City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare {REVIEW}

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.

The stakes are higher than ever in the #1 New York Times bestselling fourth installment of the Mortal Instruments series.

Book Title: City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy

Publication Date: April 5th 2011

                               by Simon & Schuster Children's, Margaret K. McElderry
Previous Book in the Series: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)

 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

My Review:

This has to be one of my favorite books in the series. Firstly because there is Jace, and more Jace...and a lot more Simon. And after Jace's death and revival, things with him get pretty interesting and intense in this book. City of Fallen Angels is probably the most important book in the series, in terms of plot and character development.

First of all, I loved how the author portrayed Jace. Yes, I miss his kickassery. Yes, I miss his sarcasm and snide remarks. Sure, it breaks my heart to see him suffer. After all he's been through for the past three books, it seems like the author gets some sadistic pleasure torturing him at every chance she gets. But if it's any consolation, all the pain and suffering make Jace more real. Moreover the fact that he can't stop loving Clary and trying to be aloof to keep her away from danger even though it breaks him makes me wanna go and take him in a bear hug. But given how Jace is, he would either enjoy that too much or not at all, since, well, I am a mundane *goes in a corner*

“I suppose you've always been amazing at this stuff."- Clary
"I was born amazing." - Jace” 

Yeah you were *_*

One more thing I really like is how a great deal of this book is about Simon. The guy finally "came out" been rejected by her family, her mother. With the title of a daylighter and the mark, things are not really looking up for him. But he seems to have grown so MUCH! He still has that inherent funny, quirky side to him that makes me go 'Aww.'

"That's Clary; she's my best friend." Simon pocketed his phone. "And she has a boyfriend. Like, really, really, really has a boyfriend. The nuclear bomb of boyfriends. Trust me on this one.”

“Is this the part where you tell me you're secretly in love with me? Vampire mojo strikes again.”  

And I love how Jace and Simon seem to have bonded, albeit peculiarly, over time. These two remind me of old married couples.

"Hey," said Jace. who was sitting on an overturned speaker, looking at his cellphone, "do you want to see a photo of Alec and Magnus in Berlin?"
"Not really," said Simon.
"Magnus is wearing lederhosen."
"And yet, still no.”

“Jace perched on the windowsill and looked down at him. "You really don't get this bodyguard thing, do you?"
"I didn't even think you liked me all that much," said Simon. "Is this one of those keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer things?"
"I thought it was keep your friends close so you have someone to drive the car when you sneak over to your enemy's house a night and throw up in his mailbox."
"I'm pretty sure that's not it” 

“You look lousy,' he said.
Jace blinked. 'Seems an odd time to start an insult contest, but if you insist, I could probably think up something good.'
'No I mean it. You don't look good.'
'This is from a guy ho has all the sex appeal of a penguin. Look, I realize you may be jealous that the good Lord didn't deal you the same chiseled hand he dealt me, but that's no reason to-'
'I am not trying to insult you.' Simon snapped.”

 “Medium clever,” Simon acknowledged. “Like a cross between George Clooney in Ocean’s Eleven and those MythBusters guys, but, you know, better-looking.”
“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.”

I realized I might be getting a restraining order from the author for abusing the quotes in such a way:/ And did I mention I missed Malec for the first half? Like hello! I was like bring babies back from their trip!

One good thing about Clary is she doesn't whine much here. Unlike the previous book, she seems tolerable. Similar to the previous book though, her life is pretty much revolving around Jace. Yes, she wants to learn to fight and become a good shadowhunter, but for the most part she is busy with Jace, in her head or in real. Like grow up already.

The whole plot with Lilith and possession kept me on my edge. Unlike the previous book, the plot is well-knitted and filled with proper suspense and thrill. I found myself hoping nothing bad happening to Jace because of the situation he is in. The buildup and the story progression is really, really good. City of Heavenly Fire not only deals with character and plot intricacies with a certain finesse but also makes room for further story-telling in the future. AND THAT ENDING.
GAH.