Young Adult Annotation - City of Fallen Angels

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Young Adult. Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books in 2011.

City of Fallen Angels is the fourth book of a series, The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare. At the end of the third book, the Downworlders came together with the Shadowhunters for the Mortal War. Jace and Clary discovered their true family history, and Clary was able to save the life of Jace, her true love. Shadowhunters befriended Downworlders. At the end of book three, the world was saved.  

The fourth book starts a new story arc in the series.

Someone is killing Shadowhunters. Moreover, the bodies are made to implicate the Downworlders – the Seelie Court, the werewolves and the warlocks. The new accord with the Shadowhunters and Downworlders are fragile. Further, an old vampire has returned to New York, and she  has approached Simon for help in retaking control of the local group of vampires. Simon, a vampire who can walk in daylight and who does not want to drink blood, was marked by Clary with a powerful rune. Even though he wants no part of vampire politics, he is a powerful vampire and draws the attention of beings who crave power.

Perhaps more importantly, the relationships get complicated. Simon has two girlfriends – Mia, a werewolf, and Isabel, a Shadowhunter. Clary’s mom is getting married to the leader of Mia’s werewolf pack. Clary is still Simon’s best friend, and both Mia and Isabel will be at the wedding. Both expect to be at the wedding with Simon. Worse still, Clary feels that something is wrong between herself and Jace. Is Jace pulling away? Jace just knows that something is wrong – he can’t sleep, he can’t eat, and he just can’t be with Clary.  

The majority of the main characters are teens, and the story is basically an urban fantasy set in New York City. The fantastic creatures are a big part of the story, and there are a few scenes with fights involving magical creatures.  However, the relationships among the characters are the real focus of the story.

City of Fallen Angels ends in a cliff-hanger. The fifth book, City of Lost Souls, has been published. According to Amazon.com the sixth book, City of Heavenly Fire, is due out in May 2014.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that City of Bones, the first book in the series, was recently made into a movie.  

Amazon.com suggested the following books (and other titles in their respective series): 

• Divergent by Veronica Roth 
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia 
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 
• Matched by Ally Condie 
• Legend by Marie Lu