City of Ashes
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, but the underworld just isn't ready to let her go – especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who just happens to be her father. To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings – and if so, why? And how can she stop the slayings?
ALA Teens Top Ten Title (2009)
About the Mortal Instruments Series
Books in series order
- 1.City of Bones(2007)
- 2.City of Ashes(2008)
- 3.City of Glass(2009)
- 4.City of Fallen Angels(2011)
- 5.City of Lost Souls(2012)
- 6.City of Heavenly Fire(2014)
- +Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader(2013)
Reading age: 14+ years
This series should be read in order.
When 15 year old Clary Fray heads out to a nightclub in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air.
What do you do when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is no evidence to show that a boy has died? Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in an ordinary mundane like Clary?