CITY OF ASHES

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?

When the library told me this book was waiting for me, I practically ran there. And got started on it right away. Wow! This story gets better and better. So much is going on in Clary's life that you can't help but feel sorry for her and hope that evrything will work out okay for her soon. I also can't wait to finally meet her mother. She's been in a coma for so long that we didn't really get to know her. Oh, but I love the real reason why she's in that coma. ;)

I still think my Clary and Jace theory is right, but I'll just have to wait for the final installment in the trilogy to find out.

This is a dark, gritty, and very involved story that kept me captivated from the first page. I'll have to get my hands on the third book soon. I can't wait!