Hello Rad Readers!
This will be discussing the fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I have reviews and book talks for books 1-3 if you want to know my feels on those, because boy oh boy do I have a lot! If you haven't read 1-3 obviously you should read them before you read City of Fallen Angels, or even this review!
Okay, now for the non-spoiler-y section! So, for those of you that don't know, TMI was originally supposed to be a trilogy and City of Glass was meant to be the end of it, but Cassandra Clare wanted to write more on it and thus a sort of second trilogy came about, though the stories follow the same plot line and are literally the same series. So, I think at least, because there was a clear conclusion (sort of) at the end of City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels seemed to take a while to find its footing. It certainly took a while for the new conflict to be revealed and so, a lot of the beginning seemed slower and the only parts that really were able to hold my attention were the ones that had to do with Clary and Jace. For the most part though, of course, I really liked it. I enjoyed getting back to their story that I will never be too good to care about. There is something about this world that is just so fun and immersive, and these characters have such a strong hold on me that I could never turn down a book that they are in. As expected, after it found its path, the book was action packed, exciting, adventurous, and INTENSE. Intense would certainly be the best word to describe it!
There is so much to be said that would unfortunately spoil a lot, so I think the best I can say without telling you everything that is in the book is JUST READ IT! I really enjoyed it and though it hasn't been the best addition to the series yet, it is still very very very good! So, if you have not read City of Fallen Angels, go read it and come back and talk about it with us rad readers! :)
SPOILERS COMING AT YOU!
Okay, the beginning of the book, like I said though it didn't really know where it was going, the filler stuff was still really fun to read about, specifically what was going on with Simon... well, what even was going on with Simon? I thought it was absolutely hilarious how he has developed as a character and it is so clear at this point in the story line. He goes from this absolute loser weenie in City of Bones and now he just accidentally kind of has two girlfriends and he just doesn't know what to do about it and I think that is so funny. The collision of Maia and Isabel and him just could not have happened at a less opportune time and it could not have gone worse for him... epically hilarious. Him and Isabelle have definitely come the furthest in the series in terms of developing since it began. They were really just total side characters at first to contribute to Clary and Jace's story, but I really appreciate how the author has incorporated the story lines of so many other characters towards the main plot. It does a lot to make Clary's story feel more important and to make the world bigger and more believable. I thought the other stuff with Simon's family was pretty heart breaking. It's just really sad because he was never meant to be roped into all of this and now he can literally never go home again because of it. Though, all of this is filler until the main action of the novel takes place. --The fact that the filler is still interesting to read also says a lot about the talent of the writer, to get the reader so invested in your characters and story that they will literally read anything about them!
Jace was a whole lot of annoying this time around, but I suppose that is every time around... whatever. So, he is dreaming about killing Clary... thought that was just a little bit concerning, but that is just my opinion. I also thought buddy would learn from the mistakes of the previous books and, oh, ya know, vocalize this extremely concerning detail in his life. When he accidentally stabbed Clary, I was like dawg, how could you not see this coming. Ultimately, Jace's "tortured by greatness, agony, and angst" act is getting O...L...D... OLD! He is being so distant and nobody knows why, but all I'm saying is that it literally is not that hard to just say 'Hey, not really sure why, but these really vivid images of me killing you is, like, haunting my mind...' because guess what bud, a whole lot of stranger and more intense things have happened so far, so saying that? The gang wouldn't even bat an eye. No surprise you ended up stabbing her when you literally did nothing to prevent that from happening. This is the best example, but things like this just kept happening throughout and I just kept thinking, Jace dawg, you are doing this to yourself. Develop some communication skills.
Right off the bat, Kyle was hellaaaa suspicious. Maia was a total homie and then when we found out that Kyle was actually Jordan and Jordan turned Maia into a werewolf and Maia and him had this extremely complicated and hate filled backstory I was like... woah... this is a lot. It was all delivered in a super information dump and it reminded me a lot of how Luke's back story was told at the end of City of Bones. The entire time it was being explained I was trying to read it as fast as possible and skimming so much because after a certain amount of time I was just like, 'okay, cool, we get it and there are way more important things that we are in the middle of right now.' Ya know? For whatever reason that part didn't stick with me as much as it seemed to have with other readers. I did really like both of those characters though!
Luke... I really just don't like him right now. I hated how he was, like, yelling at Clary because she was 'using her powers recklessly,' and 'only using them in life or death scenarios' after she LITERALLY BROUGHT BACK SOMEONE FROM THE DEAD TO FIND OUT WHO THE MURDERER WAS. I was like... Luke... dog, (haha get it because he's a werewolf hahaha) when do you expect her to practice bringing people back to life. That's not exactly something you can pull out during a casual sparing session. Also, nobody is really making an effort to teach her how to use her skills but they are all jumping to get mad at her when she is clueless. I don't know, this is just something that has really bothered me throughout the entire course of the series. They are always so quick to blame her, but she has literally been aware of this entire world for less than a year and she is being expected to essentially save it with like three months of training. Lame. Of course however, Clary brings a lot on herself and home girl still hasn't figured out what common sense is. It genuinely hurts to just sit back and watch her make such obviously horrible decisions. For example when she went into the church before Isabel came and she literally almost got killed so easily. I just don't understand why she is the way that she is sometimes... frustrating.
The comedy was absolute gold in this addition to the series as well. I could read pages and pages of the banter among these friends and I don't think it would ever get old. Such quick witted and smart writing is something I will always have a massive appreciation for. Also, above all that and aside from genuinely making me laugh in a silent library like a lunatic, it develops the relationships between the characters beautifully and seamlessly. Not a moment of this story feels forced or rushed. You see Simon and Jace who just never stop bickering at one another, but in the previous books it was certainly more heavy hearted. Now, the jokes are clearly jokes and I think that contributes a lot to the fact that they are truly friends now. The trust is there. Something that certainly wasn't the case in the previous novels.
Camille is wretched and evil and I have never been so anxious as to when big dog tried to make Simon hit us with the blood oath. I don't care the circumstance, if anywhere, at any time, you are being asked to make a BLOOD OATH... probably --and just hear me out on this one-- not the best decision you could make.
Lillith and Sebastian... the baddest of bad guys am I righttttt??? In the best/worst way possible of course. There is something so fascinating about the way that Sebastian is written. He is so evil and has no conscious. He is literally part demon part Shadowhunter which is a total oxymoron. He is so remorseless that you just never know what he is up to next because virtually nothing has consequences for him. He has no weaknesses in terms of morality, and like I said, once the book found its footing and figured out its conflict, I think it started to go in a very promising and exciting direction. They are trying to start a new breed of Shadowhunters like Sebastian, basically an army of evil Shadowhunters. Now, I am no genius, but that sounds like bad news. Clary showed some solid development when we find out that Lillith has been messing with Jace's head, hence the visions of him killing Clary. She just comes up with a solution-- a logical one finally-- and goes for it! You go girl!
Alec, not the man... not at all. Homie was my least favorite character in this book. He really has got to let Magnus chill.
Jace and Sebastian are connected now, and oh man, this changes everything and this will undoubtedly be leading the rest of the story for the next two books. I. CANNOT. WAIT.
Okayyyyy, that was a lottttttt!
Shadowhunters, am I right?
- C8 ;)
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