What. A. Ride.

As a die-hard Shadowhunter fan, I loved this book because how could I not? Clary, Jace, and the TMI gang played much bigger roles in this one than they had in the other TDA books, which I actually really enjoyed. I'm glad their stories aren't over as long as Cassandra Clare keeps writing into their futures.

And mostly, I really liked the plot, but there are a few things I really didn't like, hence the four stars.

1.

Spoiler

The big one. Sebastian Morgenstern has a son, his name is Ash, and we're setting him up as the big villain of the next series (the one that will come chronologically after TDA). And I hate it. Having villains have children who become villains always felt like a bit of a cop out and while I'm sure it can be done well, I'm just not about it. And also, as part of the same note, the arrival of Dark Jace is both exciting and worrying.

2. Like City of Heavenly Fire, part of this book takes place in an alternate dimension, and while I enjoyed the events that played out there, it just felt so similar to CoHF that I couldn't help be a little disappointed.

And...that's pretty much it tbh I continue to love all of the characters with my whole heart, and I felt like having the plot of the TDA books be uncomfortably topical made the books hit a little harder than the other ones did. Also, kudos to Cassie Clare for writing love triangles I actually love, which is rare. Jem/Tessa/Will will always be a favorite of mine, but Kieran/Cristina/Mark was also amazing and I'm glad she actually went for it.

I excitedly await literally everything this woman will write in the future.