RATING GUIDE:
5 – A keeper!
4 – Very good
3 – Passable
2 – I’d rather read
a telephone book
1 – An absolute bomb.
Read at your own risk!
“City of Souls” is the fifth installment in Cassandra
Clare’s “Mortal Instruments” series.
The story begins with Simon, who has just arrived home following that
big showdown with Lilith in the fourth book.
It’s immediately angst-laden, for Simon is barred from his own home by
his mother, who thinks he is a monster that has killed and taken over his real
son’s body. In the middle of his grief,
Simon receives information from Clary that Jace has gone missing.
Clary and the rest of her friends turn to the morally
ambivalent Seelie Queen for help in locating Jace. Clary strikes a deal with the Seelie Queen: Her help in exchange for two faerie rings
that have telepathic power.
Jace returns, but isn’t his “usual” self. Because of this, Clary uses the faerie rings
instead of giving them to Seelie Queen as promised. She keeps one of the rings for her own use, gives the other to
Simon, and runs away with Jace in order to find out just what it is that’s
going on with him. She soon realizes
that Jace is under her brother Sebastian’s power … but is Sebastian just as
evil as Valentine was, or is he someone out to create a new world order?
Thankfully, unlike the fourth installment, “City of Fallen
Angels,” this book is much improved in terms of characterization and plot. Cassandra Clare made an effort in making the
characters “grow up” (finally, Clary stops being a selfish idiot … towards the
end of the story). Simon remains as
lovable as ever, and readers finally get to see Isabelle’s vulnerable side,
Jace’s selfless nature, and Alec and Magnus’ weaknesses. It was also very enjoyable to read this
book, because for once, I had no idea what Sebastian’s true nature was until
the end. And the battle towards the end
was fan-TAS-tic.
However, I still have advise the parents of young readers
to guide their children if they are to read this book. As with the fourth installment, the steamy
scenes are still … well, steamy, considering it’s a book for young adults. There are other equally steamy moments
between the other characters (moments that include actual implied sex), as well
as an actual live-in arrangement between Alec and Magnus. I know these things are standard practice in
the Western world, and yes, I know everything has gone global with the internet
… but I would still like Filipino young readers to think twice about going to
bed with one’s boyfriend/girlfriend or shacking up with somebody simply because
these are what the Shadowhunters did in the book.
The gore/disgust factor remains high in this book, and the
book is also laced with profanity. So,
parents might want to caution their children against adopting swear words as an
alternative dialect.
RATING: 4
