Publication date : 2 July 2015
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 448 pages
ISBN-10 : 1406362190
ISBN-13 : 978-1406362190
Book Blurb
To love is to destroy… The Mortal War is over, and Clary Fray is home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But her happiness has come at a price…
My Review
So I started Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters about eighteen months ago with the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series and surprised myself with how much I enjoyed them. You would think that after book 3 I would automatically read book 4 in the series but these books are not that simple. There are twenty books in total in the ‘Shadowhunters series, mainly trilogies that are set in different places and in history as well as a few standalones and the order in which you read them can get quite heated. I chose the order Cassandra Clare recommended so the end of last year I read and reviewed the Infernal Devices trilogy set in Victorian London; you can search for those on my blog. I have to admit that I’m glad that I read these as some of the main characters from that trilogy appear in City of Fallen Angels as central parts of the plot; Brother Zachariah, Camille head of the New York vampires, Magnus a warlock and Raphael also a vampire.
In the previous three books I really fell in love with the characters and was excited to find out what happened to they had won the mortal war. At the centre is Clary, who has lived as a normal human until she found out she was a Shadowhunter, a group who protect humans from Downwolders; Vampires, Werewolves, Fae and Demons. Clary meets Jace, one of the Shadowhunters, and they begin a rocky romance that by this book sees them back on firmer ground and able to be together as a couple. After the events of the. previous book I thought life would get easier for them, no more wars, but oh how wrong was I.
Cassandra Clare starts on another adrenaline fueled journey with Clary, Jace and their friends that had me gripped throughout. I liked that her best friend Simon played a prominent role, as a Daylighter he is a vampire that can also walk in sunlight. All the characters created by Cassandra Clare feel authentic and well defined and I loved being involved in their lives, getting to know their quirks, their strengths and their loyalty to each other.
As mentioned above this is an adrenaline fuelled journey that had me addicted from start to finish. Cassandra Clare is a masterful storyteller and world builder using well known cities as bases for the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders, whilst also creating Idris, a city for Shadowhunters. There are so many layers to these books that highlight what it is like to be different, discrimination. loyalty, love, family, and of course good and evil and what fuels that. This combination with the life stories of the main characters and the danger they find themselves in individually and as a group makes this such a compelling and engaging read.
I was so happy to be back in the world of Jace and Clarey and their friends. City of Fallen Angels was as gripping as I hoped it would be, and I really enjoyed the development to the characters. Cassandra Clare is a brilliant writer, her prose is descriptive and atmospheric and she writes with an ease that makes her such an accomplished storyteller. This book finished on shocking cliffhanger that I really didn’t see coming so I’m going right into the next book City of Lost Souls.
You can read my reviews of Cassandra Clare’s previous books by seraching on my blog.