City of Fallen Angels — Cassandra Clare

July 27, 2018

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)

TITLE: City of Fallen Angels
AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare
SERIES: The Mortal Instruments, #4
RELEASED: April 5th, 2011; Margaret Ferguson Books
GENRE: Fantasy
AGE RANGE: YA

SYNOPSIS: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old 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 importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, 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. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary 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.

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book 1 | book 2 | book 3

You know how, sometimes, you pick up a series that’s already popular, and everyone tells you, “Book ___ is the best!” and “Book ___ is the worst!”, and so you set up these weird sorts of expectations in your subconscious, and then you go into the one that everyone tells you is the “worst” and you’re like… “holy crap, this book is amazing”?

No? Just me?

“Hearts are breakable,” Isabelle said. “And I think even when you heal, you’re never what you were before.”

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Jokes aside, I went into this book unsure of what to expect, but I was completely blown away. I thought the pacing in the story was excellent, the plot kept me intrigued without a dull moment (which I can’t say for any of the previous books or Clockwork Angel), and the character development was more than I could’ve asked for.

“What’s the point in wasting a perfectly good brick wall when you have someone to throw against it, that’s what I always say.”

The star of the character development in this installment was Isabelle, for me. I never disliked her, but she didn’t feel fleshed out to me until this book, when I suddenly found myself absolutely loving every single scene she existed in. Of course, that’s not to dim the fact that I still love and cherish my sweet angst-baby Jace, or my sweet, sad little bisexual warlock Magnus. I just want to protect all of them.

“I’m always so glad I have no idea what you’re vacantly chattering about,” said Jace. “It fills me with a sense of peace and well-being.”

Another facet to Fallen Angels that I loved was the development in the Downworlders’ section of things, with learning about the Praetor Lupus, politics in the world of vampires, the creation of warlocks, and more. Many of these were things that were touched on in the first three books, but it felt to me like a lot of world-building was caught up on in this installment.

“If love were food, I would have starved on the bones you gave me.”

Of course, a book in this series would be nothing without its angst and heartache, and I can’t help but eat up every last bite. I’m a sucker for drama in a story like this, and I have come to realize that I’m not sure if I believe any author can do such a wonderful job of creating mountains out of molehills as Cassandra Clare does. Between that and how much I love her characters, I feel like this installment is a good time to say that it’s official: I am ridiculously hooked on her writing, and can’t imagine not following this universe of stories (however many series it may be) all the way to the end.

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More about Destiny @ Howling Libraries

Just a horror aficionado/geek girl trying to juggle motherhood, reading, blogging, gaming, and everyday life.

Leave a comment
    1. I actually think this one is one of the good ones in the series too, it’s a breath of fresh air between book 3 and 5! This is where all the side characters shine, and we got more of the world instead of more Clary drama 😀 Great review Destiny!

      1. Yessss, exactly haha! I like Clary but it was so refreshing to step away from her for the most part and get to see how everyone else is doing! I especially loved how much of Magnus we got to see. ♥ Thank you!!

      1. Thank you, Kaya! Haha Kyle was such a fun new character, and Simon has grown on me a little – I didn’t like him at all in the beginning, but he’s alright now! Jace has been my baby since the start, though, and I love his angsty little butt, bahahaha

    1. I have been reading through these books again. I never completed either series.. Oops! I’m going on the schedule that Emmma books is doing. Figured it was a perfect time to finish everything

      1. Yessss, perfect! That’s the schedule I was trying to do, too. I fell behind in spring and am trying to catch up right now. Based on my current speed, I think I will be on the scheduled timeline by… either the last TMI or last TID book, so not too much longer! I wish I could just power through them all really fast but I’m struggling with the TID series.

    1. I’m glad you enjoyed this one a lot! It definitely encourages me to keep pushing!

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