Jenn's Review: City of Heavenly Fire

Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #6
Publication Date: May 27, 2014
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 725
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  YA Paranormal
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: The perfect ending to a beloved series
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab the whole series!

Blurb:  In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother.

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.

The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris - but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?

When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...

Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the word in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!

Review:  I finished City of Heavenly Fire  over two weeks ago, but I haven't been able to let it go; I gasped and laughed and cried my way through it.  It was magnificent.  I've been re-reading little bits of it here and there, trying to soak it all in.  Plus writing a review makes it feel so final and these are characters to whom I hate to say goodbye.

The novel is monstrously long but never once does it feel like it.  Cassandra Clare doesn't waste a line or a word.  Ms. Clare is a master of understanding relationships and writing people and she proves it time and again.  As a reader I'm beyond committed to these relationships and friendships.  It is amazing how far everyone has come. There are so many wonderful moments between all the characters -too many to recount- and I love Cassandra Clare for including them all.  It seems incredible that it was only a novel ago everything was hurtling out of control for them.  Of course things are still out of control in the shadow hunter world, but all that Clary, Jace, Izzy, Alec, and Simon have been through personally to this point has made them strong, confident, and sure of themselves and each other.  They have truly come of age.  Though the end is near and uncertain, they are ready to face it, together.

Cassandra Clare exceeded my imagination.  Again.  I don't know what I expected for the ending, but it wasn't this.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, it just wasn't the one I thought it would be.  (Honestly, I thought there'd be far more destruction and more deaths... I'm thrilled that there wasn't, of course, but a little amazed as well.)  Though there is an appropriate amount of closure for our heroes, The Clave is still in dire need of change and I hope that this will be the generation of Shadowhunters to make it happen.  

The only thing I would have wished for was more Jem and Tessa.  I understand why there wasn't; it's not their story, but I wanted so much for Jace to learn his lineage.  Along with the inclusion of Jem and Tessa we get the fabulous tie in to the Carstairs branch of the family in such a way that makes the addition of new characters, welcome and familiar.  As the book closes on the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute, the window opens to the Los Angeles institute to the story of Jules and Emma.  It is also a beautiful introduction to The Dark Artifices which is set to come out in the fall of 2015.  I hope that some of the Mortal Instruments characters will visit the Dark Artifices characters...

Honestly, I could gush forever about this entire series, let alone this final novel, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.  All of her novels are on my list of all time favorites that I recommend to anyone and everyone.

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