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City of Heavenly Fire
End of an era (NINE! BOOKS!), beginning of a new age (SIX! MORE!).
Okay, so first of all, S&S promoted this book with the tagline "Who will survive?", which caused me to fear for the lives of, like, EVERYONE. Well, not everyone. Obviously. But: Magnus, Alec, both Lightwood parents, Luke, Raphael, Maia, Jordan (though he doesn't really count, because he had it coming), Jia Penhallow, like, EVERY GROWN UP WHO HAD EVER BEEN NICE TO THEM, etc.
AND THEN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Because of course it didn't! That's not who Cassie is (see also: the end of "A Clockwork Princess"). Even better, not only did basically no one die, EVERYONE GOT THE BEST POSSIBLE ENDING. Jocelyn and Luke get married! Alec and Magnus get back together! Jace is no longer going to catch fire when he makes out with Clary! SIMON LOSES HIS VAMPIRE, GETS HIS MEMORY BACK, BECOMES A GODDAMN SHADOWHUNTER, AND PROBABLY ALSO CLARY'S PARABATAI, BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT?
I mean, it kind of sucks if you're a Blackthorn, I guess, but they've got six books to work through it, so I think they'll be okay. Jesus, even JEM gets un-Silent Brothered and back together with Tessa. It was beautiful and I loved it and I DIDN'T EVEN CRY A TEAR, WHEN I HAD EXPECTED TO MOURN FOREVER.
Leaving all that aside, I really liked how action packed the book was, considering its size. The pacing was excellent. As ever, I liked the little hints and nods to the CLOCKWORK books (JESS.A.MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!), and was especially tickled by the pay-off to the "Simon's band always has a different name" running gag.
Magnus freaking Bane, you guys. (Though I will say, I was kind of sad that I waited to buy the BANE CHRONICLES as a whole book, because there were definitely parts where I could see that Cassie was nodding at it, and I haven't read them yet. Still! It gives me a great excuse to re-read all nine novels + the shorts in pub order some day, so I'm not really TOO upset.)
I'm really, really glad with how Clary and Jace's final plan went down, too. There's a WORLD of difference between faking out the READER (which is just ANNOYING, most of the time), and being CLEVER and telling everyone else that you're NOT telling them the plan, because it is legitimately dangerous for them to know it. Very smart, both for Cassie's writing and for Clary to actually do.
And then Jocelyn got a little peace, which was lovely, and then THE ENDING HAPPENED, and I am still REALLY THRILLED ABOUT IT. Like, the bad guys did EVERYTHING THEY COULD to screw the good guys over, and every thing ended up working out for the ABSOLUTE BEST in the long run (for the good guys. THE BAD GUYS ARE DEAD!!!)
(I think it helps that I did all of my grieving for Amatis LAST book, so I didn't really lose anyone I particularly cared about this time, though Magnus's "Name it Raphael", to Alec was perfect, and I loved it a lot.)
OH, and for those of us keeping score at home? The Shadowhunters (mostly), the werewolves, the fae (for what it's worth), AND the vampires are all currently led by women, and I think the warlocks technically are as well? Though she had Magnus take her place because she was trying to get him back with Alec earlier in the book, and I'm not sure how official that was? WHATEVER: LADIES IN POLITICS, BASICALLY.
I also thought Cassie did well sewing in the parts she's going to need for the Emma Carstairs books, along with the other trilogy that will complement it. It'll be interesting with fae bad guys. Routinely, they make me want to tear my hair out. And I also like the beginnings of Emma's love problems: namely that she REALLY wants to stay with the Blackthorns, so she tells Jia that she and Julian are going to be parabatai, but also that she doesn't want to rule out falling in love with him (which would be disallowed, were they parabatai), you know, JUST IN CASE. It's a legit problem in a world that will not allow you to be someone's lover AND someone's best friend.
(GOD, the Shadowhunters are annoying sometimes.)
(SPEAKING OF, UGH, what they did to HELENA? At least Robert was pretty upfront about how he made the decision at least as much to protect Helena from all the bigots, but that really sucks. At least they are letting Aline go with her.)
ANYWAY, I was really pleased with how this "trilogy" ended up, and I look forward, as ever to more of Cassie's books. It is no small accomplishment to get NINE BOOKS published (for the first time) without, at the very least, getting the covers repackaged. I love how committed McElderry was, and how the fans were, in the end, a stronger force than the haters (as it SHOULD be, obviously).
Okay, so first of all, S&S promoted this book with the tagline "Who will survive?", which caused me to fear for the lives of, like, EVERYONE. Well, not everyone. Obviously. But: Magnus, Alec, both Lightwood parents, Luke, Raphael, Maia, Jordan (though he doesn't really count, because he had it coming), Jia Penhallow, like, EVERY GROWN UP WHO HAD EVER BEEN NICE TO THEM, etc.
AND THEN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Because of course it didn't! That's not who Cassie is (see also: the end of "A Clockwork Princess"). Even better, not only did basically no one die, EVERYONE GOT THE BEST POSSIBLE ENDING. Jocelyn and Luke get married! Alec and Magnus get back together! Jace is no longer going to catch fire when he makes out with Clary! SIMON LOSES HIS VAMPIRE, GETS HIS MEMORY BACK, BECOMES A GODDAMN SHADOWHUNTER, AND PROBABLY ALSO CLARY'S PARABATAI, BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT?
I mean, it kind of sucks if you're a Blackthorn, I guess, but they've got six books to work through it, so I think they'll be okay. Jesus, even JEM gets un-Silent Brothered and back together with Tessa. It was beautiful and I loved it and I DIDN'T EVEN CRY A TEAR, WHEN I HAD EXPECTED TO MOURN FOREVER.
Leaving all that aside, I really liked how action packed the book was, considering its size. The pacing was excellent. As ever, I liked the little hints and nods to the CLOCKWORK books (JESS.A.MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!), and was especially tickled by the pay-off to the "Simon's band always has a different name" running gag.
Magnus freaking Bane, you guys. (Though I will say, I was kind of sad that I waited to buy the BANE CHRONICLES as a whole book, because there were definitely parts where I could see that Cassie was nodding at it, and I haven't read them yet. Still! It gives me a great excuse to re-read all nine novels + the shorts in pub order some day, so I'm not really TOO upset.)
I'm really, really glad with how Clary and Jace's final plan went down, too. There's a WORLD of difference between faking out the READER (which is just ANNOYING, most of the time), and being CLEVER and telling everyone else that you're NOT telling them the plan, because it is legitimately dangerous for them to know it. Very smart, both for Cassie's writing and for Clary to actually do.
And then Jocelyn got a little peace, which was lovely, and then THE ENDING HAPPENED, and I am still REALLY THRILLED ABOUT IT. Like, the bad guys did EVERYTHING THEY COULD to screw the good guys over, and every thing ended up working out for the ABSOLUTE BEST in the long run (for the good guys. THE BAD GUYS ARE DEAD!!!)
(I think it helps that I did all of my grieving for Amatis LAST book, so I didn't really lose anyone I particularly cared about this time, though Magnus's "Name it Raphael", to Alec was perfect, and I loved it a lot.)
OH, and for those of us keeping score at home? The Shadowhunters (mostly), the werewolves, the fae (for what it's worth), AND the vampires are all currently led by women, and I think the warlocks technically are as well? Though she had Magnus take her place because she was trying to get him back with Alec earlier in the book, and I'm not sure how official that was? WHATEVER: LADIES IN POLITICS, BASICALLY.
I also thought Cassie did well sewing in the parts she's going to need for the Emma Carstairs books, along with the other trilogy that will complement it. It'll be interesting with fae bad guys. Routinely, they make me want to tear my hair out. And I also like the beginnings of Emma's love problems: namely that she REALLY wants to stay with the Blackthorns, so she tells Jia that she and Julian are going to be parabatai, but also that she doesn't want to rule out falling in love with him (which would be disallowed, were they parabatai), you know, JUST IN CASE. It's a legit problem in a world that will not allow you to be someone's lover AND someone's best friend.
(GOD, the Shadowhunters are annoying sometimes.)
(SPEAKING OF, UGH, what they did to HELENA? At least Robert was pretty upfront about how he made the decision at least as much to protect Helena from all the bigots, but that really sucks. At least they are letting Aline go with her.)
ANYWAY, I was really pleased with how this "trilogy" ended up, and I look forward, as ever to more of Cassie's books. It is no small accomplishment to get NINE BOOKS published (for the first time) without, at the very least, getting the covers repackaged. I love how committed McElderry was, and how the fans were, in the end, a stronger force than the haters (as it SHOULD be, obviously).