Sunday, June 29, 2014

City of Heavenly Fire

Hello there. I am finally finally here with my review for City of Heavenly Fire. I finished this book on June 10 and cannot believe I haven't written a review yet. But better late than never, so here it goes.


City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowunter against Shadowhunter. When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned. Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the thrilling and long-awaited final instalment of the bestselling and acclaimed Mortal Instruments.

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely LOVED this book. This is definitely my favorite of all the Mortal Instruments books. Until now, none of the books in this series really blew me away but then I read the Infernal Devices which was just the best and now there were so many references to the Infernal Devices in here that I could not take it. Too much awesomeness right there. Seriously, everything was perfect in this book. We got the perfect ending to the Mortal Instruments, enough references to the Infernal Devices to melt my heart and the introduction of Emma Carstairs and the Dark Artifices series that is coming out next year, I believe. So if you have not started this series, I highly recommend doing so. There are so many fantastic characters waiting for you in the Shadow World.

Please do not read further if you haven't finished all the books in the Mortal Instruments series and also the Infernal Devices series.


Okay, so I just have too much to talk about and I'm going to try to make it as understandable as possible by doing a lame bullet-point list.
  • Jace and Clary: I'm glad that these two finally got their happy ending. I really loved their relationship in this book and of course they deserved their lake scene. I don't really have that much to say about these two because I feel like everything turned out pretty much the way I had expected it to. And they never were my favorite favorite characters.
  • Simon and Isabelle: Oh my God! My two favorite characters and so much happening with them. Throughout the whole book I was so so scared that Isabelle was going to die. And then that scene where she almost did killed me. I was sitting there reading and saying "no, no, no, no, this isn't happening, no, no, no!" I really really thought this was it. And I almost jumped around on my bed when Simon did his vampire blood move.

    And even though all the bad things had always happened to Simon, I never for one second doubted that everything was going to be fine with him in the end. The scene where Maureen kidnapped him was hilarious and then when he drank Alec's blood I was just laughing out loud again. And don't even get me started on drunk Simon. But then THE ENDING. I still have not gotten over how this book ended for Simon and I have developped a raging hate for Magnus's father. Why would Cassandra Clare do this to us? I was crying so much I had to go to work with extremely puffy eyes the next day. He just lost all his memories of the Shadow world and of Clary and Isabelle. I felt so sorry for Isabelle too because everyone was happy and in love and her boyfriend had just forgotten all about her as if she'd never existed. And when Clary called Simon's home. And then approached him in the street. It was so so heartbraking but then I read about his new band's name I was SO HAPPY. SO SO HAPPY. And of course, Magnus was there to save the day with Izzy. And now Simon is becoming a Shadowhunter himself. Everything is awesome again, thank you Cassandra.
  • Alec and Magnus: As you might know, Magnus is my favorite favorite character ever. He's just pure awesomeness and always there to save the day. So as you may imagine, seeing him almost die in his father's realm really really upset me. But luckily for everyone in my near surroundings, Magnus lived and he and Alec FINALLY got back together at the end of the book. It broke my heart seeing them apart and how much they both loved eachother but just weren't able to work it out until both almost died.

    I've never liked Alec that much before this book. I mean I never disliked him either, but in CoHF I fell in love. There were so many hilarious moments involving him, mostly when he walked in on other people. But not only did he develop a talent to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, he also became a much stronger character in this book. I think the fact that Magnus was in danger really brought out a new side of him and I loved this new Alec who was brave and just shot Meliorn because he deserved it and stood up to his father.
  • Jordan and Maia: The fact that Jordan died did not really come as a surprise to me. But how he died and how noone really cared really bothered me. I mean Maia had been planning on breaking up with him and then just felt guilty that he died thinking that she was in love with him. But other than that, Jordan's death never really played any role at all and I disliked that. He had become a good friend of Simon and then also Jace and I just wanted people to mourn him properly. And I didn't like how Maia and Bat somehow ended up together either because I feel like that makes Jordan's death even less important. So, Jordan, I am sad you died and I'm sorry noone else seems to care, just so you know that.
  • Sebastian / Jonathan: Okay, so I know that Sebastian was the bad guy. And he really was a bad guy. But I just never could hate him that much. I know he killed people just because he could and I know that turning Shadowhunters with the Infernal Cup is bad and I definitely know that how he wanted Clary is wrong but I just could not help it, I felt sorry for him. He just wanted to be loved. So I can't join all the hatred he's getting even though I feel a little guilty for it.

    I loved the scene when Sebastian is dead and Clary and Jocelyn get to see what he would have been like if Valentine hadn't experimented on him. And I just wanted Clary to have her brother and Jocelyn to have her son. But even though I wished for Jonathan to live, I knew it wouldn't be possible. Even if he had survived through some miracle, the Clave would've still held him responsible for all the terrible things that Sebastian had done. So I think it was easier for everyone to say goodbye to him that way than have the Clave execute him. But I'm still grateful for that one conversation we got. 

and last but definitely not least...

  • Tessa and Jem: I loved every single scene with Brother Zachariah/Jem and I loved every mentioning of Tessa or the ghost at the London Institute aka Jessamine. It just all made me so happy and at the same time I teared up instantly if there was any reference to their past and especially to Will. It was just all too much, too much awesome and too much sad. And at the end when they said that Tessa and Jem were moving to Los Angeles I could not hold back. Because that's where The Dark Artifices series is taking place. That means we're going to see even more of them. I am beyond happy, just thinking about it makes me want to jump around.

So yes, thank you Cassandra Clare for this brilliant ending to a great series. I loved every page of it and I cannot wait for more of the Shadowhunter World. I really hope you'll include these fantastic characters also in the Dark Artifices series because I cannot wait to read more about what happened to them.



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