City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

This is the fourth installment in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. It follows Clary, Jace, and Simon as per the first three books. I do not recommend reading this review if you haven’t read the book yet. However, I also wouldn’t really recommend the book that highly so most of you can read on!

I had to think for a little while before I remembered the actual plot of this novel. Most of the book consists of Clary wondering, “Does my boyfriend still love me?”, Simon wondering, “What is going on between Clary and her boyfriend?”, and Jace wondering, “Why am I having freaky sex/murder dreams about my girlfriend?”

I think the intended plot had something to do with babies being injected with demon blood and the fact that a ton of Shadowhunters are being murdered all around NYC. However, the book only remembers to touch on this after Clary feels guilty about thinking about nothing besides the latest weird makeout session she’s had and Simon gets over the fact he has, for pretty much no reason, three girls all clamoring to be his girlfriend.

Although the first three books in this series were really good YA novels with a little bit of romance, I don’t think this one finds that balance well. I found that most of the characters had gotten annoying from the last time I read about them. Perhaps I just don’t appreciate ‘romance’ novels as much as the next girl, but this ‘romance’ just didn’t work for me.

The Mortal Instruments (1-3) by Cassandra Clare

Amid the feasting and family fun over Thanksgiving break, I decided to relax on all the reading I’ve been doing of new books. I revisited The Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass by Cassandra Clare.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ‘review’ these books because who really wants to look deeply into something they, on the best of days, would call a guilty pleasure? I tried to be subjective about the characters, and realized they’re not realistic in a way that I might see them on the street or know them as my friends or even be them myself. However, that may be expected as this series  is magical realism at its best, where there are mundanes, boring humans like myself, and those who have the Sight.

In City of Bones, we are introduced to Simon and Clary, mundane friends who have rather normal lives. This all changes when one night in Clary’s favorite club, Pandemonium, she sees a strange boy with electric blue hair being followed by someone with a knife. While Simon cannot see these people, Clary can. This small event changes her life forever. When she comes home later that night, her mother is missing and a Ravener demon attacks her. This leads her to The Institute, where she meets Jace Wayland and Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, young shadowhunters.

This book sets up the others fantastically. You learn of the Downworlders: werewolves, vampires, faeries, and warlocks and the protectors of the human world: Shadowhunters. This is where Clary learns many things she’ll need to know in the coming books. If nothing else, you should check out this book to see if you will like the series.

Now, children of Downworlders, a faerie, warlock, and werewolf, were slaughtered and drained of blood. The Clave (Shadowhunter government) blames the vampires, but they swear it is not their doing. Clary, Jace, and Simon start to team up to protect the people they love.

This book feels a little more awkward, not in writing, but in plot. I can’t give away why, but I’ll just say it may be uncomfortable for some people who like traditional relationships… but then again, if you do, why are you reading these books? Overall, it is still a good read.

There isn’t a lot I can say about this book without giving away major plot points in the first two books. I will mention that quite a few new (exciting) characters and a beautiful new setting are introduced. Before I knew there was going to be another three books in the series, I thought this book ended the series very well.

I would say I sighed from relief at the end of this story. It was very satisfying, and at this point I would say I don’t care if it’s unrealistic because I loved it. If you made it through the first two, this one breezes on through until the end. I can’t wait to read #4, City of Fallen Angels.