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caesar2014's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Infertility
bookthief's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
I would have given this book 4 stars due to the last few chapters which were extremely intense and pretty awesome. But majority of the book was slow and quite anti-climactic. There was no plot for the first half of the book, and Camille was in it a lot and it turned out to be not very cantered around her at the end, which I would have expected instead of Lilith suddenly entering after virtually no reference to her at all.
The last chapters were super intense. The battle and everything with Sebastian. I can’t believe he’s back again and now properly controlling Jace as well which is super sad.
Simons character development was pretty good, he learns more about being a vampire and on his way to accepting it. I was upset when he bit Maureen but I guess I was expecting something like that to happen soon. What I wasn’t expecting was the she would come back as a vampire and then she just left so I hope in the next book we can see what has actually happened to her. I did not like the fact that Simon was dating Maia and Isabelle, like just go out with Izzy they were super cute together.
Jordan and Maia would make a super cute couple I loved that Maia is slowly becoming more accepting of Jordan. They would be super cute.
I love Magnus and Alec, they need more time together in the books !!!
Jace and Clary as always had a very rocky relationship throughout the book, but when they did get on I loved their dynamic.
Overall it was pretty good but thought it could have been executed better especially the first half of the book.
Also I loved the fact that Will Herondale was mentioned!!!
The last chapters were super intense. The battle and everything with Sebastian. I can’t believe he’s back again and now properly controlling Jace as well which is super sad.
Simons character development was pretty good, he learns more about being a vampire and on his way to accepting it. I was upset when he bit Maureen but I guess I was expecting something like that to happen soon. What I wasn’t expecting was the she would come back as a vampire and then she just left so I hope in the next book we can see what has actually happened to her. I did not like the fact that Simon was dating Maia and Isabelle, like just go out with Izzy they were super cute together.
Jordan and Maia would make a super cute couple I loved that Maia is slowly becoming more accepting of Jordan. They would be super cute.
I love Magnus and Alec, they need more time together in the books !!!
Jace and Clary as always had a very rocky relationship throughout the book, but when they did get on I loved their dynamic.
Overall it was pretty good but thought it could have been executed better especially the first half of the book.
Also I loved the fact that Will Herondale was mentioned!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Torture, Death, Murder, and Violence
oystersauce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse
breedawnwriter's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Cassandra needs to leave Jace alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Blood, Child death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, and Body horror
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
gibbse97's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-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
4.25
It’s amazing how good a book can be once you abandon the incest plotline
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Gore, Death, and Child death
kybearbroski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Mental illness, Child death, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror
qcupquake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
City of Fallen Angels
- ...ok where to start
- i love this series with my whole heart and soul but i don't even have words for this
- the plot was confusing, it stretched out for what felt like so long and it only got good whenJace got possessed
- so the plot from what i've gathered is... Lilith is Sebastian's "mother" and she wanted to make more babies like Sebastian but she failed. she got Camille to kill Downworlders so that she could inject their blood into the babies???? but Camille had her own plot of wanting to retake her spot so she needed Simon??? but Simon was also needed by Lilith to bring back Sebastian and also Lilith have Jace the nightmares so she could control him and perform the ritual to bring Sebastian back?? idk it's very confusing and the plot stretches out for what seems like so long
- it's a bit boring but then the ending realLLY started to get good.
- yk i really wish they made the rest of the books into movies bc i know dAMN WELL that jamie campbell bower would absolutely NAIL the way Jace was acting while possessed.
- anyways i LOVED the ending and that kinda redeemed it for me
- i can't tell which i liked more, coa or cofa but idk. it wasn't as good as cob or cog
-THE CLIFFHANGER OH MY GODDDDDDDD I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES
- ...ok where to start
- i love this series with my whole heart and soul but i don't even have words for this
- the plot was confusing, it stretched out for what felt like so long and it only got good when
- so the plot from what i've gathered is...
- it's a bit boring but then the ending realLLY started to get good.
- yk i really wish they made the rest of the books into movies bc i know dAMN WELL that jamie campbell bower would absolutely NAIL the way
- anyways i LOVED the ending and that kinda redeemed it for me
- i can't tell which i liked more, coa or cofa but idk. it wasn't as good as cob or cog
-THE CLIFFHANGER OH MY GODDDDDDDD I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Violence, and Gore
spurreys's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Miren, yo creí que la iba a seguir pasando mal con este libro como lo había pasado en la última parte de la saga, pero me sorprendió para bien el giro que le dio. En parte, me gusta que se haya enfocado un poco más en los personajes secundarios; sin ir más lejos, acá el protagonista es Simon o, al menos, es a quien leemos más. En otra parte, además, tenemos un foco en otra cosa que no es el romance de Jace y Clary que, si bien les tengo algo de aprecio, no es precisamente mi trope favorito. No me gusta el amor a primera vista o el de almas gemelas, así que saber que se aman desde el primer momento no me despertaba nada.
Los giros de trama que tiene por primera vez desde el primer libro me generan algún tipo de sorpresa y, aunque me parece demasiado en cierto puntos, dentro de la lógica que estableció la misma saga están bien, así que me dejo llevar por la corriente. Si el resto de la saga continúa con este ritmo, me parece que voy a poder terminarla pronto.
ps. No sé si el libro es un cuatro punto tres como puse, o mis estándares estaban por el piso con el anterior que hizo que este valga tanto. No lo sé. Tampoco me importa mucho.
Los giros de trama que tiene por primera vez desde el primer libro me generan algún tipo de sorpresa y, aunque me parece demasiado en cierto puntos, dentro de la lógica que estableció la misma saga están bien, así que me dejo llevar por la corriente. Si el resto de la saga continúa con este ritmo, me parece que voy a poder terminarla pronto.
ps. No sé si el libro es un cuatro punto tres como puse, o mis estándares estaban por el piso con el anterior que hizo que este valga tanto. No lo sé. Tampoco me importa mucho.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Violence
ramireads's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
loooove the focus on izzy in this one<3 makes me so happy my gal is getting the time she deserves
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Child death, and Torture
roget's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I’ll probably give it another go eventually, after I’m less busy. For now, this is the last thing I’m reaching for from the tbr pile, so I’m setting it free.
Update: Finally finished it on a whim. There was a lot of cringing, incredulous "what"-ing, and the like. I don't recommend this book to ANYONE with trauma from a domestic violence or infidelity history, as some of the material will likely be incredibly triggering. Probably don't read this review. It's unfiltered, my initial impressions, and slightly unhinged with frustration.
Clary proceeded to be the least likeable person in the book, still. Very much reads like something written during the era when we were judging celebs for shaving their heads or daring to be a size 10/12.
Jace's issues were incredibly frustrating, and the line of delineation between Jace's actual trauma and what's being caused by the big bad's is often unclear.
Strong points: Luke is usually the only person with some amount of common sense, and Max's prior death continued to be painful. Watching them all continue to try to go on without him was rough, and it didn't feel like it was glossed over much.
The end of it seems to create YET MORE opportunities for grossness that I'd hoped we'd left behind us, which makes me want to throw up in my mouth.
Jace is hard to like because the narrative is clearly so in love with him but he's also clearly so dysfunctional and absolutely awful at communicating about it. It's like everyone's always like "Oh, he's so HOT and TORTURED and look at his muscles and how HOT he is and how much every girl ever WANTS him" which is a bit much to take when he is ten kinds of immature and in need of serious intervention on top of being, what. Sixteen? Seventeen? A literal child. (Ugh. Can you tell I'm not the YA target audience? Even still, I don't think adolescent me would've found him all that appealing.) Gross, gross, gross. You'd at least think that the other POV's would be less complimentary to Jace, but Simon's even all "Wow. Jace is so cool and nonchalant and BROKEN INSIDE." I mean, this boy manages to be so toxic Clary thinks he's ending things because of a 24 hour gap of contact. (And that in and of itself was mind-bendingly melodramatic. Like, the text read like a parody of YA romance--like something written to make fun of it.) I just have a really difficult time believing that Clary and Jace love each other the way they're constantly thinking they do when they jump to conclusions, keep secrets, and treat each other like vipers that might strike out and cause damage at any moment.
Yet these books always sort of patch it up right at the very end so Clary and Jace can have an "us against the world" moment before the credits roll. TLDR: as an adult, I do not find teenage Jace appealing in the slightest, so it's really rough trying to slog through Clary's perpetual drooling.
And don't even get me started on Simon's nonsense this book. Totally disappointing. OH. AND the fourteen year old? Did NOT like Simon biting her. That set off so many alarm bells. Even though Simon doesn't see Maureen that way, the scene read very predatorial, and Clare wasn't careful about the way that was unpacked. The text didn't make it into something nearly as disgusting as it should've been. I also find it near-impossible to believe that Jace and Jordan would've let Simon out of the apartment had he been in that bad of shape. I don't think Simon would've neglected himself to that degree. He's not stupid. He wouldn't be like, "Oh, neglecting to feed--I can do that. It doesn't matter." No. He'd be hyper-cautious, taking all steps he could to try to mitigate the risk he presents to others.
So I don't buy that for a minute. The conflict there felt completely contrived out of a series of bad decisions to get Simon to not have agency and do something shocking and monstrous to give us a jump scare.
Why am I reading this? Mostly anthropological urge to track this cultural phenomenon from when I was a tween/teen. But every time I pick one of these books up, I'm reminded why I have to take the series in VERY. SMALL. DOSES.
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Update: Finally finished it on a whim. There was a lot of cringing, incredulous "what"-ing, and the like. I don't recommend this book to ANYONE with trauma from a domestic violence or infidelity history, as some of the material will likely be incredibly triggering. Probably don't read this review. It's unfiltered, my initial impressions, and slightly unhinged with frustration.
Clary proceeded to be the least likeable person in the book, still. Very much reads like something written during the era when we were judging celebs for shaving their heads or daring to be a size 10/12.
Jace's issues were incredibly frustrating, and the line of delineation between Jace's actual trauma and what's being caused by the big bad's is often unclear.
Strong points: Luke is usually the only person with some amount of common sense, and Max's prior death continued to be painful. Watching them all continue to try to go on without him was rough, and it didn't feel like it was glossed over much.
The end of it seems to create YET MORE opportunities for grossness that I'd hoped we'd left behind us, which makes me want to throw up in my mouth.
Jace is hard to like because the narrative is clearly so in love with him but he's also clearly so dysfunctional and absolutely awful at communicating about it. It's like everyone's always like "Oh, he's so HOT and TORTURED and look at his muscles and how HOT he is and how much every girl ever WANTS him" which is a bit much to take when he is ten kinds of immature and in need of serious intervention on top of being, what. Sixteen? Seventeen? A literal child. (Ugh. Can you tell I'm not the YA target audience? Even still, I don't think adolescent me would've found him all that appealing.) Gross, gross, gross. You'd at least think that the other POV's would be less complimentary to Jace, but Simon's even all "Wow. Jace is so cool and nonchalant and BROKEN INSIDE." I mean, this boy manages to be so toxic Clary thinks he's ending things because of a 24 hour gap of contact. (And that in and of itself was mind-bendingly melodramatic. Like, the text read like a parody of YA romance--like something written to make fun of it.) I just have a really difficult time believing that Clary and Jace love each other the way they're constantly thinking they do when they jump to conclusions, keep secrets, and treat each other like vipers that might strike out and cause damage at any moment.
Yet these books always sort of patch it up right at the very end so Clary and Jace can have an "us against the world" moment before the credits roll. TLDR: as an adult, I do not find teenage Jace appealing in the slightest, so it's really rough trying to slog through Clary's perpetual drooling.
And don't even get me started on Simon's nonsense this book. Totally disappointing. OH. AND the fourteen year old? Did NOT like Simon biting her. That set off so many alarm bells. Even though Simon doesn't see Maureen that way, the scene read very predatorial, and Clare wasn't careful about the way that was unpacked. The text didn't make it into something nearly as disgusting as it should've been. I also find it near-impossible to believe that Jace and Jordan would've let Simon out of the apartment had he been in that bad of shape. I don't think Simon would've neglected himself to that degree. He's not stupid. He wouldn't be like, "Oh, neglecting to feed--I can do that. It doesn't matter." No. He'd be hyper-cautious, taking all steps he could to try to mitigate the risk he presents to others.
So I don't buy that for a minute. The conflict there felt completely contrived out of a series of bad decisions to get Simon to not have agency and do something shocking and monstrous to give us a jump scare.
Why am I reading this? Mostly anthropological urge to track this cultural phenomenon from when I was a tween/teen. But every time I pick one of these books up, I'm reminded why I have to take the series in VERY. SMALL. DOSES.
a;sldkfa;lsdkjhga;lskjhdg;alksdhg;klahsd;lgkja;sldkga;lsdkhg;lakshg;lak;lskdhg;lgshhkgdllk;asdglhglhkaglh;kdshl;ahlsfjkglhakdjf
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Blood, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Child death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Grief, Incest, Dysphoria, Gore, Vomit, Infertility, Mental illness, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Sexual content