City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 453
Why I read it: 2nd in a series
Grade: B+

Synopsis:
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil -- and also her father.
To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings -- and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?


My review:
City of Ashes is the second book in the Mortal Instruments series.  This book was far better than the first one, City of Bones.  While I thought the first was all over the place and a bit of a mess, it seems that the author got it together a bit for this second book.  It was more cohesive, and the writing was just better.

I remember not really caring about any of the characters (or even what happened in the story for that matter) in the first book, but here in book two I really started to care.  I think the characters have become more likeable.  Some of the characters, Valentine in particular, seems to be a little bit too one dimensional.  A little bit too evil just for the sake of being evil.  Although there are glimpses that show that there might be a little bit more to him.  

There also seems to be a lot of foreshadowing, and lots of things that may not be what they appear.  It makes me want to read the rest of the books to find out what happens.  I would recommend this book, but first you have to get through book one, which I only halfway, maybe recommend.  But if the books continue to get better, it's definitely a series to check out.