*SPOILERS BE WARNED*

At the moment, since it's late, I'm just going to say that there could not have been a better ending.

So, Ive put off writing this review. Overall the book was fantastic, but there are points that I feel could have been better. So, lets jump into this, beware spoilers ahead.

First off, the character development in this book was great. Well start with Simon. Ive never quite liked Simon, I didnt hate him or anything he was just sort of annoying and useless to me. This book redeemed him for me, however. Magnus is my favorite character and Simons willingness to sacrifice himself and his memories for him meant so much to me. He isnt selfish and hes grown so much since the first book. Hes no longer a dumb mundane, hes able to look after himself. At the end, I was happy that Magnus had found a way around the curse; however Im unsure if this was the best decision for the book and Ill expand more on why after a bit more talk about characters.

We finally got to see more of Izzy and Alec and Magnus. Isabelle has been closed off for most of these books, wed occasionally get a few moments to see how she feels about things when she went off in angry outbursts. This book, however, we saw got a ton of insight on her character. Alec made me so proud as well, hes standing up for himself more and showing that he isnt ashamed of who he is and hes learned he doesnt have to stand in Jaces shadow. When he turned Magnus down, it broke my heart, but Im so glad that Cassandra wrote it that way. I feel like it really expressed how much hes grown in the time that weve known him. Magnus, as well, grew so much. Hes learned that to love means that he has to make sacrifices. Hes as wise as always and I think the shadowhunters really ought to have listened to him more at the council meeting towards the end of the book.

I dont have much to say about Clary or Jace. Sebastian though, oh I always knew he would have his redeemable qualities. I loved that she showed that there was still good in him, even if it wasnt enough to save him there was still something there. It showed that where there is evil there is also good. The dream of Clarys where Sebastian was normal was a great scene as well. It helped me connect more with Sebastian and help me put things into perspective. The whole dream sequence overall was a fantastic scene that I was immensely proud of.

Onto the deaths: I feel as if Jordans death didnt mean that much. It just happened so quickly, I had to reread the page twice before it fully comprehend to me and I was still like what. It felt to rushed and almost pointless. The other characters barely reacted to his death as well. Maia was hardly devastated, and Clary upon hearing he was dead immediately brushed it aside and asked about the others. Simon was the only one with half a reaction. The other deaths werent too remarkable besides Sebastians which Ive already mentioned.

Now the faults with this book and possibly the series. I feel as if there should have been more deaths, we hardly ever lost anyone who we were extremely close to. We lost Max and Jordan but those werent as devastating as they should have been. I feel like death adds an element to a novel and the lack of death from our main characters and others was surprising. I know if someone had died that I liked I would be upset but I feel thats what makes a death realistic. I mean Clary, Jace, Simon, Maia, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, Jocelyn, Luke, Maryse, and Robert all making it out alive, that seems just a bit too fishy. At least one or two should have died to make it more realistic. I think the series would have ended better if there was more devastation towards it, when I read something thats the last in the series I want it to break my heart. I want to remember how I felt reading it and how upset I was. I want to remember the characters that I loved but also to remember that not all heroes survive. In fact the majority of heros are generally better off dead after everything theyve been through, if I should quote Heroes by Mika.

Another fault is that everyone is paired with someone. Its as if Cassandra Clare cant stand having single characters. If they are single its only for a small amount of time too. If a character is introduced you can bet theyre about to be thrown towards the first available character as well. I hope in the Dark Artifices series it isnt like that. However, it seems unlikely due to the fact that in both the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments series everyone was always together. Its not a bad thing to have single characters, in fact it makes them generally more likable.

I loved the references to the Infernal Devices series. Every time Jem was mentioned I would smile so broadly, hes a ray of sunshine. When he stole church I just cracked up, and smiled fondly. I would have liked to hear more about Tessa.

I have so many theories for TDA series. I am actually really hoping that Mark will become the villain it would be a nice twist. Im assuming theres going to be romance between Emma and Jules, which will be awesome so that we can see what exactly happens when one falls in love with their parabati.

This series was absolutely wonderful, I thank Cassandra Clare for being willing to share her imagination with us. I am very excited to read everything else she puts out.

As the shadowhunters say, ave atque vale.