BOOK REVIEW: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

This book is the final instalment of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I will be writing up a series wrap up soon, this was one of the first series I started reading when I started Indulgent Readers. I did aim to finish this series early in 2021 so I am glad that I am done with the series and have room for another series on my TBR pile. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

This book follows the characters as they fight Clary’s brother as he turns Shadowhunters against Shadowhunters. This leads to siblings and parabatai on opposing sides of the war. Our characters are torn between doing what they think is right and following the tight rules that the Clave have put into place.

Since the beginning of the series the characters have grown up and become a unit, even if they haven’t always seen eye to eye. Isabelle has become much more centred and comfortable being the strong and assured woman she is growing into. Jace has experienced a lot and while he may not be happy or comfortable with what his father had taught him about becoming stoic is has held him in good stead.

In this book Clary starts questioning if she will also turn out like her brother and father. While she has never had a relationship with either she is worried about the evil nature of her genes potentially impacting her longer term.

The book is written a little like Terry Pratchett, while there are chapters there are breaks within each to allow jumping from one character’s perspective to another. I feel that some of the description could have been clearer much like the previous book. But this didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the book.

One of the themes in this book is self-acceptance. We watch as Clary realises she can accept that she is a Morningstern without her morals being impacted. During the series Clary struggles with this knowledge and with the conclusion of the series she clearly becomes much more comfortable with herself.

Another key theme is love. The relationships that the couples have impacts on the story greatly. They all do things because of love, and may keep secrets from the others due to this. It also highlights how lonely Alec is in this book.

This book was a strong ending to the series and it made me feel hopeful for the characters futures.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars, as while I enjoyed the book I felt there were a few areas that could have been improved upon.

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