"City of Ashes" (The Mortal Instruments, #2) by Cassandra Clare

*The description for this book has spoilers for its predecessor, City of Bones, so I won't disclose it here. If you would like to read the description or find out more about the book, visit the goodreads page for it here. This particular review is spoiler free.*

My experience thus far with The Mortal Instruments has been wonderful. "City of Bones" was brilliant, and I consider "City of Ashes" even better. 'Better?', you may inquire; to which I would respond casually: "Heck yes."

I think what I like best about The Mortal Instruments, "City of Ashes" in particular, is that they have a little bit of just about every element but it's still done remarkably well. There are vampires, werewolves, and demons. They are a lot like their stereotype, which is actually a good thing because that means NO *sparkly* vampires.Of course, there are also the fascinating shadowhunters, unique to TMI. All of the greatness present in the first book is back for the second, such as great pace, interesting and broad cast of characters, and deep-running emotions; probably even more of a thrilling page-turner than the first. There were more action filled fight scenes than in the first, all keeping you on the edge of your seat. An ongoing theme in the books seem to be that nothing is ever as it seems, and so I've heard, it stays that way.

All-together, an awesome book. I only bought the first two together and now can't wait to get the third. And, related question (please don't answer with a spoiler), to anyone else who has read TMI, isn't Valentine reminiscent of Voldemort? (Granted, I can draw a comparison to Harry Potter from pretty much anything...)