Reviews

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

mistral's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was my favorite of the mortal instruments. I thought books four and five were rather lacking and was actually kind of dreading this book, but it more than made up for the others falling short. Few books have had me crying and laughing within pages of themselves. Can't wait to read the Shadowhunter Academy and the Dark Artifacts!

mars_bibliphile's review against another edition

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5.0

Wtf Sebastian(Jonathan) what the actual fuck!? He’s so weird to like his sister like that, incest is just weird. Poor Simon

thespookyequestrian's review against another edition

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5.0

Such a VAST improvement on the last two books in this series. Book 4 had me irritated, and book 5 made me nearly quite on the series. I had serious reservations about this last book in the series, Clare REALLY didn't need to make it this long and he last two books were pretty bad IMO. But City of Heavenly Fire restored my faith in the series. My ONLY complaint is the Emma/Jules storyline she's added in. I know she's setting up the next series, but I found these kids an unnecessary addition. Their characters BORED me to the point that I began skipping any part with them in it because I just flat-out didn't CARE about them or what happened to them. I definitely will NOT be reading the next series by Clare. MI was good, ID was BETTER, but this next series? Can we say "jumping the shark?" I won't bother with it. But let's get back to this book, eh? It was thrilling, gripping and had me anxious to read more. I'm glad I didn't completely lose faith and read the final book in the MI series. :)

cdcrawford612's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely loved every book in this series! So excited that the two series came together!

atos520's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Follow You Down- Gin Blossoms
P. 629
Best book of The Mortal Instruments series

wilder_tingz's review against another edition

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3.0

3.6 / 5

well, here we are. the grand finale of the sibling smut smack down. can i really say that these books are good? can i REALLY encourage others to do this to themselves? i took this upon myself so YOU don’t have to. altogether, this series is over 2,500 pages. i cant help but ask myself: why did i do this? what did i hope to gain? what’s left for me now? i spent a good two and a half weeks on this series and FOR WHAT?

right off the bat, i’m gonna say that the last 3 books of this series didn’t need to happen. i thought sebastian was interesting in some places, but not consistently enough to deserve a 3 book plot arc. i enjoyed little bits and pieces of the last 3 books, but ultimately they felt directionless - the overarching plot is allllll over the place. and the plot was ALREADY all over the place in the first 3.

this book in particular felt … unmotivated. i didn’t feel the tension or the build up, i didn’t feel the stakes, i didn’t care as much as i should have. i was bored by every couple in this book - even jace and clary are boring together in this one. it all felt so… tired. i was bored, the characters are boring, and the plot is SO stupid. i cant say that i felt like this was a fitting conclusion in any way. yeah yeah yeah, they travel to hell, there’s SEX, there’s tea and drama, but GOD - none of it was very compelling! i forgot everything that happened in this book the minute it was done happening. nothing made an impression on me.

what i do appreciate about this book is clary. she’s changed so much since the first book, and that’s the ONLY reason i kept reading. the scene where clary cries for all that’s happened, and then cries for herself? the version of herself that she’s lost? yeeppppp. that was the best part of the book and i’m not kidding. it was the ONLY part where i thought “i’m really thinking rn”. clary managed to be the only interesting character in this whole entire book.

the whole emma / julian / blackwoods plot? NOPE. HATED IT. so bored the whole time, literally i was begging CASSANDRA CLARE to take me out back and shoot me. i wanted to be put out of my misery!

one thing that was certainly missing from this series: a more in depth discussion of god. we’re talking about angels, demons, and princes of hell but we can’t talk about GOD? like? that would have elevated this series i think - my guess is that CASSANDRA CLARE was lowkey afraid to go there.

i will concede and recognize this one thing: these books are vestiges of a time long past. a time when fantasy didn’t have to be GOOD to be highly consumable. and these books are consumable as FUCK!! but they’re not good. they’re just not good. no matter how you slice and dice it, these books miss the mark. the character work is compelling in some places, but isn’t consistent: some characters feel fleshed out and alive, and other characters feel like one dimensional pieces of flotsam, just floating down the river of insane plot devices. there was a kind of kinetic energy in the first books - and you know what? I’M GONNA SAY IT - it was the sibling stuff. I KNOW, I KNOW, but that was such a great way to create tension! everything after the third book is lackluster and is missing the energy that keeps the pages turning.

i’m… disappointed i think. the ending wraps up in the most milquetoast, kumbaya way EVER. and i’m MAD about it. i did not put away 2,500 pages of MEDIOCRE PROSE for this. i don’t know what i DID read 2,500 pages for… but it wasn’t to read some feeble attempt at soft launching a spin off series. in short - i very much disliked the ending.

i have beef with a lot of the characters, but i’m not going to waste my breath on them. HONESTLY?? i might just be done wasting my breath on this series

ophelixc's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I loved everything about this book. The plot and character development just worked so well!! Everything tied together and made the perfect ending to this series. I loved the introduction to new characters and can't wait to read their own stories. The best book out of this series by far.

i4hirais's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

sinadria's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0