Book #37 week #30, City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare

**Warning if you haven't read books one through four there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

In book four City of Fallen Angels  Jace fears he will harm Clary due to some scary dreams he is having. We later learn these dreams are being planted in his mind from a female demon who is trying to bring Sebastian back from the dead (and is trying to make more demon/human babies but failing miserably). In order to accomplish this the demon needs the help of Simon and that is why he was being attacked all the time. Simon is now living with Kyle (Jordan) who happens to be a werewolf and Maia's ex-boyfriend. Maia and Isabelle both break of their relationships with Simon, however Isabella starts coming back around and Maia reconnects with Jordan. Meanwhile the demon Lilith gets a hold of Jace, puts him under her spell and has him kidnap Clary. Jace, Clary and Simon end up on a rooftop with Lilith who is trying to bind Jace and Sebastian together and bring Sebastian back to life. However the trio manages to slay Lilith and the rest of the gang and the Clave come to the rescue and all seems well again. But while everyone is distracted Sebastian manages to take hold of Jace mentally, now Jace is under his control and they disappear together.

Since the sixth book in this series, City of Heavenly Fire, is due out until 2014! I am going to detail City of Lost Souls instead of just summarizing it. Okay Jace and Sebastian have disappeared and are nowhere to be found. However they come for Clary in the middle of the night. They want her to leave home and join them but a fight ensues with Luke and the pair run off.

Clary knows that they will be back though and she has on her a pair of faerie rings she promised to collect for the faerie queen. The rings allow the wearers to communicate with each other telepathically and Clary hatches a plan to go with Jace and use the rings to contact Simon to let him know where they are. The plan works for a short while until Clary takes some faerie drugs and wakes up without her ring. Jace has become a mindless lapdog for Sebastian and Sebastian keeps getting creepier and creepier. Eventually Clary learns of Sebastian's plans and is able to contact Simon with the information.

Meanwhile Simon decides to call on an angel to give him a weapon he can use to separate the bond  between Jace and Sebastian. The angel agrees in exchange for removing the Mark of Cain from Simon. When they are done Simon collapses and Isabelle rushes to him thinking he has died. Isabelle is starting to fall for him.

In the end Sebastian has raised the demon Lilith and is using her blood, in a second mortal cup he had forged, in order to change some of Valentine's followers into demons. Our band of heroes and Luke's wolf pack make it just in time to save Clary from being forced to drink from the cup but it is too late for Luke's sister who was kidnapped from her bed. A battle ensues, Simon cannot make it to Sebastian through the crowd so Clary grabs the angel's sword from him and stabs Jace through the chest. She took a huge risk but it works out in their favor and any evil inside of Jace is killed off. However in the chaos Sebastian disappears yet again.

Quotes:
“That thing that looks like me but isn't? He'll burn down the world if Sebastian wants him to, and laugh while he's doing it. That's what you're saving, Clary. That. Don't you understand? I'd rather be dead—” 

and

“I stabbed you. With a massive sword. You caught on fire."
His lips twitched, almost imperceptibly. "Okay, so maybe our problems aren't like other couples.”

Book #35 week #29, City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare

**Warning if you haven't read book one, two or three there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

City of Glass ended in a good spot. Technically speaking the series could have ended very neatly right there. Thankfully it didn't though! So book 3 left off with Jace and Clary back together since they finally found out they are not related, yay! Alec has come out to his family and is dating Magnus. Simon, who has moved from vampire to daylighter, now has the Mark of Cain protecting him for being hurt or killed. Clary's mom is back, Valentine is dead, Sebastian is dead (but his body is missing), poor little Max is dead and Jace has been brought back from being dead. Whew.

And that takes us to City of Fallen Angels. Jace and Clary are together now but he starts to pull away due to some very confusing and frightening dreams he has been having. Clary is finally training to become a full fledged Shadowhunter. Meanwhile Luke and Jocelyn are engaged and planning their wedding and Simon is dating both Isabelle and Maia.

The war is over but peace does not last long. Members of Valentine's old group the Circle are being killed and mysterious people in tracksuits keep showing up trying to kill Simon. All the while Simon is dealing with problems at home. He tries to tell his mom that he is a vampire but she freaks out on him and now Simon has no place to go. Poor guy can't catch a break!

Who knew Simon would be such a central character?

Quotes:

“You know, some people think Shadowhunters are just myths. Like mummies and genies." Kyle grinned at Jace. "Can you grant wishes?"

"That depends," he said. "Do you wish to be punched in the face?” 

and

“He looks," Simon had once said to Isabelle, "like he's thinking about something deep and meaningful, but if you ask him what it is, he'll punch you in the face.”

Book #34 week #29, City of Glass (Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instrument series just keeps getting better and better. **Warning if you haven't read book one or two there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

In the last book our good guys come face to face with the evil Valentine and wow what a ride! I thought for sure Simon had died but he came back and better than ever. In City of Glass, Clary wants to travel to the Shadowhunters homeland in search of a way to break the spell keeping her mother in a coma. However Jace is, surprise surprise, keeping his distance and doesn't want Clary coming along so he hatches a plan to leave her behind. Like any good book this blows up in his face and Clary ends up coming along on her own accord and almost dies in the process.

Meanwhile the Clave has decided they do not want a vampire in the city and have guaranteed Simon safe passage back home but the Clave ends up imprisoning him instead. Valentine is still plotting to take over and has people working on the inside to take down the wards that protect the city from demons. A lot of fighting and some surprising loss.

Lots of back story is given in City of Glass and several new characters are introduced. It was quite exciting trying to figure out who can be trusted and who is not what they appear to be. Excellent book.

Quotes:
“She supposed they were imperfections, those marks, but they didn't feel that way to her; they were a history, cut into his body: the map of a life of endless war.”

and
“Is this the part where you say if I hurt her, you'll kill me?"
"No" Simon said, "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons.”