Hi ForeverBookers.
Sorry I've been gone for so long...but I'm back with my review for "City Of Heavenly Fire"! I didn't love this book quite as much as the other ones but it's still up there as one of my favourite series'!
COHF is the finale to The Mortal Instruments series. It's split into two parts, which I think might hamper the enjoyment of some as it's a 700+ page book. The other books to this series have had 3 or 4 parts to them so that's why I say this. We also see a couple characters from The Infernal Devices (the trilogy set before The Mortal Instruments) come into COHF. I'd say it's best to read The Infernal Devices at least BEFORE you read COHF as the ending of The Infernal Devices kind of gets spoiled if you don't.
The main plot of the book is simple. The characters want to kill Sebastian, Valentine's son. We also see Emma Carstairs and some of the Los Angeles Institute, the main protagonists for "Lady Midnight", the new Cassandra Clare book in COHF as well. I wasn't expecting this. I thought that in Lady Midnight we would just be thrown into the story as we were with The Mortal Instruments. It was nice to get to know the main characters a little before that.
Below is a concise summary of the book with spoilers. I've left out the big spoiler.
The beginning was a little bit hard to get into for me as the plot dragged a little in the first few chapters. Basically the first part of the book is leading up to the characters not knowing what to do or how to help the war effort but wanting to do something to aid their comrades. When loved ones are captured by bad guys the heroes of the novel go to save them...
I really enjoyed the second half more as that is where all of the action happens. Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon and Alec have to go and find where Sebastian has captured their friends and loved ones in secret because they're parents would never let them go. They have to go to the Seelie Queen who has betrayed them in the past. She reveals that the "fair folk" have always been on Sebastian's side because they "know" he'll win the war. She gives them directions to Edom, where their loved ones are with a warning, that they won't be able to come back to the earth plain or Idris again. They still go on this quest though as they want to do what's right. I enjoyed reading this last part of part 1 because it actually set up something for the second half of the book.
When they get to Edom, they find it's like hell. There are dragon like demons flying above them. They realise that Edom is the demon version of Alicante, when they see demon towers. Inside this version of Alicante's accords hall they find a statue of Jonathan Shadowhunter, the first Shadowhunter. He's holding a Skeptron, a weapon used for fighting.
After walking a distance they see caves. They stay in the caves while they recover from their walk. Here, they think they're protected as the caves are so say warded so nothing harmful can enter. They break apart to search the caves - Clary with Jace, Isabelle with Simon, and Alec who stays where they came in. Clary and Jace discover a lake within the cave. Isabelle and Simon discuss they're "relationship" issues.
The Skeptron comes in handy when a dangerous demon attacks the shadowhunters - it attacks Isabelle and really hurts her. Jace gets the Skeptron and plunges it at the demon. It's only Simon that saves Isabelle with his blood. He drips it over the wound that won't heal otherwise. This doesn't change her into a vampire but it does save her life. After this Alec feels responsible for giving Simon some of his blood as replenishment as Simon saved his sister.
Jace and Alec see fire when they're at the entrance of the cave. Jace goes down to look and he sees a woman there. This woman becomes something else entirely though when Jace destroys her with his sword. She becomes fire - Heavenly Fire and totally overtakes Jace. Clary, who was sleeping when this happened wakes to find both Jace and Alec gone. She sees Alec outside along with Isabelle. They say for Clary to go and save Jace, which of course she does. When she's within the fire too she sees Jace, and kisses him to prove that she cannot be burned by the fire in him. When she first realised she could create runes there'd always been one popping up in her thoughts. She thought it was wings, but it was really the hilt of a sword. Her and Jace use her sword to get heavenly fire.
The shadowhunters and Simon make it to Sebastian's lair. There they free their loved ones and battle Sebastian. I don't want to write what happens because it would spoil the book. I was kind of let down by this battle. I thought it would be immense involving all of the major characters but it really wasn't.
There is more to this book after this point as well but I can't write that without giving away what happens above. Just know that I thought what happens afterwards was better than the battle with Sebastian.
My thoughts on COHF are while it was great there were some down points and as the final book in the series I expected a little more in plot and a little less in page length. The first half of the book could have been cut by 25%-50% as nothing really happened for me. I was pulled in by the second half as that actually had a plot. Some of which I've mentioned above. I loved how the characters bonded together. There are certainly defined couples at the end of this book.
I'm going to give City Of Heavenly Fire 4 stars because as I said above I wasn't blown away by it. It was good but not up to the level a finale should be for me...
What did you guys think of City Of Heavenly Fire? Did you like it more than me?
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