City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Source: Purchased
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0354-3
Pages: 424

The Mortal War is over, and 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 of all - Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, 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. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she 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. 

Okay, so I'm going to try my very hardest to get through this review without squealing, clapping or displaying any other enthusiastic kind of excitement. City of Fallen Angels was that good.

It feels like so long ago that I read City of Glass but I was sucked back into the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders from page one of this sequel with no problems. Clare blends together the elements of romance, suspense, action and humour effortlessly. Her writing is delightfully descriptive and the use of imagery is as stunning as before.

In City of Fallen Angels, the spotlight shifts slightly off Clary and refocuses on Simon Lewis, newly-made vampire. I thought it was fascinating to read from Simon's point of view as he went through the inner and outer struggles of being a vampire, as well as a Daylighter. His character was really pieced together nicely and it was a pleasure to read from his perspective. In addition to Simon, there are also lots of chapters focusing on other characters such as Jace and Clary. All of these flow together nicely and nothing written by Clare seems forced.

One thing that I doubt anyone can help but love about this series is the boys. They're all just so... crush-worthy. Especially Jace - you have to love Jace. City of Fallen Angels, I'm happy to say, also introduces a new boy but I'll let you decide if he's worthy enough to be added to your fictional crush list or not. Aside from the completely shallow reasons I have for loving Cassandra's male (and female) characters, I do think that they all have a solid background and personality, leaving characters with a ring of authenticity. A character that I particularly enjoyed in this novel was Alec, whom we got to see a new side of.* I hope to see much more of him and Magnus in future books.

Another tremendous installment of The Mortal Instruments series. If you haven't picked this series up yet, move it to the top of your list because it's definitely something you don't want to miss.

Cover Comments: I really think that all of Cassandra Clare's covers are gorgeous - this one is no exception. They're some of my all-time favourites with the detailing, colours and almost iridescent light that shines from the runes. Beautiful!

* In an attempt to avoid spoilers, I tried to be vague in my review - I don't know if I succeeded or not! If you have read the book and want to chat with me about it, please don't hesitate to e-mail me (thestoryqueen(at)hotmail(dot)com). I can't get enough of talking about this book with others that have read it so I would be thrilled to see a message from you!