After waiting for several months, City of Fallen Angels became available at my local library. It is the fourth book in Cassandra Clare’s series, The Mortal Instruments, and the wait was worth it.
As with any book that is not the first book in a series, this review may contain spoilers for previous books.
City of Fallen Angels begins a few weeks after City of Glass. Everybody is back in New York, and it seems like life is getting back to normal. As normal as life can be when you’re a shadowhunter, at least.
Clary and Jace are having problems, and they won’t speak to each other about it. For much of the book, we don’t know why either. They both love each other, and it’s apparent that whatever problem is going on is affecting them. They’re both having trouble sleeping and even eating. This leads to one of my favorite lines in the book. Simon is wondering whether Jace wants to break up with Clary, and his response is “Break up with her? Are you insane?” Okay, so that’s not the problem. We do find out later what is wrong, but in the interest of not giving out spoilers, you’ll just have to read the book.
Simon is having his own issues. After being that nerdy kid for most of his life, he now finds himself interested in two girls. Neither of them know about Simon’s relationship with the other one. Oops. And they both expect to go with Simon to Luke and Jocelyn’s wedding, which is rapidly approaching. As if girl problems aren’t enough, he’s being tracked down by people who want to kill him, and his mother discovers that he’s a vampire and he has to leave home. What a mess!
Valentine might be dead and gone, but there are still other monsters to contend with. Throughout this story, we find out what is bothering Jace, who is trying to murder Simon, and what else this new villain is up to. Our story doesn’t completely end with a happily ever after, but that’s why this series has a fifth (and sixth) book.
I loved this story. This story, like many of the other Mortal Instruments books, incorporates myths and Bible lore into its story, and it makes it quite interesting. If you’re reading this far into the series, you probably are already invested in the characters and care about what happens to them, and of course, I wanted to find out more. Even though I was supposed to be reading another book to review at the time I was reading City of Fallen Angels, I couldn’t put it down.
I absolutely love this series, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Other reviews in The Mortal Instruments Series: