Life of Bry

Book No. 4 down, and I hate that I was right.

In my last blog post, I predicted that City of Fallen Angels would be much slower than the previous three titles in Cassandra Clare’s series The Mortal Instruments. This book’s plot practically crawled until the last few chapters, and it took me so much longer to read than the other books that had me staying up past my self-enforced bedtime in order to find out what happened next.

The story picks up pretty much right after the end of the Mortal War. Jocelyn and Luke are getting married (I still can’t bring myself to care about that relationship), Clary is finally getting proper training at the Institute, Simon is dating both Isabelle and Maia, former Circle members are being found dead in Downworlder territory, Alec and Magnus are traveling the world (CUTE), and Jace is just going through it.

It definitely wasn’t my favorite, but I can appreciate what this book adds to the overall series. Here are my thoughts on City of Fallen Angels.

Simon’s Character Development

This is a very Simon-centric story. He’s adjusting to not only life as a vampire, but his life of being a Daylighter with the Mark of Cain. It turns out that these attributes make him a hot commodity in the Downworld. Simon is now practically indestructible as anyone who tries to harm him is quickly served a punishment “sevenfold”. City of Fallen Angels is a turning point for Simon as he comes to terms with the fact that even though he can pretend to still be human, he is a vampire.

He is summoned by Camille Belcourt — the former leader of the New York Vamps — who wants him on her side to take down Raphael and reclaim the clan. In return, Camille says that Simon will finally be accepted into vampire society. After all, he is immortal and there will come a time when his friends and family will die and he will be alone. Camille also presents the idea that Simon’s Shadowhunter friends don’t care for him as much as he does for them — something Simon struggles with throughout the book.

“Eternity is a long time to spend alone, without others of your kind. Others who understand. You befriend Shadowhunters, but you can never be of them. You will always be other and outside.”

Camille to Simon, Page 36

However good guy Simon turns down the offer initially to think it through. 

The world just keeps dogpiling onto Simon. Men in tracksuits try to “mug” him and are immediately blown to bits by his Mark. Then his mother finds his stash of blood in his room and insists that he’s a monster. Simon has no choice but to encanto her into forgetting the entire thing and beating feet out the door. This leaves Simon scared of what his newfound power is capable of, homeless, without his mother, and a limited supply of blood. 

Simon’s lack of blood leads to a disaster. He runs off stage at his gig feeling sick, but Maureen, his band’s one and only groupie who happens to be Eric’s 14-year-old cousin, is there asking for a picture. He loses control and feeds off her until she passes out — the first time he’s ever tasted pure human blood.

“I hope you feel really goddamn terrible, Kyle had said. But this was much worse. He felt fantastic, alive in a way he never had before. Human blood was clearly somehow the perfect, the ideal food for vampires.”

Simon, Page 201

Not to mention, this same night, Maia and Izzy find out about each other. Big ole’ yikes.

Simon helps the Shadowhunters capture Camille, but the way they treat her in the Sanctuary causes more inner conflict.

“‘Blessed metal,’ said Jace without a flicker of emotion. ‘It burns them.

Them, Simon thought. You mean ‘you.’ I’m just like her. I’m not different just because you know me.”

Jace & Simon, Page 246

“‘So you caught a vampire who was up to something nasty. Aren’t they always?’ … ‘Sorry, Simon. I didn’t mean you. You’re different.’”

Alec, Page 263

The Shadowhunters consistently say and do things that prove to Simon that they aren’t fans of vampires, but they still expect him to help do their bidding. And, despite everything, he’s willing to do it.

Simon drinks Jonathan’s blood to save Clary from being murdered by a possessed Jace. Then, he jumps between Clary and Lillith in order to kill the Greater Demon with the Mark of Cain. It’s with this act, that I believe he realizes that the skills he possesses from being a vampire can be used to help and not hurt people.

I admired the selflessness of Simon throughout the book. Around every turn he is given a reason to hate Shadowhunters. They’re fairly arrogant and think they’re better than Downworlders because of their angelic blood. Most refuse to call Simon by his name, they treat him as a burden at first, and, then, with his Mark, a weapon. He’s consistently ignored and forgotten about by those around him, even Clary who has been his best friend for years.

I wouldn’t have blamed Simon for turning his back on the Shadowhunters and joining forces with Camille in an effort to gain a sense of belonging in his new world. However, I’m glad he didn’t. When Izzy tells Simon that the group went searching for him, not Jace and Clary, who everyone thought were still at the engagement party, it proved to him that despite their differences, they are friends after all. And maybe Izzy is even more than a friend? 

“‘Camille said something to me in the Sanctuary. She said that Shadowhunters didn’t care about Downworlders, just used them. She said the Nephilim would never do for me what I did for them. But you did. You came for me. You came for me.’

‘Of course I did,’ She said in a muffled little voice.”

Simon & Izzy, Page 426

Overall, I appreciated Clare pulling Simon to the forefront and making him a prominent figure to the plot. It made sense for Simon to be struggling with his attempt to still live like a human while balancing what it means for him to be a vampire because he’s only been a vamp for a couple months. It can’t be that easy to acclimate, especially when you have opportunities that allow you to keep a sense of normalcy. 

Jace, Jonathan & Clary

Now that it’s official that they’re not siblings, Jace and Clary can finally be in a romantic relationship. But Jace has been acting weird since being resurrected at Lake Lyn by the angel Raziel, which is still a secret between the two of them. He’s been having relentless nightmares that start with him and Clary being intimate and ending with him killing her. The nightmares were so bad that they’d cause Jace to be physically sick. His solution — don’t eat and don’t sleep.

I was really hoping that Clare was going to tackle Jace’s mental health with this plot line. It’s always bothered me that massively popular YA novels show children going through horrendous and vile things to upend society or save the world, but these authors rarely acknowledge how their young characters survive the mental toll these actions take long after the wars are won.

Katniss Everdeen had to legit slaughter other kids in The Hunger Games. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase trekked through literal hell together in The Mark of Athena. You can’t tell me these kids don’t need therapy.

Jace is no exception. 

He was mentally and physically abused by Valentine growing up. His adoptive father trained him to be an emotionless warrior and faked his own death to send his son to a new family when he found his soldier was too soft. Then Valentine stabs him through the heart at Lake Lyn … It’s fucked up, man. Not to mention Jace’s biological mother committed suicide and mental illness can be hereditary.

Jace is battling a war within himself. He doesn’t feel remorseful for killing Jonathan Christopher—who everyone refers to as Sebastian because Jonathan is Jace’s actual name — and he feels that he’ll turn into Valentine.

“Surely it wasn’t normal to kill someone — to kill your own adoptive brother — and feel nothing about it at all.

I won’t be like him.

But his father had taught him that to kill without mercy was a virtue, and maybe you could never forget what your parents taught you. No matter how badly you wanted to.”

Jace, Page 77

In return, Jace is distant and starts avoiding Clary because he’s afraid that the nightmares will become a reality. Since Clary is still pretty self absorbed (as most teenagers are), she believes that he’s falling out of love with her instead of struggling mentally. I can’t blame her too much though, not when the usually quick-witted and eloquent Jace says shit like this …

“I can’t talk to you, I can’t be with you, I can’t even look at you.”

Jace to Clary, Page 190

But that hurtful sentence is made up for with a steamy makeout sesh in an alley instead of an actual conversation. A real conversation does come 256 pages into the book, when Jace visits Clary in her room after she is burned by demon blood. Props go to Clary for pushing her hormones into the back seat for a few minutes and giving Jace the ultimatum to tell her what’s been going on or leaving.

At first, Jace doesn’t tell Clary about his dreams, instead admitting that he believes that the trauma he experienced in Idris is catching up to him. When the pair start taking their relationship to the next level, Jace’s nightmare comes to life as he slashes a dagger across Clary’s arm. It’s only then that Jace informs Clary about them, and the two decide to go to the Silent Brothers.

Before they come to that conclusion, Jace divulges that he didn’t tell Clary about the dreams because he was afraid of not only physically hurting her but that he didn’t deserve to be happy due to his upbringing with Valentine.

“‘You’re everything I want,” Jace said. ‘And maybe Jace Lightwood deserves to get everything he wants. But Jace Morgenstern doesn’t. Somewhere inside I must know that. Or I wouldn’t be trying to destroy what we have.’”

Jace to Clary, Page 270

It turns out that when Shadowhunters are born, they go through a ceremony that seems pretty similar to a baptism, to protect the child from being possessed by demons. When the Angel resurrected Jace, he was left unprotected.

Of course it’s not mental health, it’s a demon. I guess that fits into the plot and this world as a whole, I just really wished we could have seen a moment of Jace getting treatment for his mental health. Demon possession or not, that boy needs some professional help.

I have to say that Jocelyn is right. While her distaste for Jace without getting to know him is appalling, she was correct when she told Clary that he can be dangerous because he has a sense of vulnerability about him that lures people to him. No matter how much of an asshole he comes off as, people feel the need to help him. Clary is putty in his hands and that’s not entirely healthy.

Also, during their conversation about Jace, Jocelyn gives one of my favorite quotes in the series.

“Or maybe it’s just that beautiful things are so easily broken by the world.”

Jocelyn, Page 303

Jace sneaks away from the Silent Brothers before they can perform the ritual after Lilith comes to Jace in a dream as Max to have him use his stele to Mark himself with a rune that connects Jace’s life to Jonathan’s.

This is one of my favorite plot devices of the entire series so far. Because Jace was resurrected by Raziel, that means the darkness gets the opportunity to bring a soul back as well.

“Everything in balance. An eye for eye. A tooth for a tooth. A life for a life. Jace is the counterweight. If Jace lives, then so shall Jonathan.”

Lilith, Page 362

It ties Jace to Jonathan in yet another way. While Clary may be blood related to Jonathan, it’s Jace who was raised identically to him. They will always be counterparts. 

It’s probably not cool of me to say, but sometimes I feel bad for Jonathan. He never had a chance at life because his father chose to experiment on him. He was dealt an unfair hand in life, much like Jace. The difference between him and Jace (aside from the demon blood thing) is that Jace was given the opportunity to be loved unconditionally by the Lightwoods. Is having demon blood what makes Jonathan evil or is it that he was raised to be evil by an evil man?

That question might be answered soon enough, because, despite destroying Lilith, Jonathan was still awakened by Simon’s bite, and Jace, whose binding mark healed quite quickly after Clary managed to cut it, finished the ritual. 

I’m sorry for how harsh this is going to sound, but why the fuck would Clary leave Jace all alone on that rooftop? Or any of them for that matter. Alec was right to push Clary out of the elevator when Jace insisted he wanted to be alone (which was THE most adorable thing). Jace shouldn’t have been alone. Not only did he just go through a traumatic experience, but they should know that the rune would have healed quickly. Isn’t it a known thing that Shadowhunters heal faster than mundane? It just made no sense to me that after everything, Clary just left him there. I understand she wanted to protect her mom from seeing Jonathan’s body, but the others could’ve explained where she was and the Clave would’ve been up there soon enough. It just made me so angry.

This is out of place, but I loved this quote from Jace when he gives the Morgenstern ring back to Clary, so I’m just going to throw it in now.

“I wore it for a decade … Some part of me is in it. It means I trust you with my past and all the secrets that past carries. And besides … ‘the love that moves the sun and all the other stars.’ Pretend that that’s what the stars stand for, not Morgenstern.”

Jace to Clary, Page 424.

Swoon.

Jace & Simon’s Blooming Bromance

While keeping his distance from Clary, Jace follows Simon home one night and witnesses the work of the Mark of Cain against two more “muggers” dressed in tracksuits. Since he has nothing better to do, Jace takes it upon himself to be Simon’s bodyguard.

I really enjoyed the interactions between Simon and Jace. Simon seems to be the first person to really notice that Jace is seriously not OK and calls him out on his bullshit. 

“‘You look lousy,’ [Simon] said.

Jace blinked. ‘Seems an odd time to start an insult contest, but if you insist, I could probably think up something good.’

‘No, I mean it. You don’t look good.’

‘This from a guy who has all the sex appeal of a penguin. Look, I realize you may be jealous that the good Lord didn’t deal you the same chiseled hand he dealt me, but that’s no reason to — ‘

‘I am not trying to insult you,’ Simon snapped. ‘I mean you look sick. When was the last time you ate something?’”

Jace & Simon, Page 130

Jace also noticed that Simon hadn’t drank any blood recently, and reminded him that he’s a vampire and “blood isn’t like food for you. Blood is…blood.”

The two boys essentially take care of each other.

The time they spend together makes them unlikely allies that leads to the moment on the roof where all Jace has to do is look at Simon, and he understands what he needs to do to save Clary and defeat Lilith.

On the rooftop, Simon also realizes how Jace’s hubristic attitude is a charade to mask his true feelings. 

“This was Jace being brave, Simon thought, brave and snarky because he thought Lilith was going to kill him, and that was the way he wanted to go, unafraid and on his feet. Like a warrior. The way Shadowhunters did. His death song would always be this — jokes and snideness and pretend arrogance, and that look in his eyes that said, I’m better than you.”

Simon, Page 398

I believe these two gain a lot of respect for each other. Jace learned to trust and appreciate Simon and his loyalty to Clary, while Simon discovered that Jace isn’t just the tough guy, douchebag who stole his best friend. 

Also, I appreciate how little Jace — and all the Lightwood children for that matter — know about the mundane world. Jace has never been to a grocery store, he doesn’t know who Rihanna or George Clooney are and he’s never played Halo. Jace casually throws around quotes from classic literature and speaks freely in several foreign languages, but Simon has the upper hand on mundane pop culture knowledge.

Side note! In the very first pages of the book, Izzy is perturbed about the Count on Sesame Street. It’s kind of adorable how concerned she was that a vampire was teaching kids to count.

Alec & Magnus

At the start of City of Fallen Angels, Alec and Magnus are out traveling the world, living their best lives. Everything comes crashing down when Camille demands to speak only to Magnus Bane. Turns out they were once a couple, a realization that Alec is not fond of.

Alec is struggling with the idea that his warlock boyfriend has already lived through centuries of love and lust. The truth is, Alec isn’t the first person that Magnus has fallen in love with and there’s a good chance that he won’t be the last. Just as Simon will watch as his friends and family pass on, Magnus’ immortality means that there will come a day when Alec leaves this world and the High Warlock of Brooklyn will be left with nothing but memories.

“But Magnus, he thought. You never told me. Never warned me it would be like this, that I would wake up one day and realize that I was going somewhere you couldn’t follow. That we are essentially not the same. There’s no “till death do us apart” for those who never die.”

Alec, Page 391

It’s important to remember that Alec is only 18 years old. While he may seem wise beyond his years, he doesn’t have any relationship experience. I don’t think any 18 year old would react differently when confronted with the fact that their boyfriend is immortal and will have several lifetimes to live and love after you are gone.

Alexander may technically be an adult, but he’s also still a teenager. He’s going to be moody, he’s going to take things to heart and he’s going to throw some mental jabs because he’s feeling hurt and doesn’t know quite how to handle those emotions yet.

And Magnus tries his absolute best to negate those negative feelings by reassuring Alec that their time together is not just another fling in the centuries of his life.

“‘And I suppose it’s very advanced of you to have accepted my mortality so fatalistically — everything dies, blah, blah — but how do you think that makes me feel? Ordinary couples can hope — hope to grow old together, hope to live long lives and die at the same time, but we can’t hope for that. I don’t even know what it is you want.’

…’Alex — Alec. If I gave you the impression I had accepted the idea of your death I can only apologize. I tried to, I thought I had — and yet still I pictured having you for fifty, sixty more years. I thought I might be ready then to let you go. But it’s you, and I realize now that I won’t be any more ready to lose you then than I am right now … Which is not at all’”

Alec & Magnus, Pages 428-429

Izzy’s Stance on Love

I don’t have much to say on this topic, but I felt it deserved to be addressed. Throughout the series, Isabelle is known as quite the PlayGirl. She flirts her way through the Downworld, creating a long list of undesirable suitors that she’ll never fully commit to. And there’s a reason that Izzy treats love so frivolously — her father had an affair when Izzy was 13, and she’s been keeping her mother’s secret since.

“I thought it made me special. I didn’t think about how it might have changed me. But I watch my brothers give their hearts away and I think, Don’t you know better? Hearts are breakable. And I think even when you heal, you’re never what you were before.”

Izzy to Simon, Page 252

It says so much that she tells this to Simon. He calls her out on the fact she chooses men who she knows won’t take the relationship seriously so that she doesn’t have to worry about a broken heart. But Simon is different from those other guys that Izzy kept at arm’s length. He genuinely cares for her, and Izzy starts to feel remorseful about her choice to do the same to him when he goes missing at the engagement party.

“It wasn’t as if she’d ever seen his bedroom at home, which presumably was covered with band posters, sports trophies, boxes of those games he loved to play, musical instruments, books — all the flotsam and jetsam of a normal life. She’d never asked to come over, and he’d never suggested it. She’d been gun-shy of meeting his mother, of doing anything that might bespeak a greater commitment than she was willing to make. But now, looking at this empty shell of a room, feeling the vast dark bustle of the city all around her, she felt a twinge of fear for Simon — mixed with an equal twinge of regret.”

Izzy, Page 339

Maybe Simon will help heal Izzy’s heart.

Side note! I love Izzy because she counteracts Clary. While Clary is the typical ‘not like other girls’ trope, Isabelle embraces her femininity. She’s beautiful, strong and fierce — tackling the Shadow World in tight dresses and eight-inch heels. Izzy is a badass warrior. Demons don’t stand a chance.

Bonus Quotes!

These are the quotes that I loved, but didn’t feel the need to dive deeper into.

“He remembered his father saying that when angels fell, they fell in anguish, because once they had seen the face of God, and now they never would again.”

Jace, Page 74

“Theoretically the planet could suddenly crack in half, leaving me on one side and you on the other side, forever and tragically parted, but I’m not worried about that, either. Some things,” Jace said, with his customary crooked smile, “are just too unlikely to dwell upon.”

Jace to Clary, Page 87

“‘I swear on the Angel.’ He ducked his head down, kissed her cheek. ‘The hell with that. I swear on us.’

Clary wound her fingers into the sleeve of his T-shirt. ‘Why us?’

‘Because there isn’t anything I believe in more.’”

Jace & Clary, Page 257

“You never knew your mother. You never knew your father. You gave your heart to Valentine when you were a child, as children do, and made yourself a part of him. You cannot cut that away from yourself now with one clean slice of a blade.”

Jonathan to Jace, Page 435

“He thinks of the Fall, of angels tumbling forever in fire, and Icarus, who flew too close to the sun. He had thought of the agony of the Fall, the terror of it, but never that it might be joyful. Lucifer had not wanted to fall, but neither had he wanted to serve, and as Jace gathered Clary close against him, closer than he had ever thought they could be, he wondered if it was only in the act of falling that one could be truly free.”

The Act of Falling, Jace’s Perspective on his alleyway kiss with Clary