Shining Pages

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"Or maybe it's just that beautiful things are so easily broken by the world."

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old 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 importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, 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. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary 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.

Well, I pretty much flew through this book. It was nice being back in New York with my original Shadowhunters, but I don't know if I was blown away by this book! It felt kind of like a filler book for things to come. The majority of the book was filled with relationship drama and angsty discussions again, and it only got more exciting near the ending. I just found it pretty underwhelming and I was hoping for more from it! 

We got a lot more Simon in this book, but I didn't really enjoy that either! In City of Glass, I really loved Simon and was hoping for some more scenes with him, but when I got them, I didn't like them! He just was being all woe-is-me (Jace vibes) for being a vampire and I didn't like how he was playing both Isabelle and Maia. I was hoping for him to pick one (Isabelle), not date both! Then, we had to deal with the drama of his relationships, which was just boring. I don't know, maybe I should remind myself that these characters are only supposed to be sixteen, but I just wish I saw some more maturity, I guess. 

Speaking of immaturity, a lot of the book was spent dealing with the drama of Clary and Jace's relationship. They can finally be together and then they have 300 pages of avoiding one another, off and on, and then making out without dealing with their issues. Again, I have to remind myself that they're teenagers, but I just wanted more plot, rather than relationship drama. 

So, I wasn't blown away by this book basically. I didn't hate it by any means; I just expected more! I thought it was cool reading some things related to Clockwork Angel and I completely forgot that Camille was the head vampire of the Manhattan clan! That totally slipped my mind and after just reading Clockwork Angel and then hearing her name, I was like OMG! The action scenes at the end were very intriguing and that cliffhanger was -__-. I'm not liking that at all, but we'll have to see what happens in the next book! 

(Proceed with caution - spoilers below!)

• Character Development
• We got a lot of Simon's point of view in this book, so we could hear more of his thoughts about what was going on. I wasn't that much of a fan of Simon in this book after completely loving him in City of Glass, so that was pretty disappointing. But, we did hear more of his thoughts about being a Daylighter and his creeping anxiety that he will stay the same age, while everybody he knows grows up. 
• One of the people I still don't understand is Maia. We never really hear her side to the story, and I feel like I barely know her as a character, so I wonder if in the future books we get more of her. 
• Connecting to The Infernal Devices
• Already, we received a few nods to Cassandra Clare's prequel series to The Mortal Instruments, and I loved what little we got! 
• As I said, I completely forgot about Camille being head vampire, so when her name popped up, I was so surprised. Then, she is reconnected with Magnus, and it was just so interesting! I think it was the first time that they saw each other after Camille walked out on him, so that must have been very strange for them to see each other again after over a hundred years. 
• Also, that part when Camille acknowledges that Alec and Will look similar and how pretty boys are Magnus' weakness, I was like....?!! Does something happen between Will and Magnus that I don't know about yet?! 

• Not Enough Plot
• As I said, I just didn't think there was much going on in City of Fallen Angels besides relationship drama 
• The only real action scene we got was the ending basically and after that, there was more relationship drama with Jace again trying to torture himself as a way of "helping Clary"
• I think this was basically a filler book, because with that ending, I am going to be very surprised if the next book isn't action-packed!
• So Many Subplots
• Since there was no static plot line that everyone was involved in, it seemed like the book was switching between every single character's life and it was kind of hard to keep up! One minute, we're dealing with the latest drama between Jace and Clary, then Simon/Isabelle/Maia, then Camille comes in, then Alec is mad at Magnus, then Jocelyn is upset.... I was like WHAT IS GOING ON!! My head was going in all different areas and I wish we could have narrowed down the subplots to two or three, instead of everybody's. 

"'No. That's Clary; she's my best friend.' Simon pocketed his phone. 'And she has a boyfriend. Like, really, really, really has a boyfriend. The nuclear bomb of boyfriends. Trust me on this one.'"

• Clary
• I liked how Clary was getting Shadowhunter training during the first part of her book, and then being able to use some of it in a couple of her battles with demons. I'm excited for her to become a badass Shadowhunter, along with Isabelle and they can kick some demon booty!!
• A lot of what we got from Clary in City of Fallen Angels though was her constant worrying about Jace and what was going on with him. She literally forgets about everybody else and just focuses on him and their relationship. I just wanted to shake her and be like: GIRL, let him come to you!! As you can tell, I could have gone without this drama.
• Jace
• Although Jace puts on this tough-guy persona, he is honestly very vulnerable. He cares so much about Clary that it gets him in very bad situations (like being possessed by a demon, reviving his evil brother, and now having some sort of blood tie with him?!!?). I am kind of scared for the next book because I think this new revelation is just going to add on more drama with Clary that we already got enough of. 
• He did have some successful one-liners though that I appreciated and I would like some more of, thank you very much.
• Simon
• I already said this, but I wasn't a fan of him in City of Fallen Angels. He was reminding me of Jace with his persistent woe-is-me attitude and constant soliloquies about hating what he is and what his life is going to be like. If you're just going to complain about the future all day and how much you are going to hate life, why don't you enjoy the present now while you have the chance, Simon!?!? Maybe I just need to shake every character in this book so they snap out of it. I need someone who is clear-headed please. 
• Also, I wanted him to choose either Isabelle or Maia and date one of them, not both of them! I was legitimately slapping my forehead during these scenes at how naive Simon is with girls' feelings. I know they weren't exclusive, but still!!
• Isabelle
• I liked that one scene with Simon when she is talking to him about her parents' relationship and her reasons why she is so cold to being exclusive with boys. I thought it was relatable and I think it was nice to hear some of her thoughts because it helped develop her character in my mind.
• She kicked butt in this book - saving Clary at the church and killing all of those human/demon thingies, so I appreciated her.

"'Hearts are breakable,' Isabelle said. 'And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before.'"

• Kyle
• I just knew he was going to be Jordan as soon as he stepped foot in Eric's garage. I just knew it!!
• Also, it was really fishy that Simon trusted him immediately. I think Simon has a few things to learn because that is just going to get him into trouble in the future.
• I did think it was a little weird that Maia seemed so forgiving with Jordan, like he turned you into a werewolf and you're kissing him the first time you see him?? That just didn't seem right to me, but what do I know?