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. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side-along with the power of the curse that''s wrecking his life. And they''re willing to do anything to get what they want. Not to mention that he''s dating two beautiful, dangerous girls-neither of whom knows about the other one. 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. Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.
I finally got this out from the library (after waiting far less time than I originally thought, which I think I remember describing as 27 years) and could not wait to read it. I've read all of the other books in the series, and was super pumped to get my hands on it, since I refuse to buy it until it comes out in paperback, and therefore matches all the rest of the books in the series on my shelf.
I must admit that I was slightly disappointed. And I even feel bad saying it, and as though I have to defend the statement. It wasn't a bad novel by any means, obviously nothing by Cassandra Clare could never be anything but amazing, but I do remember thinking several times as I was reading it, that it simply wasn't as good as its predecessors.
The love story seemed pretty wrapped up after the last novel, City of Glass, and I would've been perfectly happy leaving the story as it were. Having said that, I did enjoy the new storyline to some extent, but it did come off as slightly forced, since it's hard to out-do that of the previous installments. I also found myself really confused about the new plot since I wasn't at all sure about the direction it was going, and also the new twist to what I naively thought would be a well-deserved healthy relationship between Jace and Clary. The whole time I just kept thinking that it was lacking some kind of emotional depth, and really focused more on hot and heavy romance, which I'm not complaining about, but still.. a little bit lacking.
By the end of the book, though, I found everything wrapped up well, and I realized that the book did need to be the way that it was since it had to build an entirely new plot for the books to come. And I'm really excited for the next books; this one ended pretty excitingly!
I obviously recommend this to anyone who has read the previous books in the series (as if I even need to say that), but the first ones are better, in my opinion, so just be prepared for that.
Spoiler Alert: Don't read past this point if you don't want to know specific book details!
The book started out pretty intriguingly with Simon, and his part of the plot. And I didn't really remember a whole lot about where we left off, just that things ended in the favour of the good guys, and that Jace and Clary were able to be together.
I always find myself feeling really sorry for Simon, since we all knew that Clary would never love him the way she loves Jace. And then to see him struggling through being a vampire, I just really feel awful about him having to lie to his mother and such. Being a vampire goes so against his entire personality, and it's something that he really struggles with, and I did along with him.
I also struggled a lot with Jace. At first I found myself annoyed since he was so moody and I didn't know why, and I just wanted him and Clary to be together already! When I finally did find out about his dreams and what was wrong with him, I liked the direction the story took, and I am especially excited to see how that comes into play in the coming novels. I just knew that the ending wasn't going to go well, and sure enough, stay tuned for more turmoil concerning Jace and Clary, and their ever stress-filled relationship!
I actually was really excited to learn that evil Sebastian is coming back into the story, because we didn't really see a lot of him, and despite the fact that he's about as evil as they come, I kind of want to see him more, and I have this delusion that he might end up turning good, or at least doing some kind of bonding with his sister and mother. Wishful thinking, I know..
All in all, I really do just want to see what happens with all the characters. The dysfunctional yet stubborn relationship of Jace and Clary. The cute and unexpected one of Simon and Isabelle. The complicated and budding one of Maia and Kyle. The steady and evolving one of Alec and Magnus. The tried and true one of Luke and Jocelyn. They all have so much going on, and I want to see more development from them as much as I want to find out what else happens to do with evil and Downworlders and runes and what not.
The book was still pretty good, like I said before, but I really must regretfully say that I'm not as excited for the next book, and there are other series and books that are probably going to take up more of my time and excitement when the next book comes out.
Quite ambivalent--Cheers & Enjoy♥
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