I found the characters much (much) less irritating than Clary, Jace, Will and most of that whole messy bunch. Apart from Magnus that is. I think he is overused and badly written and I just don't enjoy having to read about him. But even James and Matthew seemed less annoying than their predecessors. Friendships, secrets, betrayal and love - this book is everything we adore about the Shadowhunter Chronicles. I quickly came to adore the characters but that is probably helped by the fact that I am familiar with them due to all the short stories and snippets Cassie has releases over the years. But oh my god, Cassandra Clare needs to stop with the goddamn love triangles. PLEASE. STOP IT. But the ending-