Book Review: City of Lost Souls

Title: City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, paranormal
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 9.5/10

I understand I'd be killed if any spoilers left my fingers right now since so many people are still reading it, so rest assured this is a non-spoilery review.

First of all, I want to say that, out of Cassie Clare's books, my favourite series of hers isn't The Mortal Instruments, but Infernal Devices. I still rushed out to buy City of Lost Souls though, and was done with in under six hours. That has many reasons - and yes, one of them is because the story is great - and the main one is... William Herondale.
Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy just yet. I know that Will, my dear, beloved Will, belongs to Infernal Devices. But you'll notice Jace is a Herondale, and so the legacy lives on. But that's off the point; the reason I devoured City of Lost Souls so fast was that is was absolutely FASCINATING to see so many parallels between Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments. It just makes me want to read all the other The Mortal Instruments books again to see what other little tidbits of Infernal Devices characters I can find, and that, when I first read them, meant nothing to me.

There is a particular scene that had me shaking and sobbing like a baby. Suffice it to say that Herondale perfection is perfect. And I wish people would call Jace by his real surname. It's just that, while I get and appreciate the sentiment of calling him a Lightwood, it's not who he really is. And knowing the legacy that comes with the name Herondale, I'd really love to see it in print as often as at all possible.
Another reason I enjoyed City of Lost Souls was the character development. Or rather, Clary's character development, I mean. The others were way behind on that aspect, but it was beautiful to see the little girl we met in City of Bones turn into the fierce woman she is in City of Lost Souls. And, wrong as it, perverted, maniac, demonic, hurtful, bizarre, scary and just plain evil as Sebastian (Jonathan ?) is, I can't help but love his character. He's a very complex half-demon, and I really enjoyed getting to know and see more of him.
Alec and Izzy are just great. I can't bring myself to care overmuch about their personal affairs of the heart, but I love them to bits. I was extremely surprised (nicely so) by Brother Zacharias, lost count of the number of times I threatened to kill Jocelyn if she kept on blowing holes in my Jace/Clary ship, and spent each and every page in the expectation of catching another glimpse of Tessa. Not telling you if I did, either.
Long story short: read it. And if you've read Infernal Devices, keep a lookout for all the little things you'll recognise from there; I swear it's half the fun! ;)