I want to start by clarifying that long books do not phase me. You've heard of not judging a book by its cover? Well, I don't judge it by its spine either. But at over 700 pages, and multiple wartime crisis, City of Heavenly Fire felt like a marathon.
The story jumps periodically between several perspectives, the newest of which is Emma, a young Shadowhunter that provides insight on the "home base" while the more familiar characters take on outside adventures. They may have Jace back, but Sebastian is ramping up his reign of terror, and the Shadowhunter community is becoming desperate. When Valentine's son requests Jace and Clary in an ill-begotten bargain, the pair along with the Lightwood children and Simon venture to yet unknown depths to try and salvage their futures.
Part of what made it feel so weighty to me (figuratively, unfortunately, as I had to read this one as an e-book) was that there were several situations that felt like a climax or turning point. I tried to keep in mind that as the culmination of the dark-vs-light combat that had been building since book 1, this was to be expected. The characters are not going to get out unscathed, and they are living in dangerous times. There was just so much battle time in comparison to the previous books, and the momentum of the plot was a bit lost. I felt this installment lost the spark of magic and the reliability of the adolescence that I thought made the rest of the series so wonderful. Although it admittedly would have broken up the symmetry of the two three-book arcs, there was so much packed into this book that I felt it could have maybe even been split into two. That being said, the fact that the series was broken up into those two main arcs, was very well done. It allowed for a lot of content to be shown without interest or veering way off course. Although I have yet to read anything else from the Shadowhunter universe, I look forward to diving deeper into this world through other plotlines.
There were two other minor issues I had with the book. First, Clary was pretty cliché. This came as a disappointment to me, as I found her quirky and dynamic earlier in the series. And secondly, although I won't spoil the details, I just did not buy the Maia/Jordan/Bat developments. It came out of nowhere and honestly, I didn't really see the purpose.
Now to get to some things I did like - because overall I did enjoy the book and would absolutely recommend the series.
I love how Jace never loses his cockiness. He goes through some beautiful character development and certainly some tragedies but since we met him, his little quips have not stopped coming. I find them endearing and entertaining and although it might drive me crazy in person, I love it in a book character. And in spite of it, readers can see in this book especially that he has grown as a person, and has a better understanding now of both himself and the world he lives in. Which is exactly what we should see in a teenager.
Additionally, maybe it showed up in earlier books and I missed it but I LOVE that Magnus calls Clary biscuit. That's adorable.
I have to say, when I was nearing the end of this book, I became quite angry with it and refused to read it for about a day. Thank goodness for the automatic delivery that motivated me to keep going, as I was unwilling to wait several more weeks to check it out again. Because she saved it there at the end - very nicely done, and with a lovely, satisfying, final feeling.
As much as I love a happy ending, I really dislike the feeling of predictability that comes with them. If every little detail is tied up with a bow, I get a little skeptical. Surely the characters didn't go through all that and come out with everything they ever wanted? So I really appreciated some sharp edges that were included in City of Heavenly Fire. Without spoiling the context, the line "There are some things you cannot forgive" gets spoken. I felt this was very humanizing, and spoke to the hurt that would continue on with the characters. Additionally, in the last scene with the higher-ups of the Clave, I liked seeing the disagreement and the debatability of the decisions made. When filtered through politics, not all ends up fair and I liked seeing this concept represented in this world of magic.
The heavenly fire in the title... what she does with its role in the ending is super clever - I applaud you Ms. Clare.
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