City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Summary (from Goodreads):

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’ve been reading these books for the last seven years. There are a lot of different opinions out there about the books, the (bad) movie, the author, etc. And I get why people feel the way they do about all of it. But, for me, I can’t get enough!

Seriously, these books are my drug. I was debating not making any plans this weekend so I could pleasantly stay home and do nothing but read this. I even texted a friend of mine, “This book owns me.” Cassandra Clare’s books have this way of hooking me in and not letting me go. There’s nothing that I can seriously put my finger on for why this is the case. There are definitely better books out there. I just get so addicted. And I guess, I just absolutely adore all the characters.

On a side note, this book is enormous! It’s hit Harry Potter proportions -725 pages. Considering that it still only took me a few days to read really says something. At first I was upset that Cassandra Clare continued the series after City of Glass. Book 4 was kind of a disappointment. Book 5 brought back my crazy addictive reading habits. And I knew this one would be the same way. Clare can certainly write an interesting ending.

The story continued right after the previous book ended. There’s a whole new set of interesting characters, who immediately, of course, have to suffer. The new characters (children) endure the first Sebastian attack and watch their loved ones all turn into the Endarkened (shadowhunters that look like their former selves but actually are entirely dead inside except for the capability of following Sebastian’s orders). And Sebastian doesn’t stop with the L.A. institute (where the kids are). He attacks institutes all over the world. He even goes after downworlders (like the werewolf headquarters in NYC).

There is a lot of death and war in this one. There’s werewolf pack leader battles, mass downworlder kidnappings, demon dimenions, heavenly fire (trapped in Jace), crazy weapons, sizzling romance, great sacrifice, supernatural betrayals, and plenty of drama. There were also tons of tie-ins with Cassandra Clare’s other works. Characters from her other series made cameos and certainly had a lot of mentions. A lot more is learned about Magnus (and I finally understand the roots of The Bane Chronicles). The codex is important through out the whole book. And little snip bits from books as far back as City of Bones are thrown in, tying it all together rather nicely.

It looks as though the new characters (kids) I fell in love with will be getting their own series next. And I know people give Clare a lot of angst about not writing anything out of the same universe. But, I don’t care. I will read those books. I will read more about Magnus too. The characters are just so loveable. I’ve even come to love characters I initially thought I wouldn’t like. I initially hated Alec and Isabelle. And now I feel like I’d go down fighting for them.

I did find some of the resolution with Sebastian to be rather abrupt. After all that he did, I was hoping for a bit more drama/action than I received at the end. However, he was my least favorite character (and not just because he was evil), so I can’t really complain too much. I found everything involving the fairies in this one to be utterly fascinating and I cannot wait to see where things go with this.

There was some cheesy romance/reunions at the end and normally this would result in an eye roll from me, but in this case, with all the stuff thrown at them, I appreciated the cheese factor awarded to the characters. I’m genuinely happy with how things ended. Clare did a nice job of tying different elements from all the books together. The action and romance were just so much fun to read. The characters have really gotten to the point where I think of them as old friends. And the new characters will eventually come to be that for me too. I give this book and this series a 10/10. It’s been a grand seven years.