Still not sure if I liked this enough to buy the second book. While I liked the plot, and many of the secondary characters, I still had a lot of problems with the book. I don't like Jace, Clary just seems to be another "insert-yourself-here" character like Bella, and Valentine leaves a LOT to be desired as a villain goes. There's just something missing. 
 Clare also has a habit of info-dumping that is a little irritating. They say when you write that you should show rather than tell. Well, Clare doesn't just tell. She screams it through a freaking bullhorn. 
 There are a lot of inconsistencies in story detail and in the writing that distracted me throughout the whole book. Most likely do to the fact that she lifted a great deal of this from her Draco fanfiction, which is probably why I don't like Jace. I'm not going to even touch on the rumors about plagiarism. 
 There are some weird grammar and spelling problems that bothered me a great deal, too, but I'm VERY nitpicky about that stuff. She misspells the shoe brand "Sketchers" as "Skechers", and capitalizes the word "Dumpster" for some reason, among other things. See? Nitpicky stuff. 
 But, there are a few characters I did like that kept me reading. Isabelle, Simon, Luke, Magnus, Alec...pretty much everyone but the main characters, but that's pretty typical for me. 
 In short, its okay. Its your typical YA fiction. One thing I can say to its credit is that it isn't nearly as bad as Twilight. Someone handed me the sequel to lend, I'd probably read it. If you've just read a really emotionally or intellectually taxing book and your brain is super fried, this is a good thing to give yourself a break with, something you can read without thinking about, without depth, without worrying that if your mind wanders for a split second, you'll miss out on some vital symbolism. Everything is spelled out for you, no thinking involved. If you want depth, move on. If you're looking for an easy read to occupy yourself for a bit, this is a good bet.