City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

From Amazon

Who will be tempted by darkness? Who will fall in love, and who will find their relationship torn apart? And who will betray everything they ever believed in? 

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. 

In the heart-pounding fourth installment of the Mortal Instruments series, the stakes are higher than ever. 

City of Fallen Angels is the fourth in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.  I have read and enjoyed the first three and have been anticipating this one for a while.  Always nice when I've pre-ordered a book and forget it's time until it automatically downloads on my Kindle.  Such a nice surprise!  I must preface this by saying, before you read this one, you really should go back and read the first three.  They're very good YA novels, and you really won't understand Fallen Angels without reading its prequels.

I read this one in about two days.  It was fast paced, with a good bit of action.  CoFA is an easy read, without too much to think about.  I'm already invested in the characters, so it's really got to be the plot that pulls me along this time.

Clare does a fair job with this.  City of Fallen Angels was supposed to follow Simon through his new life, but it didn't focus solely on him.  We also got some from Clary and Jace's point of view.  This was good for me, since, although I like Simon well enough, he was never my favorite character. 

The first half of the book is a lot of set up.  If I wasn't so invested in the characters, I probably would have been bored.  It seems like there's a lot of exposition, and false starts to get the plot moving, but nothing really starts until at least midway through.  

One of the reasons I really enjoy these books is the characters, as I've already stated.  I'll admit that I'm enamored with Jace Wayland (Lightwood/Morgenstern/Herondale...whatever he's choosing to go by).  Not in a boyfriend way, but in a protective way.  I just want to wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him safe.  Clare gives him no breaks in the book, as he is yet again made to feel as if he's a doomed soul and never deserves true happiness.  He's like the Angel of the Mortal Instruments series.

Simon, very much a teenager in the first three, is now made to deal with a very serious shift in his life, and is having a hard time with it.  He feels alone, ostracized, and as if no one understands what he's going through, obviously something most teens can identify with. 

Clary, still feels very much the same to me.  She's in training, dealing with relationship issues, family issues and new threats to her friends and life.  Of course, even without being the focus of the new book, she's still somehow the crux of the whole thing.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, since I'd have probably preferred for the "Simon-centric" novel to be less "Clary-centric".

As usual, Clare's prose is quick, witty and fun.  Also, as usual, Jace gets the best lines, though Simon gets quite a few as well.  The second half of the novel is fast-paced with the Big Bad not revealed until very near the end.

All in all, this book was worth the wait.  I am never disappointed by the world Clare has created, and eagerly await her next entry.