City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
This is the final book in the Mortal Instruments series and what a great final instalment it was. It was a book that I had been wanting to read for so long, so when I was finally able to get the book and sit down to read it I was over the moon.
I loved the story of this book but I felt that the second half was a lot more exciting and gripping than the first. I felt that the first half was just a lot of explanations and build up while the second half contained all of the action and major plot moments. I would also say that this book was too long. It took me 27 days to read this book and by the end all I wanted was for the book to end. I hated feeling like that because when I was reading it I loved the plot of it and how to characters to developed.
Before I get into anything else I just want to write a little about Simon Lewis now. HOW COULD CASSANDRA ALMOST KILL OFF SIMON?!?! I sobbed like a little baby while I read the scene of Simon giving up his immortality and his memories of the shadow world to free them all from Edom. It honestly broke my heart to read about how all of his friends felt like there was something missing from their lives but when Simon said it I could have screamed I was so happy. I also loved that Magnus was able to fix Simon to an extent so that he could be a part of the shadow world again.
I loved meeting all of the new characters in this book. Emma was really just a mixture of Jace and Clary. She was good and loving but also tough, closed-off and secretive. She and Jules were the perfect pairing but I think that she will realise that she doesn't want to be Jules' parabatai as she gets older and I hope that she realises it before it's too late for her to change her mind. I felt sorry for Emma when we first meet her because she loses her parents in such an unexplained way and nobody is willing to look into it or her to allow her to have some closure over what happened. I loved how she was awestruck by Jace and Clary too because of the stories had heard for the older Blackthorn children. It was almost how someone would feel if they met a celebrity, in a way Emma was meeting a celebrity. It just so happened that it was two Shadowhunter celebrities.
I loved all of the Blackthorn children too. Helen and Mark are the two controversial children who are part Shadowhunter, part Fairie. Both feel that they have to prove themselves as Shadowhunters because of this. Then there is Julian or Jules as he is called by his family and Emma. Julian is a smart, headstrong boy who would do anything for the people he cares about and would protect those people with his life. Then there is the twins, Tiberius and Livia or Ty and Livvy. These two are inseparable and are really the only two people who fully understand each other. They really are stereotypical twins. The youngest two are Drusilla and Tavvy. These two are not really described much other than they are small and are typical Blackthorn children.
Ok, so the whole heavenly fire thing... why could Clary not have just stabbed Sebastian in the last book? I mean, it could have saved a lot of lives and a lot of problems would have been avoided. Jace wouldn't have had to learn to control anything, Simon wouldn't have lost all of his memories because nobody would have had to go to Edom to fight Sebastian because he would already be dead, Jordan would still be alive, Emma's parents would most likely still be alive and the Blackthorn's would all still be together. Yes, Sebastian was heavily guarded and yes, it was easier for Clary to stab Jace but still!
I could honestly sit here all day and write about this book and how amazing it was, how annoyed I am at some of it, how it toyed with my emotions the whole time and how I would happily read it again. I would happily read the whole series again and I cannot wait until the next series comes out. I'm just glad that it should be soon.
