Synopsis from Goodreads:

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

My review:

“Kill me, little sister. Kill me and you kill Jace, too.”

Damn. Let’s all give a round of applause to Sebastian (that evil bastard) for making the plot of this series interesting again. I know that some of us think the story should have ended with City of Glass, but I think we can all agree that he is the sole force behind the extended plotline. There would be no conflict without him. Thank you, you crazy demon-child.

In regard to the plot, the synopsis says it all. Once again, Jace and Clary want to be together but they can’t. I mean, technically they are together, but it’s not the real thing. This would have annoyed me if not for the fact that Sebastian is hands down the most messed up character of the series, and his presence in their (Jace and Clary’s) relationship makes it all worth reading. That being said, he is a little too involved. No spoilers. But ew. There were some super cringey moments but I suppose it added to all the drama. Talk about teenage hormones. It’s like all of a sudden the series jumped from Young Adult to New Adult. I sometimes forget how young the characters are! But I’m not complaining. It definitely made the story more interesting.

On a similar note, there was this incident near the end (or perhaps several incidents… but this main one was downright awful) that I feel was not addressed properly. I hope it is talked about in the final book. Sexual assault should not be brushed over. I hope this wasn’t just used as some cheap plot device.

Anyways, without giving too much away, Sebastian is the story. And in the background noise we hear some tension between Magnus and Alec, some canoodling between Simon and Isabel, and some major canoodling between Maia and Jordan. I apologize for my use of the word canoodling… but it had to be done.

★★★★ (4.5 stars) because this book actually made me excited about the series again! It wasn’t perfect but it was 10x better than City of Fallen Angels. I’m looking forward to the final instalment.