Wow. I read this one so fast I didn't even take time to do any In-Reading Notes-- so fast that I started yesterday from chapter, like, three and finished it about three this morning.
It's another great one, and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite series. It makes me sad that there's only the one after it; I don't know if she's planning more, but it has the feel of a trilogy. Even so, this one mostly manages to hold up as it's own story, and manages to mitigate Middle Book Syndrome, where there's not beginning and no end-- this one starts a little after book one and ends with them prepping for book three, but everything in between is it's own storyline-- there are parts where you can see the foreshadowing leaking through (the silver-haired lady and Maia mostly), but they foreshadow while fitting into the overall arc, and that makes it okay.
My only complaint is that the book seems to think it's still Clary's story when it's really Jace's and Simon's; alot of the time, they're fighting or plotting or dealing with their issues, and Clary's just sort of standing there, gaping. There isn't alot for her to do in certain parts of the book, but she tags along anyway like a little sister (which I guess is fine, since she's Jace's little sister), and then, again, doesn't have much to do. But that doesn't mean she's ignored: she's dealing with her conflicting and conflicted feelings for both boys, and the surfacing of some unusual abilities that shouldn't be possible and are probably the result of tampering, and even though it isn't given time to sink in, she's starting to act more like a Shadowhunter, and hopefully that will go somewhere. Clary's too cool to constantly be needing boys to protect her.
The ending was... a little convenient. It's the middle of the story, about to go into the big showdown that will be the last book, so it's understandable, but the answer to her mom's problem is sort of just handed to her, which annoys me (and means it isn't what I thought, which both entertains me and annoys me, because the way I thought it would go, it could have been a really great little moment of fairytale perfection in this amazingly complicated and flawed world).
If you don't want spoilers, stop here, because I'm extrapolating.
Here's what I think will happen:
- Simon and Maia will try to be the Romeo and Juliet that stop the vampire-werewolf war; it'll be more interesting if they don't work as a couple, but do work as a diplomatic team, because there's really no solid reason why they can't get along except that weres are like dogs and vamps are like cats, and it's tradition that you don't share your hunting grounds with another predator. Issues of choice and free will keep coming up, and it would be nice to see both sides choose to be sentient beings.
- It looks like Jace is going to be shown to not actually be her brother, but that that's yet another of Valentine's mindgames. The romantic in me thinks this is great, but the plot-diva in me thinks it's needlessly complicated unless there's a really great payoff for it in the end. Also, I like Simon better, even though he's already fallen into Duckie Pergatory, and it seems he'll never win Clary's heart the way he wants. I'd be willing to bet that Jace actually is a Wayland, switched out for his actual kid who was "a monster". I'd also be willing to bet that there's something faerie about Clary.
- Clary needs to start kicking ass. Seriously. She needs to get some training, and she already seems to be tapping into her natural instincts, and that's a good thing.
- Valentine will manage to detstroy the Clave, but not the cause. They'll beat him at the last minute in some horrible battle where Clary and Jace's awesomeness combine, and probably the fractured Downworlder alliances come together, and they'll stop him and get back the Instruments-- and then they'll have to rebuild, with most of the older generation gone, and they'll bring the Clave back better and stronger.
- Hopefully hodge will come back in some way that redeems him. Adults in these books are as complex as the kids, and the kids are only just learning that fact, and everyone is so hurt over his betrayal-- and he didn't die; he just disappeared into the crowds, and who knows what he's been doing.
- Alec needs to come out. And he needs to accept Magnus. They're sweet and pretty together.
And if any of these guesses are wrong, then I can just write fanfic.
This is a very-young-reader sort of a book; took me about 45 minutes. But it's surprisingly sweet, and not really preachy at all. 
-- Lois McMaster Bujold
-- Elizabeth Moon
-- Neil Gaiman
-- Catherine Asaro
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