City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
by Cassandra Clare
Summary: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.
But nothing comes without a price.
Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary’s best friend, Simon, can’t help her—his mother just found out that he’s a vampire, and now he’s homeless. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.
The stakes are higher than ever in the #1 New York Times bestselling fourth installment of the Mortal Instruments series.
Source: I purchased a paperback.
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Review:
When I read The Mortal Instruments series, I stopped at City of Glass because I was satisfied with the ending. I had City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls on my shelf, but I let them sit until the final book released. I knew that if the endings were anything like that of City of Bones or City of Ashes, I’d go insane waiting. City of Glass ended well (and was supposed to be the ending of the entire series at one point), so I thought it was safe to stop there. I say all this because I think it’s best to know that the final three books are sort of afterthoughts to the original three. It seems to be a common complaint that City of Fallen Angels has a different feel to it and I was already expecting that and wasn’t put off by it.
Jace and Clary were finally together. The world was being patched back together after the insane events of the Mortal War. Strange things were happening to Shadowhunters and Downworlders. A new villain or entity or threat was there and targeting Clary and her friends to some degree. Simon was struggling with being a vampire and being normal. Clary and Jace were fighting, as well as Alec and Magnus. Things weren’t as awesome as you might expect. For some, this was horrible. We waited so long to see these two together, we were so happy Simon was getting in touch with his vampire self, and we jumped for joy about Magnus and Alec in City of Glass, but I really liked the whole things-aren’t-so-peachy sort of continuation. And maybe Simon and Clary and Jace weren’t as funny as they were in the other three books, but I thought they were still entertaining. They were just stressed out, which I understood. I still found plenty of scenes to laugh at. And the stress between Alec and Magnus was so plausible and understandable, I couldn’t help but empathize with them both.
I loved seeing the characters grow after the Mortal War. I enjoyed the new threat/villain and I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. The ending was shocking. I was glad I brought City of Lost Souls with me on vacation because I finished and ran out to my car to grab it immediately.
I’m intrigued and anxious to see how the rest of the series goes. I’m not quite sold on the idea that City of Glass wasn’t the ending, especially after seeing how much other material the author has written in the same world after all of this time. As a fan, I’m intrigued by more material, but I also can’t help but wonder if it’s better to end it all.
Labels: Review, Urban Fantasy, YA
