a particular interest in his well-being.

She looked at him curiously. Most Silent Brothers didn’t editorialize, or speak of their personal feelings, if they had any” (276).

Another Will + Jem reference! This made me smile :)

“...There is little more powerful than the love of family” (278).

“...And try not to let fear for Jace devour you. He is a Herondale, and they are survivors—

Something snapped inside Maryse. ‘He is not a Herondale. He is a Lightwood. Jace Lightwood. He’s my son.’

There was a long pause. Then, I did not mean to imply otherwise, said Brother Zachariah” (279).

“…but there was something about the still loveliness of the city, its spires rising into mist in the distance, that made her want to be quiet, to look and to think on her own” (281).

“‘“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there,”’ Jace said. ‘That’s the whole quote’” (282).

“A wall of sound and light hit Clary the moment she entered the club. It was a big, tightly packed space that looked like it had once been the interior of a church. She could still see stained-glass windows high up in the walls. Darting colored spotlights picked out the blissed-out faces of dancers in the churning crowd, lighting them up one at a time: hot pink, neon green, burning violet. There was a DJ booth along one wall, and trance music blasted from the speakers. The music pounded up through her feet, into her blood, vibrating her bones. The room was hot with the press of bodies and the smell of sweat and smoke and beer” (306).

Yas! ➰ I love that trance music is always playing at these club scenes!

I feel like this song would be playing in the background.

“‘Read to me,’ she said suddenly.

He blinked down at her. ‘What?’

She was looking past him, at the books on his nightstand. ‘It’s a lot to process,’ she said. ‘What Sebastian said, what happened last night, everything. I need to sleep, but I’m too keyed up. When I was young and I couldn’t sleep, my mother used to read to me to relax me.’

‘And I remind you of your mother now? I have got to look into a manlier cologne.’

‘No, it’s just—I thought it would be nice.’

He scooted back against the pillows, reaching for the stack of books by the bed. ‘Anything particular you want to hear?’ With a flourish he picked up the book on top of the stack. It looked old, leather-bound, the title stamped in gold on the front. A Tale of Two Cities. ‘Dickens is always promising…’

‘I’ve read that before. For school,’ Clary recalled. She scooted up on the pillows beside Jace. ‘But I don’t remember any of it, so I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.’

‘Excellent. I’ve been told I have a lovely, melodic reading voice.’ He flipped the book open to the front page, where the title was printed in ornate script. Across from it was a long dedication, the ink faded now and barely legible, though Clary could make out the signature: With hope at last, William Herondale.

‘Some ancestor of yours,’ Clary said, brushing her finger against the page.

‘Yes. Odd that Valentine had it. My father must have given it to him.’ Jace opened to a random page and began to read:

…

‘Oh, I do remember this story now,’ Clary said. ‘Love triangle. She picks the boring guy.’

Jace chuckled softly. ‘Boring to you. Who can say what got Victorian ladies hot beneath the petticoats?’

‘It’s true, you know.’

‘What, about the petticoats?’

‘No. That you have a lovely reading voice.’ Clary turned her face against his shoulder. It was times like this, more than when he was kissing her, that hurt—times when he could have been her Jace. As long as she kept her eyes closed. 

‘All that, and abs of steel,’ Jace said, turning another page. ‘What more could you ask for?’” (385-386).

Lol OMG ;) <3

💙 YAS! XD We get a Will reference here!

“As I strolled down along the quay

All in the lateness of the day

I heard a lovely maiden say:

“Alack, for I can get no play.”

A minstrel boy heard what she said

And straight he rushed to her aid…

…

To mirror went she straightaway

And did her ebon hair array

And for her gown she much did pay.

Then down she walked along the street,

A handsome lad she chanced to meet,

And sore by dawn were her dainty feet,

But all the boys were gay.

Isabelle snorted. ‘All the boys are gay. In this truck, anyway. Well, not you, Simon.’

‘You noticed,’ said Simon.

‘I think of myself as a freewheeling bisexual,’ added Magnus” (387-389).

Molly Quinn, narrator of this book, laughed when she read the word, Simon (underlined). XD lol I mean it was pretty funny, so I can’t blame her.

💜 Also, wasn’t this line used in the Shadowhunters TV show? I have to find a clip of that!

By the way, this poem is actually a ballad by Elka Cloke called, Alack for I Can Get No Play, which you can find here: http://www.elkacloke.com/i-have-a-fan.

“‘Iz,’ Alec said tiredly. ‘It's not like it's one big bad thing. It's a lot of little invisible things. When Magnus and I were traveling, and I'd call from the road, Dad never asked how he was. When I get up to talk in Clave meetings, no one listens, and I don't know if that's because I'm young or if it's because of something else. I saw Mom talking to a friend about her grand-children and the second I walked into the room they shut up. Irina Cartwright told me it was a pity no one would ever inherit my blue eyes now.’ He shrugged and looked toward Magnus, who took a hand off the wheel for a moment to place it on Alec's. ‘It's not like a stab wound you can protect me from. It's a million little paper cuts every day’” (390).

• Safe In The Storm by 4 Strings reminds me of how Clary is trying to save Jace from his other self that Johnathan Christopher Morgenstern controls in City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MZT2QCKaRAY

“Part Three

All Is Changed

​​All changed, changed utterly: 

A terrible beauty is born. 

—William Butler Yeats, ‘Easter, 1916’” (409).

“He couldn’t quite fathom not talking to Clary one last time before he died—he couldn’t even remember the last words they’d exchanged. And yet if he closed his eyes, he could hear her laughter drifting over the orchard; he could remember what it had been like, before they had grown up and everything had changed. If he died here, perhaps it would be appropriate. Some of his best memories were here, after all. If the Angel struck him down with fire, his ashes could sift through the apple orchard and over the lake. Something about the idea seemed peaceful.

He thought of Isabelle. Then of his family—his mother, his father, and Becky. Clary, he thought lastly. Wherever you are, you’re my best friend. You’ll always be my best friend. 

He raised the spell book and began to chant” (416).

💔 *teary eyed*

“He craned his head back. ‘Speaking of hope, did you see that shot Alec got off with his bow? That’s my boyfriend.’ He beamed and wiggled his fingers; blue sparks shot from them. He shone all over. Only Magnus, Simon thought resignedly, would have access to sequined battle armor” (478).

Lol yas *glitter hands* ✨

“Amatis drove the knife toward Magnus’s heart—just as an arrow whistled through the air and thumped into her shoulder, knocking her aside with such force that she spun halfway around and fell face-forward to the rocky ground. She was screaming, a noise quickly drowned out by the clash of weapons all around them. Isabelle knelt down by Magnus’s side; Simon, glancing up, saw Alec on the stone tomb, standing frozen with the bow in his hands. He was probably too far away to see Magnus clearly” (483).

I got teary eyed here, Alec saving Magnus :’( I knew it was Alec even before it was said that Alec shot the arrow.

“‘No.’ Magnus's eyebrows drew together. ‘Amatis was aiming for my heart, but she didn't get anything vital. The problem is that the blood loss is sapping my energy and my ability to heal myself.’ He took a deep breath that ended in a cough. ‘Here, give me your hand.’ He raised his hand, and Alec twined their fingers together, Magnus's palm hard against his. ‘Do you remember, the night of the battle on Valentine's ship, when I needed some of your strength?’ 

‘Do you need it again now?’ Alec said. ‘Because you can have it.’ 

‘I always need your strength, Alec,’ Magnus said, and closed his eyes as their intertwined fingers began to shine, as if between them they held the light of a star” (492-493).

“‘You know men. We have delicate egos.’

‘I wouldn’t describe Jace’s ego as delicate’” (505).

This line made me literally laugh out loud! XD

“Luke glanced around the bed and sighed. ‘Jocelyn thought wedding planning might be good for us. Return to normalcy and all that.’ There were shadows under his blue eyes. Jocelyn had been the one to break the news to him about Amatis, while he was still at the police station. Though Clary had greeted him with hugs when he’d come home, he hadn’t mentioned his sister once, and neither had she. ‘If it was up to me, I would elope to Vegas and have a fifty-dollar pirate-themed wedding with Elvis presiding.’

‘I could be the wench of honor,’ Clary suggested. She looked at Simon expectantly. ‘And you could be…’

‘Oh, no,’ he said. ‘I am a hipster. I am too cool for themed weddings.’

‘You play D and D. You’re a geek,’ she corrected him fondly.

‘Geek is chic,’ Simon declared. ‘Ladies love nerds’” (506).

Lol XD <3

“The subway tunnel…” (507).

MALEC OVER 😭

“Isabelle fiddled with some nonexistent lint on her cuff. ‘Tell him what?’

‘How you feel about him.’

Isabelle looked mutinous. ‘I shouldn’t have to.’

Clary shook her head. ‘God. You and Alec, you’re so alike—’

Isabelle’s eyes widened. ‘We are not! We are totally not alike. I date around; he’s never dated before Magnus. He gets jealous; I don’t—’

‘Everyone gets jealous.’ Clary spoke with finality. ‘And you’re both so stoic. It’s love, not the Battle of Thermopylae. You don’t have to treat everything like it’s a last stand. You don’t have to keep everything inside’” (515).

“Clary Fray. The voice in her head was amused, and also familiar. It had no sound, but she recognized the shape of the thoughts, the way you might recognize the way someone laughed or breathed.

‘Brother Zachariah.’ Resignedly she slid the stele back in place and moved closer to him, wishing Isabelle had stayed with her.

I presume you are here to see Jonathan, he said, lifting his head from the meditative stance. His face was still in shadow beneath the hood, though she could see the shape of an angular cheekbone. Despite the orders of the Brotherhood.

‘Please call him Jace. It’s too confusing otherwise.’

“Jonathan” is a fine old Shadowhunter name, the first of names. The Herondales have always kept names in the family—

‘He wasn’t named by a Herondale,’ Clary pointed out. ‘Though he has a dagger of his father’s. It says S.W.H. on the blade.’

Stephen William Herondale.

Clary took another step toward the doors, and toward Zachariah. ‘You know a lot about the Herondales,’ she said. ‘And of all the Silent Brothers, you seem the most human. Most of them never show any emotion. They’re like statues. But you seem to feel things. You remember your life.’

Being a Silent Brother is life, Clary Fray. But if you mean I remember my life before the Brotherhood, I do.

Clary took a deep breath. ‘Were you ever in love? Before the Brotherhood? Was there ever anyone you would have died for?’

There was a long silence. Then:

Two people, said Brother Zachariah. There are memories that time does not erase, Clarissa. Ask your friend Magnus Bane, if you do not believe me. Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.

‘Well, I don’t have forever,’ said Clary in a small voice. ‘Please let me in to see Jace.’

Brother Zachariah did not move. She still could not see his face, only a suggestion of shadows and planes beneath the hood of his robe. Only his hands, clasped in front of him.

‘Please,’ Clary said” (516-517).

We get a Tessa and Will reference here!

“The arched ceiling of the infirmary was blue, painted with a rococo pattern of cherubs trailing gold ribbons, and white drifting clouds” (519).

​​CITY OF LOST SOULS BY CASSANDRA CLARE: booktalk with XTINEMAY (ep 34)