The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass

The title of the book I read is The Mortal Instruments City of Glass, written by Cassandra Clare. Published in 2009. Since 2009, this book has become one of the #1 New York Times bestselling series and has received many awards. Also a major motion picture based on one of the books in this series has opened in theaters. One of the major themes expressed throughout this book is, "determination and passion is key to success."

The author writes this book in a way that allows you to understand things through the characters point of view, which is known as first-person. At the same time though, the author uses pronouns such as "he, she" which gives this book a third-person perspective as well. The two different ways the author wrote this book helps draw the reader into the plot. It makes you feel as if you're really there or telling the story because there is no explicit narrator other than the reader. As a brief summary of the plot, when Clary is given the chance to travel to the City of Glass to save her dying mother, she has no hesitations. The only one with doubts would be her worrisome brother Jace who does not agree with her plan. Even with Jace and many other unexpected obstacles, she will stop at nothing to save the one thing she loves the most - her mother. Moving on to genre, this book (or series) would fall under Fantasy, since many of its characters and events are fictional. This book highlights the classic story line "good vs evil." As the book unfolds characters discover their true nature. Cassandra Clare writes for an audience of teens and older due to some mature themes relating to "good vs evil." 

This book had many different affects on me. One of them would be my newly found interest in Fantasy Fiction. Since reading The City of Glass I feel as if my book preferences have changed completely. Now not only am I reading the rest of the books in the series, but I am also extending my love for Fantasy written books into other well known authors of this genre. 

I think this book is well written, draws in a large diverse audience of readers, has an appealing general theme and stands out against other Fantasy Fiction novels. The only thing I would wish to change about this book is the fact that it eventually comes to an end. 

Savannah Gunther

11/5/13

Rating: **** 4/5