City of Glass (Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters -- never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her new found powers to help save the Glass City -- whatever the cost?
Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Timesbestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.
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The conclusion to the Mortal Instruments trilogy was without a doubt my favorite book in the series. Yeah, the ending was a given, and yeah, there was a little bit of an easy conclusion, but it was still great. Clare has woven a world extremely intricate and beautiful, while maintaining characters that were complicated and three-dimensional too. Jace remained snarky, but his human side showed more in this book, and I don't know about everyone else, but that made him all the more smoldering to me. Clary was great in this book; she became the strong, confident, emotional character Mortal Instruments fans have come to know and love. The love story in City of Glass was fantastic and I was just about screaming by the time I was a hundred pages in. Clare really knew how to drag out the inevitable. Simon's story got a little complicated, which I liked, since his story basically revolved around Clary a little bit too much in the first two books. Isabelle wasn't nearly as annoying and Alec was the sweetheart that I loved from book one, but with a little more of his story revealed. I couldn't get over how cute he was with who he ended up with. Magnus Bane was fabulous, once again, and probably one of my favorite secondary characters ever. Aside from the characters, the descriptions weren't quite as intense in this book, but they were still good, adding some, if not a lot to this book. The story couldn't have been better; the twists felt real and they managed to surprise me (somewhat). The ending was definitely one of my favorite endings to a series in forever. So many authors pull a twist at the end that leaves readers gasping, and while Clare didn't go there, it made it all that much better; the characters (basically) got what they deserved.
5 stars and a recommendation to fans of the series. Definitely, definitely, definitely read the entire series.
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Side note: I'm still not thrilled about the next installment in this series. I can't help but feel like it should've stayed a trilogy. Not only that, but what Mortal Instruments are left? Someone'll have to tell me whether City of Fallen Angels is worth reading first.

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

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Sigh. This series is absolutely one of my favorites, and since I've read quite a few reviews recently, I decided to re-read the books and write reviews on here. Some books I've loved, then re-read and wondered what I saw in them the first time; this was definitely not the case with City of Bones. If it was anything, this novel was fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action. From the prologue to the last page, this book was action-packed, and when it wasn't biting-your-fingernails fast, it was beautifully written. Clare has really created a gorgeous, complicated world that readers are sucked into immediately. It begins with Clary noticing a boy no one else seems to notice; after following him, she discovers Jace, Alec, and Isabelle, three Shadowhunters. The Shadowhunter world revolves around them killing demons escaped from other dimensions. Okay, so I know I said that I'm tired of the whole seeing-invisible-faeries/other-mythical-creatures, but it was extremely well-done, and Clare is great at explaining things slowly, making it easy to follow. The information about this new invisible world is presented in a readable way, not overcrowding or leaving too much to the imagination. The characters were some of my favorites all time; Clary was great: the perfect amount of sweet, naive, and holding her own. Jace... Oh, Jace, what can I say about you? He's got to be in my top five fictional characters that should be real. He's an arrogant, smart-ass, sensitive, gorgeous blonde. What more can you ask for? I loved Simon, Clary's best friend (was I the only one who realized where their conversation in the peotry cafe was going before Jace pointed it out?), mostly because he reminded me so much of myself. Isabelle was too snotty in my opinion, since she took a really, really long time to warm up slightly to Clary. Alec was my second favorite; he was so adorable, and I, honestly, was surprised by the twist in his love story. Made me sad, but I'm a Jace/Clary fan all the way. The story line was great, as I said before, and even though in my opinion it was a character-driven novel, it's easy to see why it could be considered a plot-driven book. Lastly, I loved how the world Clare created had demons, angels, werewolves, faeries, vampires, and creatures of her own creation. I wish I lived in this world.

5 stars and a recommendation to action/romance fans and any teen readers. I've recommended this book series to just about all of my friends, even non-readers.