(While this review will not contain spoilers for The City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from the previous two books in The Mortal Instruments trilogy. As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Unlike City of Bones and City of Ashes, City of Glass takes place almost entirely in the ShadowHunter's fairy tale land of Idris. Having battled their way through a bloody fight with Valentine, the New York delegation is headed to their homeland to convince the Clave to stand against the power-hungry madman. Clary wants to stop her father as badly as any of them, but she's also desperate to save her mother - and the only one who can help her with that is a magician living in Idris. Jace is dead set against her going. Clary doesn't care. She's not about to be left out. So, when Jace tricks her into staying back, she finds her own way into the magical world. No one's too happy to see her, especially since she dragged a werewolf along with her.

Clary's got better things to do than fight with Jace, so she sets out in search of the magician who holds the antidote that can cure her mother. With the help of Sebastian, a hot - and very interested - foreign ShadowHunter, she tromps all over the city. Although the tour brings back vague memories from her earliest childhood, it doesn't produce the magician she seeks. In fact, the whole thing feels wrong. Something is very off in Alicante, the ShadowHunters' beloved City of Glass. When the place fills with bloodthirsty demons, Clary's horrified. If the ShadowHunters can't come up with some way to defeat Valentine, they will all be slaughtered in a battle against evil that can't possibly be won. Clary knows her gifts are special, but are they any match for those of her all-powerful father? Her only hope is to find the answers she's been seeking all along: Who is she? What is her purpose? What does Valentine want? Can he be stopped? How?

Still conflicted over her feelings for both Jace and Simon, Clary must answer the questions her heart's asking as well. Then, there's Sebastian. And Aline. Do new friends mean new rivalries? With so much turmoil in Alicante, including anger over her presence there, should she just give up and go back to New York? After all, things made sense there. Or should she stick it out and demand the answers for which she came? When Valentine descends, will she even have a choice? Or will she be annihilated along with everyone she loves?

I read City of Glass, the heart-pounding conclusion to The Mortal Instruments trilogy in one reading because, well, I couldn't help myself. It helps that I have to be in seclusion thanks to my radioactive iodine treatment, but still - can you say addicting? Even though I had a pretty clear idea how the story would end up, I still loved plowing through the finale of this entertaining and inventive series. As satisfying as its end is, I can't help sniffling a little to know the story's over. Luckily, Clare's working on a series of prequels, the first of which will be released on August 31. So, while it's over, it's not really, really over. Can you hear me now? I'm the one squealing for joy!

(Readalikes: City of Bones and City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare; Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer; a little like the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for language, sexual innuendo and violence

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find