Book Review :: City of Heavenly Fire, by Cassandra Clare

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
ISBN: 1481426303
Series: The Mortal Instruments #6
on May 27th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 725
Goodreads

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.

The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris - but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?

When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...

Last updated on 23 January 2026

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My thoughts on City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Well I finally finished it. I know I know, this book came out a few years ago now, but I’ve only just gotten around to reading it. That’s what happens when you have a thousand books to read and some of them are for review by authors or publishing companies. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, and I will continue to do it, but it does mean some of the sequels and book series I need to finish get put on the back burner for a while.

But I finally read City of Heavenly Fire, the last in The Mortal Instruments series. I’m not going to actually say too much about it, in case you’re currently reading the series, or you’re planning to. But what I will say is that I really enjoyed it. There were a few moments in the middle where it dragged a touch, and I got a little bored, but it picked up and while there were twists and turns, and frantic ARGH moments, I did enjoy how it ended.

“We are all the pieces of what we remember. We hold in ourselves the hopes and fears of those who love us. As long as there is love and memory, there is no true loss.”

One of my favourite things about the Shadowhunter world that Clare has created is how all her series are linked. I love Magnus Bane, the warlock, and how he is in The Infernal Devices, Clare’s other series which takes place before the events in Mortal Instruments series, and how he is in the City books too. I just hope that he shows up in her next series, The Dark Artifices, which begins with Lady Midnight.

Speaking of which, some new characters are introduced in City of Heavenly Fire, Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn. They are young, about 12 years old, and they are in charge of looking after the Blackthorn children when they are orphaned.

(There are so many Blackthorn children I did find it hard at times to keep track of who was who and who had nicknames and who didn’t. I have to say, while I did like the idea that there were children again in the story – after Max dying in a previous book – I do think that there were too many.)

They play key roles in the storyline that continues on in Alicante while Clary, Jace, Alec, Izzy and Simon and off in a demon realm, and I really liked them as characters. It’s Emma’s story we will follow in Lady Midnight, as she and Julian and the Blackthorn children move to the L.A. Institute.

But more on that when the book comes out and I know more of what I’m talking about.

City of Heavenly Fire was a great ending to an incredible series. Before I realised that Cassandra Clare was writing another series, I was super sad that this was going to be the end of the Shadowhunter world. Thankfully that is not the case.

Have you read City of Heavenly Fire? Planning to?