City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

April 2011, Walker
432 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Young Adult

Demons, training, weapons galore, heartache, tragedy, families and friendship, misunderstandings, possession, abuse, nightmares, snakes, teen romance (moderate, with a few strong sections & alternate relationships), a lot of violence and gore

Summary from Walker
The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. And when Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace

Nayuleska's reasons for loving Clary...I still adore her! This is as good as the 3rd book, maybe even a little bit better because she actually starts shadowhunter training. I'm so with her on the terrified of heights but the training pays off later in the book.

Is there another character who deserves a mention? Again I return to Maia, because more is learnt about her past, which makes her both more vulnerable, and also stronger.

How evil/nasty is the enemy? Very evil because no one knew it was there, no one could tell when it was laying the foundation for its demonic plans, then adding all the layers like icing on a cake.

Are there plenty of story twists and surprises? There are a fair amount, a bit less than previous books but a lot of character development and the relationships between different characters happens.

One of my favourite parts was...when Clary was training, and when she successfully performed a flip where no one else could see her. (I saw her - whoohoo!)

I give it 8/10.

Suggested reads
Be sure to check out the other books in the series

These two are pretty obvious - book 1, City of Bones

Book 2, City of Ashes (link to follow)

Book 3, City of Glass (link to follow)