melsbookshelf

Well, it has been a LONG time since I read and reviewed the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series. I honestly wish I had time to re-read them before jumping back into the books with City of Fallen Angels. I just feel like there are so many details that I have forgotten or are fuzzy, but it wasn't too hard to get totally caught back up in the story of the Shadowhunters and Downworlders after the end of the Mortal War.In my opinion, Cassandra Clare's biggest strength with all of these books is the characters. Everyone in these books is so unique and the mix of personalities in the focal group is a fun interaction to watch. I'll admit that I have been getting frustrated with Jace and Clary's relationship and the roadblocks they keep hitting, but I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising given what they are up against, despite the Mortal War being over.I'm actually finding it difficult to say some of the things I keep thinking about this story because they are a bit on the spoiler-y side, and even though this book has been out for awhile, I do try my best to keep my reviews spoiler-free. :-) One thing I can say, though, is that I felt like this book was the weakest of the series in terms of the plot -- it was flimsy and pretty predictable. It is helped along with some excellent dialogue and the addition of some new characters (again, one of Clare's strengths in my opinion), but I found myself just skimming through parts to get to the end to see where we would be heading with the fifth book.City of Fallen Angels is still a good read (just not Clare's best) and I'm very glad I continued on with the series -- I immediately had to jump in to City of Lost Souls and will be sharing my thoughts on that book with you tomorrow. Just don't be too surprised if you don't feel like City of Fallen Angels lives up to the standard set by the first three books in the series.