City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Fantasy/Romance


Woohoo! The forth Mortal Instruments book! And is it as good as the hype? Yes it is! It's amazing. It's sexy. It's funny. And it has Jace in it! What more can I say? plenty actually :-)
City of Fallen Angels picks up a little while after the end of City of Glass (COG for those who are into the acronyms). Jace and Clary are finally together, Simon is attempting to date two very fiery women at once (asking for trouble!), Luke and Jocelyn are planning their wedding and everything seems fine. But it doesn't stay that way for long as an ancient vampire names Camille comes onto the scene and seeks out Simon, Shadowhunters are turning up dead and Jace is pulling away from Clary with no apparent explanation.

Sound exciting? Well it is and that's putting it mildly. There is no off switch with this book and for that I am extremely thankful. Is anyone aware of that feeling when your reading a book and it seems to be going very slow? Well with this it was the opposite. One minute I'd be 50 pages in and the next I was 200 without realising I'd been reading for a couple of hours straight (A very good reason why I didn't read this at work).
The way the plot came together was extraordinary and somehow several unconnected events became interlinked with one another which is something I love about Clare's writing; she has a true gift for story telling and for world shaping which marks her out as a truly remarkable author.

For those wondering about the razor sharp wit that we usually experience from Clare's work, well, it's still there and in good form. I couldn't stop laughing at one paragraph with a song dedication, containing the following lyrics: "I want to bang you like a drum". I was in stitches while sitting in Costa Coffee drinking hot chocolate, and I was getting very weird looks :-)
Simon and Jace are both just as funny as they were as well, especially when faced with imminent danger or certain death, and why not? Because lets face it, if your going to die you may as well die making a joke as opposed to begging for your life.

The best part about returning to the world of the Shadowhunters? Has to be the characters and all the old favourites are back. Jace and Clary's relationship was stellar in this and there is one scene in particular had my heart racing, not just because of the all the romance and heat but because of the tension and emotion, I was left stunned.  Those two are meant to be and every time they interact sparks fly.
Simon's relationships with Isabelle and Maia are wonderful and have unexpected twists involving a character that we've never seen but has been mentioned. I won't say any more on that front because it will spoil a good chunk of the novel and I am not going to do that.
For Magnus and Alec fans, don't fear! Our favourite Shadowhunter/Warlock couple is back and they are so amazing, I love them both and I really want a happy ending for them. Magnus, you'll be pleased to hear, still has his extraordinary fashion sense ;-)

I could go on and on and on about this but I will end up spoiling things. So I will end by saying the plot is amazing, it will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. There are a few "ah ha!" moments as well as you link events from past books to this one and the story takes some amazing twists.
The ending will leave you longing for the next in the series and I am dying to get my hands on book 5. Why must I wait do long? It is torture I tell you, Torture!
Anyway, read this, read it, read it, READ IT!
That is all, thank you xxx