City of Fallen Angels By Cassandra Clare (4/5)

I stumbled across this in my local Waterstones before I even knew it had been released (Bad me losing track of time!) I was very surprised that they weren't making a bigger deal of it, and the cashier expressed the same sentiments. I was looking forward to reading it so much that I of course cancelled the rest of my shopping trip and had to go home. *coughbibliophilecough* I discovered that I was not able to walk down the street knowing that I had this book with me and was not reading it. I'd already owned it for at least 2 minutes, what was wrong with me? Luckily over the years of my addiction to fiction I have fashioned the rather talented skill of Read Walking. It means you can see enough of major obstacles to avoid them and the minor obstacles (AKA People) tend to avoid you rather than be stepped on.

There are still certain aspects to this book that I haven't quite made my mind up about yet. There were things that I really enjoyed, and the same writing style that I had fallen in love with was still there, but something felt like it had missed the mark somehow. My favourite aspect was the sheer amount of Simon perspective. I love seeing the world through Simon's eyes, even as a Vampire he has a connection with humanity and a level of compassion that the other characters don't seem to be able to grasp. His efforts to understand his new found power and to control his blood-lust made the book a page turner. I have always found Simon to be infinitely likeable, even when he is turned into a creature that is a hunter of humanity he still finds a way to be essentially himself, with kindness and humility. I loved the fact that the addition of his new romantic appeal could have made him seem like an intimidating, unrelatable Romeo, but instead it turned him even more so into an awkward, confused teenage boy, with very amusing results. Clare has a way of being able to write a character so well that you can see what they see, feel what they feel. Her characters always grab you and take you with them on their ride. I really enjoyed Jace's extended socialising with Simon in this book, they make a very unlikely couple and I found the snark and mocking very entertaining. Going with the theme of unlikely couples I found the addition of the character of Kyle to be a breath of fresh air, he was nice and dedicated and managed to fit in well with Simon and Jace's interactions. I was also able to predict the twist in Kyle's story, but that didn't make me love it any less. *adores*

On the other hand I didn't find that Clary and Jace's relationship grabbed me as much as it had in the previous books. As much as I wish it did, it just didn't. It felt somehow that their story was so neatly tied up in the end of the last book that creating a new trauma for them to overcome was just a little bit too much. Now the eternal fan girl in me absolutely loved the angst, but plot wise it just didn't feel necessary. I know that the book wouldn't have worked if they were all “Happily Ever After” so I can't offer an opinion to how I would have preferred it, I just didn't feel that it all tied up as neatly as I was used to in the previous books. Clary seemed somehow like a non presence in this book. This didn't stop me from enjoying the exploits of the boys however. They still made the book very enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as it could have been. I still eagerly await the next book from Clare, because ever since her fan fiction days I have been in love with her snarky, sarcastic characters and epic story lines. I think I probably always will be too.