City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Summary:
The Mortal War is over, and Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most important of all - Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare. She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels. (from book jacket)

Review:
Whew, that was one long synopsis! But I think the detailed explanation is good, because there's a lot going on in City of Fallen Angels, but this summary doesn't give that much away. When I heard that Cassandra Clare was writing a fourth Mortal Instruments book, I was beyond excited. And then when I heard that she was actually going to add three more, I was ecstatic. While I thought that City of Glass had a great ending, I was ready to read more about Simon, Clary, and Jace.

I liked that in City of Fallen Angels the readers got a lot of different points-of-view. The whole book is written in third person, but we still get to follow around Jace, Clary, Simon, and Isabelle individually and see what happens to them. It makes for a real dynamic story because all these different things are happening at once and you get to witness all of them because you're not stuck with one character. Cassandra Clare, like always, did a great job with storytelling and plot development. Everything moves quickly and before you know it you are neck deep in a pretty compelling mystery.

When I started this, I honestly didn't know what to expect. It seemed that all the villains had been defeated at the end of City of Glass, but fortunately for the readers there was still some evildoing going on. I was surprised by what was happening and I'm really glad that Cassandra Clare brought back a semi-loose end from City of Glass. She used that small detail to make a plot development that I'm sure will last through the next two books and will be interesting to read to boot.

I love Simon and his witty humor, so I'm glad that he played a more central role in City of Fallen Angels. The book is essentially about him and he's a good character to focus on. I did enjoy seeing Clary and Jace again, because I was really rooting for them in the beginning of this series. Jace was starting to annoy me a bit with his moodiness and brooding, but it's later discovered that it's not his fault so I gave him a pass. Other favorites made an appearance like Alec, Magnus and Maia, and it was good to see them again.

All in all, I really enjoyed City of Fallen Angels and cannot wait to see what Cassandra Clare has in store for us in the next two books of the Mortal Instruments series.

Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: bought.

2011/Margaret K. McElderry Books/424 pages.