For many years, the people of Briton have enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of King Artor and the Union of Kings. Having spurned the despotism of his predecessor, Uther Pendragon, Arthur has ruled with a strong sense of duty, goodness and honour. 

Artor is now weakening with age, however, and the seeds of discontent are being sown. Seeking to cleanse the land of Christian belief, dissenters need a symbol with which to legitimise their pagan claim and gather malcontents together into a cohesive weapon. These shadowy, subversive elements seize upon the ancient cup of Bishop Lucius of Glastonbury as a way of fragmenting Artor’s hard-fought-for kingdom. But first, they must lay their hands on the relic and, in doing so, unleash a force for evil from which murder and violent mayhem ensue. 

But it emerges that the ultimate threat to Artor’s rule lies far closer to home; Artor is betrayed by kin. Celt will slay Celt and the river will run with blood.

Review

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

Review

I am loving this series more and more as it progresses. Already half way through the series (three more books to go), and so much has happened. Especially when I'm only on the third instalment and it's the span of a couple of months, if that.

Finally we get to see a different setting, the home land of every Shadowhunter, Idris. Things start to get intense and interesting right from the get go.

We finally get to understand who Valentine really is, his motivations and why he does the things he does. It wasn't that I felt sorry for him or really understood what he was doing. He's evil and there is no doubt about that, but maybe not as evil as Sebastian....

We also get to know Clary and Jace more, why they have these 'special powers' that no other Shadowhunter has. To be honest I wasn't shocked with the final outcome. I knew the true identity of Clary, Jace and Sebastian. At some points I wanted to smack some of these characters for not seeing the obvious, I mean Jocelyn knew the truth and she has been in a coma the whole time.

What I loved most about this book was the history of Shadowhunters, where, how and why it all began. Even though book one and two gave you a taste of it, book three finally gives you every information you have been waiting for.

Actually I think City of Glass should be called, City of Finally Telling You Everything.

Does anyone know if this was originally a trilogy? Because I can see how this could end on City of Glass. Everything seems to be happily ever after, the end. Thank goodness it isn't, not only do I want to know what happens next, but I also don't want this series to finish. I think if Cassandra Clare wants, she could keep going with this series until Clary and her friends are elderly. I'm sure that would be an interesting read.

I don't want to talk too much about this book, so much happens that there is a 100% guarantee that I will spoil it for you. And if you haven't picked up this series yet, what are you waiting for?