The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

I finally got the third book of the Mortal Instruments series from the library after a long wait. I really liked this series. Clary is like any normal girl hanging out with her best friend Simon at a club when she sees a group of kids kill another kid who just kinda disappears. These kids are Shadowhunters, people who hunt and kill demons who enter the world. Most normal people do not see Shadowhunters, however, Clary can. She gets pulled into their world when her mother is kidnapped by her father, Valentine. Valentine is an evil Shadowhunter who supposedly died when she was young and everyone thinks he is dead. She falls in love with one of the Shadowhunters, Jace. How unfortunate for them to find out that they are actually brother and sister. They constantly struggle with their feelings towards each other. Alec and Isabelle, brother and sister shadowhunters are also involved in the hunt to save Clary's mother and convince the council that Valentine is really alive and they are not spies for him. Alec is gay and goes through all the difficulties of being in love with Jace and a wizard named Magnus Bane, however, being gay is not acceptable in the Shadowhunter world and having relationships with downworlders (wizards, werewolves, vampires, and fairies) is not acceptable. Simon later on gets bit and becomes a vampire. The third book was a great book and of course had a good ending with everyone hooking up together and defeating Valentine.

SPOILER: Now for those who have not read it yet, you may not want to read on. I love how Sebastian is Valentine's real son and every bit a monster and even worse than Valentine. It was nice to see that Valentine actually had a bit of a heart and some feelings towards his family. Jace sort of drove me crazy with his martyr-wo-is-me attitude the whole time, but I am glad he and Clary were able to finally hook up even though they wanted to when they though they were brother and sister. Simon and Alec really grew up in this book and started doing what they felt/knew was right. Alec was finally able to cope with his gay feelings and hook up with Bane and Simon started to realize he is a vampire and capable of doing so much. I have heard that there is a fourth book coming out about Simon, so it will be interesting to see if it is how he copes with the mark of cain on his head now. Not the smartest move I think, but it worked to keep him alive. It was a great book and as always the third book always seems to be the best.