"As long as there is love and memory, there is no true loss." (Brother Zachariah)
I have a weird relationship with The Mortal Instruments series. There are some books, characters and elements that I hate, some that I love and some that I don't care for. City of Heavenly Fire ends the The Mortal Instruments series on a high note.
There are two issues that I have with City of Heavenly Fire:
1) The weird pacing. When I started reading City of Heavenly Fire, it was easy to put down because the events that occur are slow and uninteresting. There's also switches from the middle of intense action scenes to slow, mundane scenes and while this occurs in previous Mortal Instruments books, I was more affected in City of Heavenly Fire because it's a long book.
2) The unnecessary stuff. I get that Cassandra Clare was trying to set up The Dark Artifices series and I love Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorn family, but too much of emphasis is placed on them and their character development and it took away from the main characters' story arcs.
I never had much love for Clary in previous books of The Mortal Instruments series and City of Heavenly Fire is no exception. However, she put her awesome rune powers to good use in City of Heavenly Fire. I never cared for Jace in previous books in The Mortal Instruments series, but I like him in City of Heavenly Fire. He knows himself and is trying to be more open and self-aware and he's less self-deprecating. I also like where Jace and Clary's relationship is heading after reading City of Heavenly Fire. They're not doing stupid things to protect each other and they don't make choices for each other, instead they treat each other as equals and work as a team.
Simon has become one of my favourite characters in the Shadowhunter Universe. He's a real and relatable nerd, but he's also selfless and heroic. I also love Isabelle's personality and character arc. She's fierce, strong and outspoken, but she's also vulnerable and guards her heart. I love the relationship between Isabelle and Simon. It's awesome to witness Isabelle opening her heart to someone and Simon giving love another chance.
Alec from City of Bones and Alec from City of Heavenly Fire are worlds apart. City of Heavenly Fire is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series where I understood Alec and his personality. He's more mature and he knows what he wants and what matters. I also like the development of Alec and Magnus's relationship in City of Heavenly Fire. Magnus is another one of my favourite Shadowhunter Universe characters.
I love Maia and her character arc has so much of potential, but she felt like a minor character in City of Heavenly Fire. She deserves better.
Sebastian is a good villain. He's ruthless, cruel, evil and bloodthirsty and the whole incest thing is sickening, however, I can't help but feel sympathetic towards him. He didn't choose to have demon blood running through his veins.
The plot is nothing short of amazing. So many thing happen and every event that occurs raises the stakes. However, there's lots of foreshadowing and I could see some of the plot twists coming from miles away.
I've spent 7 years of my life with The Mortal Instruments series and if there's one thing that Cassandra Clare knows how to write, it's series finales. City of Heavenly Fire is my favourite book in The Mortal Instruments series.
""Heroes aren't always the ones who win", she said. "They're the ones who lose sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes."" (Clary Fairchild)