City of fallen angels by Cassandra Clare

cover image

Mortal Instruments 4. Walker Books, 2011. ISBN 9781406328660.
(Age 14+) Clary Fray is back in New York, training to be a Shadowhunter and happy to have Jace as her boyfriend. But all is not well. Shadowhunters are being killed and no one knows who is doing it. It creates tension and Clary is afraid that war will break out between the Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Then Jace begins to act strangely. Does he still love her? And what is Sebastian up to?
Clare has built up an atmosphere of fear and the possibility of betrayal by friends with a real cliff hanger ending which will ensure that following books are picked up. The romance between Jace and Clary is not clear-cut and Clary is afraid of what is happening to Jace. Magnus and Alec are more of a feature in this book and there is still room for the development of Simon's new character in future books.
I loved the Mortal Instruments books and thought that City of Glass was the last in the series. I loved the way that it ended and felt thoroughly satisfied with the series and was happy to read her new series Infernal Devices, so I was surprised when City of fallen angels came out. I didn't enjoy it as much as the others in the series, probably because in my head I had put Jace and Clary to rest. The series, however has been a great hit with teens.
Pat Pledger

booktopia