City of Glass is the third book of the Mortal Instruments series and it continues the story of previous books. The events are set in two different worlds: real and unreal. The characters live double life in both of them at the same time. On the one hand, they have usual life in New York like ordinary people, on the other – they are fantastic creatures, living in the world created by the author. Using this dualism author shows how characters must divide their lives into normal one and mysterious, and how it may be difficult in various situations.
There is third-person narration in the story; however, it doesn’t prohibit the author from expressing a huge spectrum of emotions and feelings of the personages. The reader can see a wonderful description of the worlds, in which characters live and of the main events from previous books to become more acknowledged with the plot.
The author skillfully tells about every person and gives a very detailed description of their minds. But there is not any separation into bad and good characters, everyone in the book has his own advantages and disadvantages, so reader can make a unique image of every personage and decide who is likable and who is repulsive.
To depict the fantastic world, the author involves inherent creatures like vampires, demons, werewolves, angels which are endowed with extraordinary powers. The life of these personages is filled with battles, deaths, mystery and is hidden from the realistic world. For example, Clary can read old Runes and make a Portal to another world by herself; Simon is a vampire who can stand a sunshine, that is irrelevant for such creatures; and the more analogous things.
The whole story is permeated with magic and mysterious atmosphere, with a bit of horror and also with a big romantic line. We can notice a developing of Clary and Jace relationships and revelation that they are not siblings, so their love is not forbidden. Also, the author touches a theme of non-traditional orientation, when appears the truth about the fact that two male characters, Alec and Magnus, are in love with each other.
City of Glass can be treated like “another book about vampires”, but it is not so. The book is deeper than it seems, because the story touches different themes and describe real problems of our society. It teaches us not to lie, not to hide our feelings and always protect our dear people.
