Thursday, August 14, 2014

Review: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Heavenly Fire
Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Mortal Instruments #6
Publication: May 27th 2014 by Margaret K. McElderry

Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5



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!








So... I did it. I finally finished City of Heavenly Fire. I still can't quite believe this was the final book in this fantastic series. I started reading this series back in 2011 so it's been a huge part of my reading life for years. On the one hand I feel incredibly sad that The Mortal Instruments series is over but on the other I feel grateful to have read these books and we all know this isn't really the end. Cassandra Clare has more Shadowhunter adventures in store for us. 
So much happened in this book and not all of it induced happy feelings. Through most of the book I was feeling on edge, nervous and scared. But of course it was all very awesome!

But seriously... this book was freaking EPIC! I have no other word for it. It really was. All these characters are so familiar to me and truly, they feel like friends to me so it's only natural that I have shed a few tears. Especially when some characters I loved died (I'm not gonna name any names but oh my god, why did Cassie do this to us?) and the ending. Oh so many feels!

Jace took my breath away. I seriously love him to bits and pieces. His charm, his snark, his love for his family and Clary. Can't resist Herondale boys! He'll always be a favorite character of mine. Clary is also a character I'll always care for. I love how fiercely loyal she is to the ones she loves. The Lightwood siblings will also be in my heart always - Isabelle and Alec are some of my favorite book siblings ever. What happened to Simon honestly broke my heart into a thousand pieces. It was a mean thing to do of Cassie, in my opinion. Everything worked sort of out there in the end but still! And Magnus? Well, what can I say about my ultimate favorite character in this series. I love him so damn much. Him and Alec have always been very cute and it was no different in this book. Magnus is and has always been the most fascinating character of the bunch and I will always and always love him. I also gotta mention Sebastian/Jonathan. I know he's a villain and we're supposed to hate him but I genuinely never could. I just felt like I should mention that because in the end we could see the real him and who he was supposed to be. That was a really sad scene, by the way. My heart just hurts thinking about it.

As always the book switches points of view a lot and I loved that. I know not a lot of people do but I think it's very interesting to know what other characters are up to. And every point of view was very different and took us somewhere else.
Aside from being epic, this book was so heartbreaking, emotional and full of Shadowhunter action. Just the way I like my books. 

And finally, let's just take a moment to acknowledge how awesome this world full of Shadowhunters, Vampires, Werewolves, Faeries, Warlocks and what not is. It's really one of the more spectacular worlds I have read about and all I can say is: give us more!





Favorite Quotes:

“But the Silent Brothers have tried everything to separate Jace from the Heavenly fire, and they can't do it. It's in his soul. So what's their plan, hitting Sebastian over the head with Jace until he passes out?”
“Okayyyyy,” Isabelle said in a low voice, “When did Brother Zachariah get hot?”
“Magnus rolled onto his back and put his feet up on the arm of the sofa. “What do you care if Alec’s miserable?”
“What do I care?” Jace said, so loudly that Chairman Meow rolled off the couch and landed on the floor. “Of course I care about Alec; he’s my best friend, my parabatai. And he’s unhappy. And so are you, by the look of things. Takeout containers everywhere, you haven’t done anything to fix up the place, your cat looks dead —“
“He’s not dead.”
“Brother Zachariah,” Isabelle said. “Months January through December of the Hot Silent Brothers Calendar. What’s he doing here?”
“There’s a Hot Silent Brothers Calendar?” said Alec. “Do they sell it?”



About the Author:

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel.


5 comments:

  1. Oh wow... I seriously cannot wait to continue reading this series. I am so glad I have all the books so I can just carry on to the next one = No waiting required!

    Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.

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  2. Ooooh. I need to get back to this series and finish it up. Sounds like it ends with flying colors. :)

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  3. Can't believe we did it.. We finished ahhhh! The end

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