Reviews

July 3, 2019

[re-read for Shadowhunter Summer 2019]

"There are a hundred trillion cells in the human body, and every single one of the cells of my body loves you. We shed cells, and grow new ones, and my new cells love you more than the old ones, which is why I love you more every day than I did the day before. It’s science. And when I die and they burn my body and I become ashes that mix with the air, and part of the ground and the trees and the stars, everyone who breathes that air or sees the flowers that grow out of the ground or looks up at the stars will remember you and love you, because I love you that much."

All my Shadowhunter Summer 2019 reviews may contain untagged spoilers for all the books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. If you wish to read a non-spoiler review for this book, you may scroll to the review I wrote on October 7, 2017.

And so The Mortal Instruments draws to a breathtaking close! It could be because, between now in 2019 and the last time I read this in 2017, the finale of The Dark Artifices in Queen of Air and Darkness was released, but my opinion of this book felt a lot more positive than it did the last time I read it.

It is still, I think, the weakest book in The Mortal Instruments hexalogy, but while it is weak as one overarching novel, it is incredibly strong from moment to moment, and that is where I found different and true appreciation in this book that I hadn't truly found before.

Unlike its other Shadowhunter finale brethren in Clockwork Princess, which is a very self-contained, personal journey for three core characters, and Queen of Air and Darkness, which skips effortlessly to and from just about every single living speaking character from the entire Chronicles thus far, City of Heavenly Fire hangs awkwardly between being a very personal story about Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec and a grander scale that involves the cast of The Dark Artifices, loops in characters from The Infernal Devices, and tries to make the parts of characters like Maia, Jocelyn, or Luke (characters we never spend more than a quick cameo with after this book) seem more main-charactery when they really aren't.

But, just like City of Glass, its awkward energy doesn't really keep it from greatness. As I've already said, going from moment to moment is delightful. Almost every scene between Isabelle and Simon is some of the most rewarding writing Cassandra Clare has ever delivered me, especially since that relationship is sacrificed (for now) so the gang can escape Edom and make room for the delicious, delightful dessert of a book that is Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.

Another part of the book I didn't appreciate quite so much until this read through was every scene that took place with Raphael, Luke, and Magnus while they're in captivity in Edom, particularly the part when Raphael reveals that his relationship with Magnus is much deeper than we as readers had ever previously expected, making room for one of the best short stories Clare has written in Saving Raphael Santiago in The Bane Chronicles. Raphael Santiago is a character I have truly grown fond of in a way I never thought I would be when I first read this book. I have the short stories he appears in, my rereads of The Mortal Instruments and his cameos in Queen of Air and Darkness and The Red Scrolls of Magic to thank for the absolute pleasure that is being Raphael Santiago's #1 fan.

The Mortal Instruments―and pretty much any book in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, at that―is a story about chosen families. The person you are and the people you love are not defined by blood, but instead by the experiences you have with the ones you love. Magnus and Alec are a perfect example of chosen family, as they become fathers to two adopted sons in future stories, but so is Clary with her chosen father, Luke, and her chosen brother, Simon. Jace has his whole adoptive family in the Lightwoods and Emma chose her Blackthorns.

There is something pure and truly moving about the chosen families of these Shadowhunters and Downworlders and this book helped me to put that into words with its incredibly satisfying, rewarding, and tenderhearted moments and the characters whose lives it chronicles.

With that said, I'm absolutely bouncing up and down about moving onto The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, The Dark Artifices, and, lastly and most exciting, Ghosts of the Shadow Market with its two brand new stories which I haven't yet read.

This fantasy world is a wide and beautiful and fun one and I'm always excited to have it in my life, so even as The Mortal Instruments draws to a close, I'm ready to start the next chapters of the Chronicles, so I'll catch you on the flip, as always.

October 7, 2017
[re-read for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017]
This book is really good. I really, really like it. There's a lot to love about it; all of the chapters involving the characters from The Dark Artifices alone were delightful, let alone all the absolutely great things that are in this book. It IS the weakest book out of all the Shadowhunters books, though. It's overlong, some of the leaps in logic made me roll my eyes, there's pretty much zero sense of danger after

Spoiler

Jordan

dies early on in the book, and there are just a few parts when Clary mourns Jonathan that made me cringe so hard it hurt. It's definitely the only Shadowhunters book that I'm divided about and, for such a good track record, I can forgive it of its blemishes because, even though it's the worst book in the series, the good stuff is still REALLY REALLY good and the bad stuff isn't that bad. I'm done talking about the bad stuff so let's talk about the good stuff.

This definitely is a compliment toward all of The Infernal Devices as well as the back half of The Mortal Instruments, but this book in particular does an excellent job at playing well with the books that were published before it. It would have been incredibly easy for Cassandra Clare to just decide, "Well, everyone's already read Clockwork Princess and thusly, they should all know that Brother Zachariah is actually

Spoiler

Jem Carstairs

and so I will refer to him by his true name after he is turned mortal once again" but she didn't. Instead, Zachariah is referred to in really broad terms, terms that apply to both Jem and Will, not once ruining the emotional crux of The Infernal Devices just for assuming anyone who reads a book published in 2014 also must have read its spinoff book from 2013. I didn't remember that Clare did this going into this book so it ended up being a really nice surprise and it all made me impossibly more excited than I already was to begin my reread of The Infernal Devices on Monday.

A few rapid-fire things I forgot about and/or found new appreciation for are: Luke's mom being

Spoiler

the Iron Sister, Cleophas

!??!?!? I was so surprised by that. I didn't remember it at all. Another thing I didn't remember was that Magnus apparently wrote The Bane Chronicles, in-universe, wrote it for Alec to read. It was a nice detail and, having read The Bane Chronicles now, it made that book's existence and the story arc it tells just a bit sweeter. Something I genuinely COULDN'T appreciate as it stood back in 2014 was the fate of

Spoiler

Simon

. Back then, this character was given a bittersweet sort of an ending and I was (reasonably) a little disappointed at the time. However, because this leads to Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy it's impossible for me to personally fault it anymore. On top of all that, all the setup for The Dark Artifices is delightful, everyone's plot resolution is satisfying, the conversation Clary and Tessa have is genuinely terrific in every way, and I'm left feeling absolutely content with it all. Sure, it's not the cream of the crop, but it's still really, really good, and that's all I need.

Onward to Clockwork Angel.

June 4, 2014
I'm speechless. It was so good. Review to come?

justineprince's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

5.0

lexion's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cheryllee314's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0

bujujuwa's review against another edition

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3.0

for the final book of a series I was a bit underwhelmed. the only parts I truly enjoyed were with Brother Zachariah and Tessa...

drakebenefield's review against another edition

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5.0

this was so so good! i really adore cassandra clare’s writing style and this book just solidified that even more. and that EPILOGUE. so beautiful. i have to admit though, nothing will ever size up to clockwork princess for me, finale wise (i don’t think) but this book was a solid 5 star finale. really sad to finally finish this series but MAN am i excited to finally read the dark artifices!!

eponineeurydice's review against another edition

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4.0

This was actually pretty good! I'm impressed with the generational ties Clare is doing. Review to come... maybe?

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