Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy, Action and Adventure, Romance, Apocalyptic
Goodreads Blurb:
ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.
I am coming.
Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance?
Published/ing: May 27th, 2014 Margaret K. McElderry
Rating: 5/5
Review:
No Spoilers Part:
For those who are wary of reading this book for reasons unknown, don't be. It is a satisfying conclusion to the characters we have grown to adore over the past few years and if I know anything about Cassandra Clare, it's that this is not the last of these characters.
The book itself is fast paced and holds your attention in the sense that there are cliffhangers within the book. Cassandra will build up a scene and then switch the omniscient point of view to another scene, so it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Do not be intimidated by the size. The book will not be boring and uninteresting.
The plot is thick and hole less. She does a great job of leaving a few gaps and lead offs in the end so that the next few series have something to go off of.
This book was as well written, and even better, than the last ones. It is thrilling, witty, and overall outstanding.
Spoilers
I cannot believe this is book six. When I picked it up (with both hands mind you) I could not believe it was actually there, resting in my palms.
Above, I generalized my feelings on the book, but here I plan on going in more detail. Overall, it was exceptional in the fact that the plot was flawless, the characters well developed, the writing seemed effortless, and the world had already been built to the perfect amount.
In the beginning, when I realized that it was in dual character worlds (The Blackthorns and Carstairs to the Lightwoods and Herondales [and friends]) I was bit confused. I didn't think it would work out since the readers weren't familiar with those characters. In the end, the Blackthorns and the Carstairs ended up playing a large part and helped Cassandra set the platform for the The Dark Artifices trilogy that will come out next year.
Sebastian as the almighty in this book was good. I like that Cassandra keeps the villains pretty simple and powerful. I also thought that Sebastian's sleeping with the Seelie Queen was a good way to show betrayal and broken alliances in war.
The whole theme of war in this book was well drawn out. In the beginning when the shadowhunters thought they could save their relatives and lovers from being Endarkened was a good way to illustrate human weakness in shadowhunters. It also was very painful to watch and I could not even begin to think of what fighting your lover or relative would feel like, especially when the one possessed had only one thought in mind and that was to kill you.
Sebastian made the perfect Hitler in this book. He wanted word damnation that would start by wiping out the shadowhunters, forming false alliances, and turning the downworleders against them. I actually kind of admired his strategy, even though, in the end he let his delusional desires to take over and provide the window for Clary to cut away the demon blood in Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern's blood.
That was also an extremely emotional part in the book, when Clary and Jocelyn were weeping over Jonathan's slowly fading body. In that moment I had mercy for the poor boy.
Moving on to a more happier theme, let's talk about relationship drama.
So at the beginning, everyone was kind of everywhere. Clary and Jace couldn't touch each other without burning hand prints into walls, Magnus was still feeling betrayed by Alec and wary of falling in love with a human, and Simon and Isabelle needed some serious DTR time.
It was painful, but kind of hilarious to watch all the puzzle pieces fall in place. Magnus and Alec finally working it out in the end by putting each other's lives on the line to save the other. Simon lost his memory, but slowly began to remember the shadowhunter ways and fall back into love with Isabelle. Clary and Jace kind of planning a future together at the Herondale Manor (OH MY GODS THE HERONDALE MANOR WHICH WE WILL TALK ABOUT LATER).
Everything was very witty and cute. They all acted like total teenagers about their relationships, although they were in the middle of saving the world. One part I do want to point out though was the sex scene.
It was a bit far fetched in my opinion. Although very romantic and steamy, it just seemed totally out their. Jace even had a condom. They were in hell. IN HELL. COULDN'T THEY HAVE WAITED?
The final thing I'd like to talk about is the infinite amount of references in this book.
I started crying at the end when Jem and Tessa were sitting at the table and talking about Will Herondale and Jace's similarities and how Tessa wanted to force Emma Carstairs to play the violin. I didn't know what to do with myself it was so perfect and lovely, especially since I had loved The Infernal Devices so very much. They mentioned so much about the London Institute and Jem's needing to meet Tessa at the bridge.
All of it came together so perfectly that I was just a mess at the end. I loved this book so much and really want to re-read it. Cassandra Clare and her characters will forever have a special place in my heart.
Future News:
Cassandra Clare has many series planned in this universe. That includes the following:
- The Dark Artifices Trilogy (2015)
- The Last Hours Trilogy (2017)
- The Wicked Powers Trilogy (Future)
Cassandra plans on having five main series in the shadowhunter universe in the end. The first two series are The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments.
