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A review by moonwisher
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
4.0
I'm finding that I can't really decide how I felt about this final installment in The Mortal Instruments series. For the most part, I loved it. I laughed, I cried, I squealed -- what more could I ask for? But I cannot bring myself to give it 5 out of 5 stars. There was still just something about it that made me feel distanced from it. There was some element lacking that left me feeling like I couldn't connect to the story in the way that I wanted to.
Maybe I'm just too affected by The Infernal Devices series. While I have a special place in my heart for Clary and her friends, TID was ultimately SO much better than TMI. The characters, the storylines, the pacing -- everything was just better in TID. And speaking of TID, I really loved that Clare was able to include things and people from TID in Heavenly Fire. My "feels" may not appreciate that, but anytime Jem or Tessa were even mentioned, my little fangirl heart freaked out. God, even thinking about Jem/Tessa/Will makes me want to bawl my eyes out.
But overall, I find that COHF was a worthy finale to TMI, even though I personally feel the story should have ended with City of Glass. I appreciate that Clary wasn't so goddamn annoying in this, and that Jace wasn't do angsty. I liked that their relationship problems were over so that they could actually focus on the important matters at hand -- without the constant make-out sessions. (Random tangent: am I the only one who was amused by the fact that condoms were actually mentioned during the Clace sex scene? A rare occurrence for romance, I believe. And not only that, but I thought it was hilarious that Jace even thought to bring condoms with him, considering they were traveling into a demon realm and he was still unable to touch his girlfriend without potentially killing her.)
I also quite liked the inclusion of Emma's point of view in the books, considering Clare had some setting up to do for her next Shadowhunter series. While I definitely have mixed feelings about The Dark Artifices being written, I'm sure I will still devour them. Plus, I just loved all of the couples in the book. Sizzy, Malec, Clace -- they were all awesome and didn't make me want to rip my hair out.
So, COHF gets a positive review from me. Despite its flaws and frustrations, I do love TMI.
Maybe I'm just too affected by The Infernal Devices series. While I have a special place in my heart for Clary and her friends, TID was ultimately SO much better than TMI. The characters, the storylines, the pacing -- everything was just better in TID. And speaking of TID, I really loved that Clare was able to include things and people from TID in Heavenly Fire. My "feels" may not appreciate that, but anytime Jem or Tessa were even mentioned, my little fangirl heart freaked out. God, even thinking about Jem/Tessa/Will makes me want to bawl my eyes out.
Spoiler
And I did a lot of that upon finding the Jessa wedding comic strip included in some editions of the book. (Yes, people, it exists. Yes, it is absolutely beautiful and devastating).But overall, I find that COHF was a worthy finale to TMI, even though I personally feel the story should have ended with City of Glass. I appreciate that Clary wasn't so goddamn annoying in this, and that Jace wasn't do angsty. I liked that their relationship problems were over so that they could actually focus on the important matters at hand -- without the constant make-out sessions. (Random tangent: am I the only one who was amused by the fact that condoms were actually mentioned during the Clace sex scene? A rare occurrence for romance, I believe. And not only that, but I thought it was hilarious that Jace even thought to bring condoms with him, considering they were traveling into a demon realm and he was still unable to touch his girlfriend without potentially killing her.)
I also quite liked the inclusion of Emma's point of view in the books, considering Clare had some setting up to do for her next Shadowhunter series. While I definitely have mixed feelings about The Dark Artifices being written, I'm sure I will still devour them. Plus, I just loved all of the couples in the book. Sizzy, Malec, Clace -- they were all awesome and didn't make me want to rip my hair out.
So, COHF gets a positive review from me. Despite its flaws and frustrations, I do love TMI.