To be honest, I’d have died perfectly happy if the story had ended there at the celebration in Alicante, so I was both overjoyed and a tad bit apprehensive to hear that Clare was planning a three book addition to one of my favorite trilogies OF ALL TIME….I’m no longer apprehensive.
City of Fallen Angels begins two months after the defeat of Valentine. Jace, Clary and the gang are all back in New York and still adjusting to all the changes that have occurred in and since CoG. Clary adopts her birthright as Nephilim and has begun training as a Shadowhunter while also getting ready for Jocelyn and Luke’s wedding. Simon is struggling to find a balance between his humanity and his more vampiric reality as well as finding a balance in his new-found and over-scheduled love life. Jace is still coming to terms with his identity, parentage and the man who raised him, and the entire Lightwood family is still grieving the loss of their youngest son/brother Max. Things quickly heat up as Simon is unwillingly dragged into a battle of Downworlder politics, Jocelyn and Clary make a horrifying discovery at the Beth Israel morgue, and Jace’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and distant. There’s intrigue, lies, betrayal, new evils, romances old and new, and a twisty, turny ending that might have you alternating between shouting angry things at the printed page and reaching for the tissue box.
Since CoG wrapped up so nicely for Jace and Clary and since there can’t be a story without conflict, you can expect some stormy (and steamy) seas ahead for our favorite lovebirds. As the story progresses, Jace begins to slowly become distant and disengaged from Clary without her knowing why. After everything they’ve been through together, she was confident that their love for each other was a firm, eternal thing, but now she begins to wonder if Jace is doubting their relationship. Jace, on the other hand, has what he considers to be valid reasons for keeping his distance from Clary….and of course he never tells her why for fear of actually losing her. It’s delicious. It’s dramatic. It is, after all, YA people.
Simon, oh my. While angsty, emo Jace has always held my heart first (I have a thing for dudes with tortured souls who wear all black), Simon is a close, close second. From his ironic t-shirts to his penchant for truly awful band names to his frequent use of sarcastic pop culture references to his utter devotion and loyalty to those he loves, these things I love about Simon. When we first see Simon in CoFA he’s still living at home with his mom, trying as hard as he can to maintain the charade of his humanity. However between being the “Daylighter”, the bearer of the Mark of Cain, and the daily struggle of repressing his vampire urges, it quickly reaches a breaking point and changes are coming for our favorite child of the night.
We are introduced to several new characters in this book, including one from The Clockwork Angel which was a well done tie-in and a nice touch. And another character is introduced that we have only previously heard about. I’m not going to say a word, only that I’m also in love with him and that I’m hoping he gets more “screen time” in the next two books. Clare does an excellent job developing both her characters and her world and she really brings Shadowhunters, Downworlders, Alicante, the Silent City and even the streets of New York into vibrant technicolor through her descriptions and dialogue. It’s such a joy to read and I love, love, love becoming immersed in her universe.
Overall this book met and exceeded my expectations and was a fantastic addition to The Mortal Instruments series.
Author: Cassandra Clare
Title: City of Fallen Angels
Series: The Mortal Instruments (Book #4)
Published: April 5th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Format: Hardcover, 424 pages
Website: http://www.mortalinstruments.com/
My rating: 
Thank you for sharing about City of Fallen Angels. I have not read the Mortal Instruments series (you can stop gasping and choking now) but I have been considering it for a while. I like to read the reviews and get others opinions and it sounds like this one is pretty great
lol… ok… I’m finally done gasping and choking 😉 It is pretty good, one of my favorites. A series you should definitely pick up!
I loved The Mortal Instruments series, and so I loved this new installment! I first picked up the book b/c I was going to a book signing by Holly Black and since Cassie was going to be there, I thought I should read what her book is about. I was so glad I did! I agree, I would have been fine if the series ended after 3 books, but hey, more stories in this series is fine with me! Jace is always hot, and that scene with the mango was funny! I loved the cliffhanger b/c it makes me want to read the next book!
Great review I liked the ending of COG but it kinda felt like there could be more since we never found out what happened to Sebastian’s body or what the Mark of Cain would do to Simon. I loved this installment as well but I can’t figure out who you want to have more screen time, It’s been awhile or I’m blocking it out…hmm not sure.
Thanks for the review. I am going to have to read now.
I was traumatised by the first book of the Mortal Instruments series. And I was so disappointed ‘cos I really loved the Infernal Devices series. But I decided to keep going with this series ‘cos everyone seems to love it so much, so there HAS to be something good. And there has to be a resolution to that AWFUL twist from the first book in the series. So I will keep trying and hopefully I will reach this one and love it as much as you do. =D
Hmm… well, if you’re so inclined, you should really, really read the rest of the TMI books… you definitely can’t stop after City of Bones! That would most certainly be traumatizing! It was a good twist though, huh? Talk about heart-wrenching. Thanks for stopping by!
Hooray for 5 stars! I loved this book a lot. But the ending was…urgh! I actually kinda like Sebastian even though he’s the evil guy. 😛 Anyway, great review!
Loved this book. This series is awesome.
Great review! I only got into the series this year but I felt a bit let down by City Fallen Angels. Not that it wasn’t interesting or capturing but I felt like CC was just stretching out the story and creating new drama. Still, I loved it and I can’t wait for the next one.
Like you, I totally adore the TMI series!
And among the four books, City of Fallen Angels is my definite favorite.
And I, too, am obsessed with men with tortured souls and who often fall into that arrogant pretense just to prevent anyone from seeing how broken he really is from the inside. I don’t know but I always always root for those kind of guys. Haha.
I’m so excited for the next book!
I’ve read up to City of Glass, and I’m insanely afraid to pick up this one because I adore where CoG left off. I don’t really want to add even more to the series. Plus, my friends who have read this book said they didn’t like it–one even put it down after 100 pgs. However, I did like the previous three, and you certainly enjoyed this one, so I think I might pick CoFA up soon.
I really love this series (and JACE of course!) I actually can’t put into words how can I express my admiration and awe for this awesome work by Cassandra Clare. I couldn’t wait to see it in movie.
Thanks for sharing the review. I love this series and I adored this book. The characters switching points so often was a little irritating but only because I really wanted to switch back to the other character so I could know what was going on already. Also, I think it took away a little from the other characters stories because you didn’t get to see as much as you usually do but I did love hearing about each story and I admire how much work and skill it takes to flow and write all the stories together in one book. It’s amazing. I could read an entire series about each character and be thrilled to read every single book! The ending was painful for me but of course all great love stories go through stuff like that and they just wouldn’t be good if everything worked out perfectly. I can’t wait to see it in a movie.