Is City of Heavenly Fire worth reading? (ns)

SnShne322

I've really jumped off the wagon as far as Cassandra Clare goes, but I've read the other 5.  I can't decide if the part of me that says "You've read the first five, just suck it up and read the last one" is loud enough. 

What says NBC?

MrsJenE

I think @elistar is currently reading this.  I'm waiting for her opinion before I dive in.

josie402

I just finished it.  I didn't love it and had a hard time getting into it, but I'm glad I finished the series.  I can't stand to leave a series unfinished.  I always need to know what happens to the people!  I would read it, but probably not put it at the top of your list.

SnShne322

I saw in my library's weekly email that they got it in.  I'd forgotten it was coming out!

saralynn7

I needed to finish the series. Is it the best book I've ever read? No, but worth finishing it out.

CTDec03Bride

josie402 said:

I just finished it.  I didn't love it and had a hard time getting into it, but I'm glad I finished the series.  I can't stand to leave a series unfinished.  I always need to know what happens to the people!  I would read it, but probably not put it at the top of your list.

 

Ditto this.  Took me a while to get through, ended up giving it barely 3 stars.  Glad I finished though.

EliStar

I'm reading it now. Most of the book I've been thinking "you should have stopped at 3, Clare" but I would be lying if I said I hated it. It's entertaining me. I'm almost done and I'm glad I decided to pick it up.

Leeba25

I will ditto @EliStar. I liked it a lot better than the last book (#5 whatever the hell that one was called), so in comparison it was fantastic. But yeah, it was overall entertaining and kept me going. 

Here's what I didn't like about this book specifically, and to a lesser degree, the rest of the series. She spends a lot of energy (and PAGES) weaving her other series into it. She wants to get you hooked on the Emma story, and the Tessa story, and frankly, it's annoying. It felt like pop up ads to me ... it felt forced. She could have been a lot more concise without all that ancillary stuff that, frankly, was not germane to this particular story. It didn't add anything, in my opinion. 

josie402

Leeba25 said:

Here's what I didn't like about this book specifically, and to a lesser degree, the rest of the series. She spends a lot of energy (and PAGES) weaving her other series into it. She wants to get you hooked on the Emma story, and the Tessa story, and frankly, it's annoying. It felt like pop up ads to me ... it felt forced. She could have been a lot more concise without all that ancillary stuff that, frankly, was not germane to this particular story. It didn't add anything, in my opinion. 

This!  I felt like there were so many references to The Infernal Devices series and the new one she's writing.  I loved the Infernal Devices, and I do like seeing the connections between the series, but some of it did feel forced.

Lauren620

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

SnShne322

Lauren620 said:

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

@Lauren620 I immediately thought of you when I saw the email come in.

MrsJenE

Lauren620 said:

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

That series was so good though.

EliStar

MrsJenE said:

Lauren620 said:

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

That series was so good though.

SO. GOOD. 

Cassandra Clare is such a hot topic though. In every reading community I'm in, people either love her or hate her. I like to pretend the books write themselves because I really like her writing, but I can't stand her. 

MrsJenE

EliStar said:

MrsJenE said:

Lauren620 said:

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

That series was so good though.

SO. GOOD. 

Cassandra Clare is such a hot topic though. In every reading community I'm in, people either love her or hate her. I like to pretend the books write themselves because I really like her writing, but I can't stand her. 

Yes! I tried not to think about who the other was when I read Infernal Devices.

SnShne322

I've tried to get into The Infernal Devices and I just don't like them much.  I think I've read 2, is there 3 or more now?  It makes me sad because they get so much love here.

Lauren620

MrsJenE said:

EliStar said:

MrsJenE said:

Lauren620 said:

I have no intentions of finishing this series or the Infernal Devices series, but you already know how I feel about Cassandra Clare lol

That series was so good though.

SO. GOOD. 

Cassandra Clare is such a hot topic though. In every reading community I'm in, people either love her or hate her. I like to pretend the books write themselves because I really like her writing, but I can't stand her. 

Yes! I tried not to think about who the other was when I read Infernal Devices.

I loved Clockwork Angel and thought that Clockwork Prince was pretty lame. I have no desire to pick up the third.  Plus I just don't like the author and no intentions to support her.  

abs05

I liked the last book. I thought it was much better than book 5 and I didn't mind the references to her other series. Best book ever? Not even. Fun and mindless? Yes. I'm so curious as to why people don't like Cassandra Clare! Do I live under a rock? Should it be obvious?

SnShne322

abs1978 said:

I liked the last book. I thought it was much better than book 5 and I didn't mind the references to her other series. Best book ever? Not even. Fun and mindless? Yes. I'm so curious as to why people don't like Cassandra Clare! Do I live under a rock? Should it be obvious?

I love it when @lauren620 gets riled up over CC. Maybe she'll do the honors for us.

BabyRN2006

This bums me out because Clockwork Princess was soooo good and an amazing ending to the trilogy. I was hoping this one would be too.

Lauren620

This is going to be long and like it was mentioned earlier, Cassandra Clare is totally polarizing, so I get that some people won't agree. 

My biggest issue with CC is how mean she is to her fans.  She is a bully and it enrages me when YA authors act like this because it's a horrible example for teens. I can't get over the fact that she is an adult that publicly says really rude and condescending things to kids. By publicly, I mean on social media, but I have also heard of her being a total witch at signings and in the fanfic forums.

Part of the reason she is so defensive and trollish is because she was accused of plagiarizing her Harry Potter fanfic (that she used to write TMI) in the early 2000s and caught a lot of heat for it, so I guess she is just tired of it.  It still doesn't make it ok.  You can google Cassandra Clare or Cassandra Claire and plagiarism and read for days.  She took the "i" out of Claire when she published TMI.

I got really caught up in the hype when the first 3 Mortal Instruments books came out, but I didn't really love any of them.  I was relieved when it was over. I did, however, love Clockwork Angel when it came out. Despite its glaring similarities to the first series, I really liked the steam punk aspects and thought that I would give her another chance.  By this point I had unfollowed her on twitter because she was a total beast on there and it was changing the way I felt about her books. 

Then there was news that TMI trilogy was going to be extended and the fourth book was going to be told from Simon's perspective.  Which it wasn't.  I read it and thought it was a total waste of time.  It didn't add anything to the story.  I checked my GR rating and I gave it 3 stars, but I have no idea why.  I felt like she was just throwing crap out into the world to make money.  I obviously got over it because she is an author and of course she is trying to write books to make money, but I can't stand when I feel like a series is going on needlessly because it is a cash cow and not because there is more story to tell.

Then I read Clockwork Prince and felt the exact same way about it as I felt about City of Fallen Angels.  It added nothing to the story other than 500+ pages of a ridiculous love triangle.  I was ready to be done with her, but thought that I had to finish a series that I started and a while after City of Lost Souls came out I gave it a shot.  I couldn't get into it.  I was so over Jace and Clary by then I just didn't care anymore.  So I put it down and decided that I don't need to read books to finish a series just because they are available.  

If CC wasn't so obnoxious and she decided to come up with a book about something OTHER than shadowhunters that didn't have fanfic and plagiarism associated with it, I might read something by her again.  I probably won't though. 

*hops off of soap box*

SnShne322

Lauren620 said:

This is going to be long and like it was mentioned earlier, Cassandra Clare is totally polarizing, so I get that some people won't agree. 

My biggest issue with CC is how mean she is to her fans.  She is a bully and it enrages me when YA authors act like this because it's a horrible example for teens. I can't get over the fact that she is an adult that publicly says really rude and condescending things to kids. By publicly, I mean on social media, but I have also heard of her being a total witch at signings and in the fanfic forums.

Part of the reason she is so defensive and trollish is because she was accused of plagiarizing her Harry Potter fanfic (that she used to write TMI) in the early 2000s and caught a lot of heat for it, so I guess she is just tired of it.  It still doesn't make it ok.  You can google Cassandra Clare or Cassandra Claire and plagiarism and read for days.  She took the "i" out of Claire when she published TMI.

I got really caught up in the hype when the first 3 Mortal Instruments books came out, but I didn't really love any of them.  I was relieved when it was over. I did, however, love Clockwork Angel when it came out. Despite its glaring similarities to the first series, I really liked the steam punk aspects and thought that I would give her another chance.  By this point I had unfollowed her on twitter because she was a total beast on there and it was changing the way I felt about her books. 

Then there was news that TMI trilogy was going to be extended and the fourth book was going to be told from Simon's perspective.  Which it wasn't.  I read it and thought it was a total waste of time.  It didn't add anything to the story.  I checked my GR rating and I gave it 3 stars, but I have no idea why.  I felt like she was just throwing crap out into the world to make money.  I obviously got over it because she is an author and of course she is trying to write books to make money, but I can't stand when I feel like a series is going on needlessly because it is a cash cow and not because there is more story to tell.

Then I read Clockwork Prince and felt the exact same way about it as I felt about City of Fallen Angels.  It added nothing to the story other than 500+ pages of a ridiculous love triangle.  I was ready to be done with her, but thought that I had to finish a series that I started and a while after City of Lost Souls came out I gave it a shot.  I couldn't get into it.  I was so over Jace and Clary by then I just didn't care anymore.  So I put it down and decided that I don't need to read books to finish a series just because they are available.  

If CC wasn't so obnoxious and she decided to come up with a book about something OTHER than shadowhunters that didn't have fanfic and plagiarism associated with it, I might read something by her again.  I probably won't though. 

*hops off of soap box*

I you.

EliStar

@lauren620 I totally respect your opinions about her books... But. I do think you're probably feeling a little "look at that bitch, eating that cracker like she owns the place" about Cassandra Clare. Meaning, you hate her so you're predisposed to hate her books. Which is totally fine, of course. And it may not be the case, it may just be me projecting because I feel that way a lot. 

I really don't think the Clockwork series was lame. It's not really a typical love triangle, and the last book in that series made me straight up SOB. TMI series were not the best books I'd ever read but I liked them a whole lot more when I didn't know what a douchebag Cassandra Clare is. The way we feel about authors definitely affects our perception of their books. I have to make myself forget that she wrote them in order to enjoy them. 

Lauren620

@Elistar you are absolutely correct in saying that my predisposed opinion of Cassandra Clare changes how I feel about her books that I have not read, but I think that those two things have perpetuated each other rather than one being the cause of the other.  Feeling like both of her series were going downhill added with the fact that I don't care for the author makes my feelings stronger about the whole situation.

I even said that I loved Clockwork Angel.  I stopped following her on twitter and started the series and I really liked it.  It was the books that came after it where my feelings about the series really changed.  As far as my thoughts about Clockwork Prince go, I didn't say it was a typical love triangle, I said it was a ridiculous love triangle, which is my opinion and I totally understand if other people like it and feel differently.  Her books obviously aren't for me anymore, but I completely understand that they are for other people.  Obviously a lot of other people enjoy them because she has been very successful with them.

sfgiantsjo

I knew none of this. But I also stopped reading after book one of TMI. (Ever so slight SP here) I never got past the brother/sister thing, even though everyone has told me repeatedly that that gets totally resolved in Book 2. I just never felt motivated enough to pick up the rest of the series. I've been intrigued by the Clockwork series, mostly because I love steampunk. 

It makes me sad when someone who could have an influence on young people choose to be douchbags instead of using that influence to  set a good example. Like, it makes their douchbaggery that much more horrible.  

EliStar

Lauren620 said:

@Elistar you are absolutely correct in saying that my predisposed opinion of Cassandra Clare changes how I feel about her books that I have not read, but I think that those two things have perpetuated each other rather than one being the cause of the other.  Feeling like both of her series were going downhill added with the fact that I don't care for the author makes my feelings stronger about the whole situation.

I even said that I loved Clockwork Angel.  I stopped following her on twitter and started the series and I really liked it.  It was the books that came after it where my feelings about the series really changed.  As far as my thoughts about Clockwork Prince go, I didn't say it was a typical love triangle, I said it was a ridiculous love triangle, which is my opinion and I totally understand if other people like it and feel differently.  Her books obviously aren't for me anymore, but I completely understand that they are for other people.  Obviously a lot of other people enjoy them because she has been very successful with them.

I get you. I wasn't trying to invalidate your feelings/opinions about her books. I was trying to say I would probably like her books a LOT less if I hadn't decided to pretend the books write themselves. heh. 

Lauren620

sfgiantsjo said:

I knew none of this. But I also stopped reading after book one of TMI. (Ever so slight SP here) I never got past the brother/sister thing, even though everyone has told me repeatedly that that gets totally resolved in Book 2. I just never felt motivated enough to pick up the rest of the series. I've been intrigued by the Clockwork series, mostly because I love steampunk. 

It makes me sad when someone who could have an influence on young people choose to be douchbags instead of using that influence to  set a good example. Like, it makes their douchbaggery that much more horrible.  

This is honestly my biggest issue with her.  That added to the fact that I just don't enjoy her books anymore leaves me uninterested in supporting her right now.

I should probably also say that I haven't read any of her social media outlets in years because of how strongly I felt about how she treats people (fans no less), so she could have lightened up by now.  I just have no desire to look into whether she has or not. 

RevJen

I like the Infernal Devices trilogy so far but I haven't finished it.  I keep meaning to pick up the third one but something better usually comes along.

Lauren620

EliStar said:

Lauren620 said:

@Elistar you are absolutely correct in saying that my predisposed opinion of Cassandra Clare changes how I feel about her books that I have not read, but I think that those two things have perpetuated each other rather than one being the cause of the other.  Feeling like both of her series were going downhill added with the fact that I don't care for the author makes my feelings stronger about the whole situation.

I even said that I loved Clockwork Angel.  I stopped following her on twitter and started the series and I really liked it.  It was the books that came after it where my feelings about the series really changed.  As far as my thoughts about Clockwork Prince go, I didn't say it was a typical love triangle, I said it was a ridiculous love triangle, which is my opinion and I totally understand if other people like it and feel differently.  Her books obviously aren't for me anymore, but I completely understand that they are for other people.  Obviously a lot of other people enjoy them because she has been very successful with them.

I get you. I wasn't trying to invalidate your feelings/opinions about her books. I was trying to say I would probably like her books a LOT less if I hadn't decided to pretend the books write themselves. heh. 

I didn't think you were  You are right about how I feel about her changes how I feel about her books, I just think the reverse is also true.  I've had to stop following several favorite authors because I love their books and characters SO much, but I hear their obnoxious tweets or posts coming through when I try to read.  

And if anyone is going to have a "bitch eating crackers" moment about anyone or anything it will probably be me LOL  

EliStar

Lauren620 said:

EliStar said:

Lauren620 said:

@Elistar you are absolutely correct in saying that my predisposed opinion of Cassandra Clare changes how I feel about her books that I have not read, but I think that those two things have perpetuated each other rather than one being the cause of the other.  Feeling like both of her series were going downhill added with the fact that I don't care for the author makes my feelings stronger about the whole situation.

I even said that I loved Clockwork Angel.  I stopped following her on twitter and started the series and I really liked it.  It was the books that came after it where my feelings about the series really changed.  As far as my thoughts about Clockwork Prince go, I didn't say it was a typical love triangle, I said it was a ridiculous love triangle, which is my opinion and I totally understand if other people like it and feel differently.  Her books obviously aren't for me anymore, but I completely understand that they are for other people.  Obviously a lot of other people enjoy them because she has been very successful with them.

I get you. I wasn't trying to invalidate your feelings/opinions about her books. I was trying to say I would probably like her books a LOT less if I hadn't decided to pretend the books write themselves. heh. 

I didn't think you were  You are right about how I feel about her changes how I feel about her books, I just think the reverse is also true.  I've had to stop following several favorite authors because I love their books and characters SO much, but I hear their obnoxious tweets or posts coming through when I try to read.  

And if anyone is going to have a "bitch eating crackers" moment about anyone or anything it will probably be me LOL  

Oh, you are not alone! haha. 

abs05

How interesting!!  I had no idea how mean she was to her fans.  Sometimes living in a bubble is a good thing because that would change my opinion of the books, too. I think it's very sad when someone who has the potential to really influence young people throws that away and takes advantage.  I can see how that would happen, but she didn't always have this level of success and should know better. 

One day when I'm bored I will have to google her name and plagerism.  I can absolutely understand your opinion Lauren!

Oh, and I lurk all the time because I love reading but rarely post here.  So, um, hi.

RevJen

Now that you've outed yourself, you'll need to post more.