I finished City of Heavenly Fire, the last installment in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instrument series after dragging it out all weekend. I just didn't want this book, nor this series to end. But alas, all good things must come to an end. And luckily for me, I don't have to leave the world of Shadowhunters behind forever. I plan on devouring Clare's other series: The Infernal Devices and The Bane Chronicles soon.
But for right now, I'm mourning the loss of this beautiful series that I've loved from the very beginning. Looking back at City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls, I see a city of great adventures, a city of memories. And it's these memories that made the finale of this series so bittersweet. I'm not going to give away any spoilers because I would hate to ruin this unbelievable book for all you invisible readers out there but I will say this might be my favorite book from the series, and for good reason. The action sequences felt raw and real, the emotional scenes even better, and I feel like the lives of some of my favorite fictional people will be okay.
This book had so many amazing quotes but the one pictured above might be my favorite. I think people and experiences and books especially leave pieces of themselves behind for us to remember. And even though it feels like a huge loss in my life saying goodbye to this book and this series, Cassie's right, there is no true loss. Because I can go back to these books anytime I want, because I love these characters, because this book and this world have left pieces in my soul that I will never forget.
Saying goodbye to my Shadowhunter friends was sad because I realized I became stronger and more brave and more loving by living through these characters. And at the end of the day, that's all a reader can ask for. As a writer, I cherish these books even more because Cassandra's Clare's world really resonated with me. I just hope one day someone loves my stories and my writing half as much as I've loved these books. Because it is through love and only love that we can connect as readers and writers and people that love the idea of falling into fictitious fantasy worlds to escape our own mundane world.
xoxo
K.K.