We Need To Talk About City of Heavenly Fire (6) by Cassandra Clare

I discovered Shadowhunters this year.

Six book series? Last one is 700-pages long? Challenge accepted.

(After I, you know, finished crying because the book is so big I can literally stand on it and bring my pathetically short stature up to normal height. Yes, peoples. It’s a biggie. And big books scare me. Although I do have a zombie apocalypse escape plan based solely on fighting myself out of vicious hordes using books as weapons.)

The last book, number 6, City of Heavenly Fire (which this post is about, just so we’re perfectly clear) came out in May, 2014. And I’ll shriek a ginormous thank you to Walker Books Australia for this review copy.

It’s really hard to review series conclusions. If you haven’t read the first books the post either a) doesn’t make sense, or b) you don’t want to read it for risk of spoilers. SO. For all of you who are concerned with these two things:

– YES. There will be spoilers in this post for the rest of The Mortal Instrument series, books 1-5 (not big spoilers! Just the unavoidable ones).
– NO. There will not be spoilers for book 6! Spoiler free review of the conclusion!
– In fact, YES, I will mostly just be squealing about the characters.
– Are we ready for this? LET’S FANGIRL, PEOPLES.

I don’t even know how to adequately sum up my feelings for this phenomenal book.

Series conclusions have a lot of weight riding on them…and I think CoHF buckled just a little.

I think book 5 was my favourite and maybe my expectations were just a little too high? Or maybe the stakes were too high for book 5 and so I didn’t feel the vamped up enough in book 6?

City of Heavenly Fire spent a lot of time introducing 12-year-old Emma and Julian (who are going to star in their own series! LOOK! The Dark Artifices!). They were cute and interesting but…I didn’t care at this point. I’ve spent 5 books following Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, and Magnus and I want THEM. Stop…stop distracting me from them.

Also there were many meetings with the Clave that felt repetitious from last time. (I felt like I’d “been there, read that” in all the other books.) Plus Maia’s werewolf story line did. not. interest. me. STILL. I said this for book 5 and I say it again.

All the story lines wrapped up smoothly.

Let’s talk about ALL the characters.

– Clary and Jace. They truly are the most disappointing twosome in this series. They were my favourites in the first books — angst and chemistry and hilarious banter. But it’s like they hit their peak and now absolutely plateaued. I feel like everyone in the series (particularly Jace!) went through amazing character development…but Clary is the same in book 1 as she is in book 6. That’s somewhat disappointing. 


– Isabelle and Simon. OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE MY FAVOURITE! THEY ARE MY SHIP! THEY ARE MY WORLD! I love Simon to death (which fits since he’s undead anyway) and I love Isabelle’s incredible snark and emotionally damaged heart and how adorable they were together and how much Simon really truly cared about Isabelle. 
I love Simon because he could still have a friendship with Clary even though he didn’t love her romantically. 
I love Isabelle when she broke down barriers and actually admitted she loved Simon. I SMUSH THEM TOGETHER, MY ADORABLE HAPPY SHIP. I would read an entire series about Isabelle and Simon. I would read anything. Oh my gosh. Hold my heart. I’m fangirling.

Plus, Simon Appreciation Moment: I completely thought he would fade out of the series when I first met him in book #1. But Simon is the soul of the entire The Mortal Instruments books. He carries all these Shadowhunters. He’s unassuming and sweet and everyone dismisses him. 

And he is THE character of the series.

You’ll see what I mean.

– Alec and Magnus. They went through a heck of a lot of character development here. Although…well, I won’t tell you if they end up together or not after book 5’s traumatic breakup. But I admire these two a lot because they are so different and yet…Malec.


– Luke and Jocelyn. I maintain that Jocelyn is the worst and most annoying parent to ever walk across YA. She’s useless and controlling and way too dramatic. She spends all her time trying to stifle Clary and then — BOOM — Jocelyn is in danger/missing/gone/sleeping again. I don’t even care. I want her gone. I think Clary has so much more room to develop when she’s no there. LUKE ROCKS. But he had shameful little book time. 


– Sebastian. He was a freaky level of evil, although he maintains he’s disgusting obsession with his sister that grosses me out 100%. I believe it’s supposed to. Although… something happens. I kind of teared up.

All in all, it was a frighteningly delicious book.

Can We Quote It, Now?!

I’ve listed even more glorious quotes on my goodreads review, if you wish to see it.

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…

Cait is currently on Shadowhunter withdrawal. She rewatched the movie yesterday, whilst folding paper cranes (as one does) and felt a little appeased. Which reminds her how freakishly EXCITED she is for the new TV series in works! She’s got The Bane Chronicles to read next and then it’s onto The Infernal Devices. Thank goodness, Cassandra Clare has written a small mountain of books.