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The Last Hours #1
袟芯谢芯褌懈泄 谢邪薪褑褞谐
芦袟芯谢芯褌懈泄 谢邪薪褑褞谐禄 鈥� 褉芯屑邪薪 锌褉芯 褌褨薪褜芯胁懈褏 屑懈褋谢懈胁褑褨胁, 褟泻懈泄 胁褨写泻褉懈胁邪褦 薪芯胁褍 褌褉懈谢芯谐褨褞, 写械 蟹谢芯 锌褉芯褋褌芯 锌械褉械写 褌芯斜芯褞, 邪谢械 薪械锌芯屑褨褌薪械, 邪 泻芯褏邪薪薪褟 褉邪薪懈褌褜 谐谢懈斜褕械 蟹邪 泻谢懈薪芯泻.
袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 袣邪褉褋褌械褉褋 鈥� 褌褨薪褜芯胁邪 屑懈褋谢懈胁懈褑褟, 胁芯褩薪泻邪, 褟泻褍 蟹 写懈褌懈薪褋褌胁邪 薪邪胁褔邪谢懈 斜懈褌懈褋褜 蟹 写械屑芯薪邪屑懈. 袣芯谢懈 褩褩 斜邪褌褜泻邪 蟹胁懈薪褍胁邪褌懈谢懈 褍 卸邪褏谢懈胁芯屑褍 蟹谢芯褔懈薪褨, 胁芯薪邪 褌邪 褩褩 斜褉邪褌 褩写褍褌褜 写芯 袥芯薪写芯薪邪 胁 薪邪写褨褩 蟹邪锌芯斜褨谐褌懈 褋褨屑械泄薪芯屑褍 泻褉邪褏褍. 袦邪褌懈 袣芯褉写械谢褨褩 锌褉邪谐薪械 胁懈写邪褌懈 写芯薪褜泻褍 蟹邪屑褨卸, 邪谢械 写褨胁褔懈薪邪 褉邪写褕械 斜邪褔懈褌褜 褋械斜械 谐械褉芯泄泻芯褞, 薪褨卸 写褉褍卸懈薪芯褞. 小泻芯褉芯 袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 蟹褍褋褌褉褨褔邪褦 写褉褍蟹褨胁 写懈褌懈薪褋褌胁邪 鈥� 袛卸械泄屑褋邪 褌邪 袥褞褋褨 袚械褉芯薪写械泄谢褨胁, 褨 锌芯褌褉邪锌谢褟褦 褍 褩褏薪褨泄 褋胁褨褌 斜谢懈褋泻褍褔懈褏 斜邪谢褜薪懈褏 蟹邪谢褨胁, 褌邪褦屑薪懈褏 蟹邪胁写邪薪褜 褌邪 薪邪写锌褉懈褉芯写薪懈褏 蟹褨斜褉邪薪褜, 写械 胁邪屑锌褨褉懈 褌邪 褔邪褉褨胁薪懈泻懈 褋锌褨谢泻褍褞褌褜褋褟 蟹 褉褍褋邪谢泻邪屑懈 褌邪 屑邪谐邪屑懈. 袙械褋褜 褑械泄 褔邪褋 胁芯薪邪 屑褍褋懈褌褜 锌褉懈褏芯胁褍胁邪褌懈 褋胁芯褦 褌邪褦屑薪械 泻芯褏邪薪薪褟 写芯 袛卸械泄屑褋邪, 褟泻懈泄 锌褉懈褋褟谐薪褍胁褋褟 芯写褉褍卸懈褌懈褋褜 蟹 褨薪褕芯褞.
袧芯胁械 卸懈褌褌褟 袣芯褉写械谢褨褩 褉芯蟹谢褨褌邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪 写褉褍蟹泻懈 锌褨褋谢褟 薪懈蟹泻懈 卸邪褏谢懈胁懈褏 写械屑芯薪褋褜泻懈褏 薪邪锌邪写褨胁, 褟泻褨 褋锌褍褋褌芯褕褍褞褌褜 袥芯薪写芯薪. 效褍写芯胁懈褋褜泻邪 蟹芯胁褋褨屑 薪械 褋褏芯卸褨 薪邪 褌懈褏, 蟹 褟泻懈屑懈 褌褨薪褜芯胁褨 屑懈褋谢懈胁褑褨 斜芯褉芯谢懈褋褜 褉邪薪褨褕械: 薪械 斜芯褟褌褜褋褟 写械薪薪芯谐芯 褋胁褨褌谢邪, 胁褨写 褩褏薪褜芯褩 褋屑械褉褌械谢褜薪芯褩 芯褌褉褍褌懈 薪械屑邪褦 谢褨泻褍, 邪 褖械 褩褏, 褋褏芯卸械, 薪械屑芯卸谢懈胁芯 胁斜懈褌懈. 袥芯薪写芯薪 蟹邪泻褉懈胁邪褞褌褜 薪邪 泻邪褉邪薪褌懈薪. 袩芯褌褉邪锌懈胁褕懈 褍 锌邪褋泻褍 胁 屑褨褋褌褨, 袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 褌邪 褩褩 写褉褍蟹褨, 胁懈褟胁谢褟褞褌褜, 褖芯 褩褏薪褨泄 褋褌芯褋褍薪芯泻 写芯 褌械屑薪芯褩 褋锌邪写褖懈薪懈 薪邪写褨谢懈胁 褩褏 薪械泄屑芯胁褨褉薪懈屑懈 蟹写褨斜薪芯褋褌褟屑懈. 袙芯薪懈 蟹屑褍褕械薪褨 蟹褉芯斜懈褌懈 斜芯谢褞褔懈泄 胁懈斜褨褉, 褟泻懈泄 褉芯蟹泻褉懈褦 卸芯褉褋褌芯泻褍 褑褨薪褍 谐械褉芯褩蟹屑褍.
袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 袣邪褉褋褌械褉褋 鈥� 褌褨薪褜芯胁邪 屑懈褋谢懈胁懈褑褟, 胁芯褩薪泻邪, 褟泻褍 蟹 写懈褌懈薪褋褌胁邪 薪邪胁褔邪谢懈 斜懈褌懈褋褜 蟹 写械屑芯薪邪屑懈. 袣芯谢懈 褩褩 斜邪褌褜泻邪 蟹胁懈薪褍胁邪褌懈谢懈 褍 卸邪褏谢懈胁芯屑褍 蟹谢芯褔懈薪褨, 胁芯薪邪 褌邪 褩褩 斜褉邪褌 褩写褍褌褜 写芯 袥芯薪写芯薪邪 胁 薪邪写褨褩 蟹邪锌芯斜褨谐褌懈 褋褨屑械泄薪芯屑褍 泻褉邪褏褍. 袦邪褌懈 袣芯褉写械谢褨褩 锌褉邪谐薪械 胁懈写邪褌懈 写芯薪褜泻褍 蟹邪屑褨卸, 邪谢械 写褨胁褔懈薪邪 褉邪写褕械 斜邪褔懈褌褜 褋械斜械 谐械褉芯泄泻芯褞, 薪褨卸 写褉褍卸懈薪芯褞. 小泻芯褉芯 袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 蟹褍褋褌褉褨褔邪褦 写褉褍蟹褨胁 写懈褌懈薪褋褌胁邪 鈥� 袛卸械泄屑褋邪 褌邪 袥褞褋褨 袚械褉芯薪写械泄谢褨胁, 褨 锌芯褌褉邪锌谢褟褦 褍 褩褏薪褨泄 褋胁褨褌 斜谢懈褋泻褍褔懈褏 斜邪谢褜薪懈褏 蟹邪谢褨胁, 褌邪褦屑薪懈褏 蟹邪胁写邪薪褜 褌邪 薪邪写锌褉懈褉芯写薪懈褏 蟹褨斜褉邪薪褜, 写械 胁邪屑锌褨褉懈 褌邪 褔邪褉褨胁薪懈泻懈 褋锌褨谢泻褍褞褌褜褋褟 蟹 褉褍褋邪谢泻邪屑懈 褌邪 屑邪谐邪屑懈. 袙械褋褜 褑械泄 褔邪褋 胁芯薪邪 屑褍褋懈褌褜 锌褉懈褏芯胁褍胁邪褌懈 褋胁芯褦 褌邪褦屑薪械 泻芯褏邪薪薪褟 写芯 袛卸械泄屑褋邪, 褟泻懈泄 锌褉懈褋褟谐薪褍胁褋褟 芯写褉褍卸懈褌懈褋褜 蟹 褨薪褕芯褞.
袧芯胁械 卸懈褌褌褟 袣芯褉写械谢褨褩 褉芯蟹谢褨褌邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪 写褉褍蟹泻懈 锌褨褋谢褟 薪懈蟹泻懈 卸邪褏谢懈胁懈褏 写械屑芯薪褋褜泻懈褏 薪邪锌邪写褨胁, 褟泻褨 褋锌褍褋褌芯褕褍褞褌褜 袥芯薪写芯薪. 效褍写芯胁懈褋褜泻邪 蟹芯胁褋褨屑 薪械 褋褏芯卸褨 薪邪 褌懈褏, 蟹 褟泻懈屑懈 褌褨薪褜芯胁褨 屑懈褋谢懈胁褑褨 斜芯褉芯谢懈褋褜 褉邪薪褨褕械: 薪械 斜芯褟褌褜褋褟 写械薪薪芯谐芯 褋胁褨褌谢邪, 胁褨写 褩褏薪褜芯褩 褋屑械褉褌械谢褜薪芯褩 芯褌褉褍褌懈 薪械屑邪褦 谢褨泻褍, 邪 褖械 褩褏, 褋褏芯卸械, 薪械屑芯卸谢懈胁芯 胁斜懈褌懈. 袥芯薪写芯薪 蟹邪泻褉懈胁邪褞褌褜 薪邪 泻邪褉邪薪褌懈薪. 袩芯褌褉邪锌懈胁褕懈 褍 锌邪褋泻褍 胁 屑褨褋褌褨, 袣芯褉写械谢褨褟 褌邪 褩褩 写褉褍蟹褨, 胁懈褟胁谢褟褞褌褜, 褖芯 褩褏薪褨泄 褋褌芯褋褍薪芯泻 写芯 褌械屑薪芯褩 褋锌邪写褖懈薪懈 薪邪写褨谢懈胁 褩褏 薪械泄屑芯胁褨褉薪懈屑懈 蟹写褨斜薪芯褋褌褟屑懈. 袙芯薪懈 蟹屑褍褕械薪褨 蟹褉芯斜懈褌懈 斜芯谢褞褔懈泄 胁懈斜褨褉, 褟泻懈泄 褉芯蟹泻褉懈褦 卸芯褉褋褌芯泻褍 褑褨薪褍 谐械褉芯褩蟹屑褍.
600 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2020
7110 people are currently reading
227338 people want to read
About the author
Cassandra Clare
195听books275k听followersCassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father鈥檚 backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.
Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called 鈥淭he Beautiful Cassandra鈥� based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).
After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina鈥檚 world travels and Britney Spears鈥� wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassie鈥檚 first professional writing sale was a short story called 鈥淭he Girl鈥檚 Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord鈥� in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.
City of Bones was her first novel. Sword Catcher is her most recent novel.
Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called 鈥淭he Beautiful Cassandra鈥� based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).
After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina鈥檚 world travels and Britney Spears鈥� wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassie鈥檚 first professional writing sale was a short story called 鈥淭he Girl鈥檚 Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord鈥� in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.
City of Bones was her first novel. Sword Catcher is her most recent novel.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 15,755 reviews
September 18, 2022
1.) City of Bones 鈽呪槄鈽�
2.) City of Ashes 鈽呪槄
3.) City of Glass 鈽呪槄鈽�
1.) Clockwork Angel 鈽呪槄鈽�
4.) City of Fallen Angels 鈽�
2.) Clockwork Prince 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄
5.) City of Lost Souls 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄
3.) Clockwork Princess 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽�
6.) City of Heavenly Fire 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽�
*.) The Bane Chronicles 鈽呪槄鈽�
*.) Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy 鈽呪槄鈽�
1.) Lady Midnight 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽�
2.) Lord of Shadows 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄
*.) Ghosts of the Shadow Market 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄
3.) Queen of Air and Darkness 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄
1.) The Red Scrolls of Magic 鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽�
鉁� !
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1st read: February 2020
2nd read: February 2021
Want to read
May 9, 2015You know what this means?
MORE WILL HERONDALE!
Update: First review for this book. Claiming it! (27/03/13)
Edit 10/05/15 Since writing this review I've fallen out of love with Clare's novels, and in fact most novels I used to love (*shakes fist* "curse you, maturity!"), but I'm strangely proud that this semi-positive review is one of the top liked reviews amongst all these nasty reviewers... Seriously, why are you wasting your time with such redundant commentary? If I'd created a world as expansive as Clare's of-fucking-course I'D like to write about it as much as I can!!
So boo on you fellas. Don't buy the books, save a tree, & save us from your bitterness ( 藰 鲁藰)鈾�
MORE WILL HERONDALE!
Update: First review for this book. Claiming it! (27/03/13)
Edit 10/05/15 Since writing this review I've fallen out of love with Clare's novels, and in fact most novels I used to love (*shakes fist* "curse you, maturity!"), but I'm strangely proud that this semi-positive review is one of the top liked reviews amongst all these nasty reviewers... Seriously, why are you wasting your time with such redundant commentary? If I'd created a world as expansive as Clare's of-fucking-course I'D like to write about it as much as I can!!
So boo on you fellas. Don't buy the books, save a tree, & save us from your bitterness ( 藰 鲁藰)鈾�
July 2, 2024
CASSANDRA, 驴QU脡 HAS HECHO? 驴QU脡 ACASO QUIERES QUE ME MUERA? C脫MO VOY A SOPORTAR HASTA EL PR脫XIMO A脩O.
AHORA... no lo duden, llegar谩 mi review. QUIERO LLORAR. Llorar porque no tengo el siguiente libro en mis manos y no s茅 qu茅 va a ser de estos personajes por los que ya dar铆a mi vida OK.
S贸lo les digo que, aunque apenas est谩 empezando el a帽o, este libro F脕CIL quedar谩 en mi TOP 3 del 2020. I鈥檓 calling it.
AHORA... no lo duden, llegar谩 mi review. QUIERO LLORAR. Llorar porque no tengo el siguiente libro en mis manos y no s茅 qu茅 va a ser de estos personajes por los que ya dar铆a mi vida OK.
S贸lo les digo que, aunque apenas est谩 empezando el a帽o, este libro F脕CIL quedar谩 en mi TOP 3 del 2020. I鈥檓 calling it.
Read
November 9, 2020my official review:
matthew is my king
james is an idiot
grace is probably the spawn of satan
cordelia is a baddie b
also cassandra really took the idea that "everyone is a lil gay" and RAN with it. i applaud her.
matthew is my king
james is an idiot
grace is probably the spawn of satan
cordelia is a baddie b
also cassandra really took the idea that "everyone is a lil gay" and RAN with it. i applaud her.
January 17, 2024
2.5 stars
Oof this book. It鈥檚 objectively a hot mess.
Oof this book. It鈥檚 objectively a hot mess.
March 6, 2020
I am absolutely broken
June 9, 2023
WooooooooooWWWWWWW
How does she keep thinking of new and PAINFUL ways to keep people apart? Love it.
How does she keep thinking of new and PAINFUL ways to keep people apart? Love it.
Want to read
June 7, 2020You can't imagine how long I have waited for this. Will and Tessa's story will live on.
December 22, 2019
My new favourite book in the Shadowhunter Chronicles? I think so.
I will never get over the fact that I got to read this early. What a dream come true. This was one of my most anticipated releases and it did NOT disappoint.
Wow I loved everything about this book. The characters (hello new favourite character Cordelia Carstairs <3), the angst, the QUOTES (so many good quotes), the setting (1900s London), the plot (super engaging and love the antagonist), EVERYTHING! It's also so satisfying having questions answered!
I can't wait for this to be released in March 2020 so everyone can read this masterpiece!
Thank you so much to Walker Books Australia for sending me an early copy of this book. I am forever thankful!
I will never get over the fact that I got to read this early. What a dream come true. This was one of my most anticipated releases and it did NOT disappoint.
Wow I loved everything about this book. The characters (hello new favourite character Cordelia Carstairs <3), the angst, the QUOTES (so many good quotes), the setting (1900s London), the plot (super engaging and love the antagonist), EVERYTHING! It's also so satisfying having questions answered!
I can't wait for this to be released in March 2020 so everyone can read this masterpiece!
Thank you so much to Walker Books Australia for sending me an early copy of this book. I am forever thankful!
Read
January 12, 2022me: I'm never gonna read a Shadowhunter book again
me: NEVER
me: Mortal Instruments is a MESS
me: never
me: the Infernal Devices finale s u c k s
me: nope
me: the Bane chronicles are so bad I cried
me: n e v e r
me:
me: I'm so gonna read this book
Fellow reader, after giving up Shadowhunters for good...I fell victim to them once more. And surprisingly, I think I enjoyed myself?
Let's state the obvious, I really liked CC's writing style in CoG, her period Shadowhunter novels just have that romantic atmosphere that comes with a more antiquated and elegant style of writing. I also 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. Their edges are softened and they're not totally unbearable when it comes to self-centredness and the urge to feel pity for yourself 24/7 while looking dramatically gorgeous.
But, while we're at it, I do find it boring that every single character is beautiful. If everyone is beautiful, the world gets boring. SJM makes the same mistake and it results in characters becoming soulless and interchangeable. Also, eyes like "pale gold tea"? Oh please. I imagine CC sits in her writing room and just pulls random adjectives out of a glass jar. Well, what eye colour will our character have today? Muddy sapphire it is.
I believe that the cast of characters was way too big. CC might know them inside out but whoah it was a lot to take in and eventually I stopped trying to keep everyone apart. They blurred into each other, and I also found myself not caring who lived or died cause I didn't know who they were to begin with. I did like that multitude of queer characters, mostly because there can never be too many queer characters. I've seen people criticise her representation of them and saying that she merely included them to make her book more diverse. Personally, I could not find anything wrong with how the queer characters were written, although I am concerned about Anna Lightwood - who cannot be older than 20 - and the many immortals that have had an affair with her. That feels a bit iffy.
The story was engaging. It was slightly predictable, especially considering who would end up with whom. But I am intrigued to find out what happens in the sequels, and it feels like CoG was merely a setup for books two and three. The plot wasn't overly dramatic, so I expect the stakes will be much higher in the future. I genuinely enjoyed reading it, and even though it was almost 600 pages, it was a quick and entertaining read. I guess the many alternating POVs make it more engaging. What I don't enjoy is CC turning the last 100 pages into a soppy epilogue. She did this with and it resulted in me wanting to throw the book out of the window. And she did it once more with CoG. The final showdown happens around the 500 page mark, but we get about 90+ more pages of plot and nothing really happens? I find that very irritating.
Kudos though to CC including a more diverse set of poets and writers in this book. I remember her doing this ever since : every chapter is introduced with a quote from Dickens, Yeats, the bible. But this time around, it wasn't just dead white men, I spotted a selection of female writers and a beautiful traditional Persian tale that was also woven into the main plot. Thumbs up for that.
So yes, even though nothing can get me to read TDA or her novella collections, I really want to know what happens next in this series.
me: NEVER
me: Mortal Instruments is a MESS
me: never
me: the Infernal Devices finale s u c k s
me: nope
me: the Bane chronicles are so bad I cried
me: n e v e r
me:
me: I'm so gonna read this book
Fellow reader, after giving up Shadowhunters for good...I fell victim to them once more. And surprisingly, I think I enjoyed myself?
Let's state the obvious, I really liked CC's writing style in CoG, her period Shadowhunter novels just have that romantic atmosphere that comes with a more antiquated and elegant style of writing. I also 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. Their edges are softened and they're not totally unbearable when it comes to self-centredness and the urge to feel pity for yourself 24/7 while looking dramatically gorgeous.
But, while we're at it, I do find it boring that every single character is beautiful. If everyone is beautiful, the world gets boring. SJM makes the same mistake and it results in characters becoming soulless and interchangeable. Also, eyes like "pale gold tea"? Oh please. I imagine CC sits in her writing room and just pulls random adjectives out of a glass jar. Well, what eye colour will our character have today? Muddy sapphire it is.
I believe that the cast of characters was way too big. CC might know them inside out but whoah it was a lot to take in and eventually I stopped trying to keep everyone apart. They blurred into each other, and I also found myself not caring who lived or died cause I didn't know who they were to begin with. I did like that multitude of queer characters, mostly because there can never be too many queer characters. I've seen people criticise her representation of them and saying that she merely included them to make her book more diverse. Personally, I could not find anything wrong with how the queer characters were written, although I am concerned about Anna Lightwood - who cannot be older than 20 - and the many immortals that have had an affair with her. That feels a bit iffy.
The story was engaging. It was slightly predictable, especially considering who would end up with whom. But I am intrigued to find out what happens in the sequels, and it feels like CoG was merely a setup for books two and three. The plot wasn't overly dramatic, so I expect the stakes will be much higher in the future. I genuinely enjoyed reading it, and even though it was almost 600 pages, it was a quick and entertaining read. I guess the many alternating POVs make it more engaging. What I don't enjoy is CC turning the last 100 pages into a soppy epilogue. She did this with and it resulted in me wanting to throw the book out of the window. And she did it once more with CoG. The final showdown happens around the 500 page mark, but we get about 90+ more pages of plot and nothing really happens? I find that very irritating.
Kudos though to CC including a more diverse set of poets and writers in this book. I remember her doing this ever since : every chapter is introduced with a quote from Dickens, Yeats, the bible. But this time around, it wasn't just dead white men, I spotted a selection of female writers and a beautiful traditional Persian tale that was also woven into the main plot. Thumbs up for that.
So yes, even though nothing can get me to read TDA or her novella collections, I really want to know what happens next in this series.
ca-ching
December 18, 2018Note December 18, 2018: With much regret I requested that GR freezes the comments for this review. I am tired of constantly getting alerts and having to delete harassment. I really don't know why people can't get it into their thick heads that this is my review. They can disagree with it, but they don't have to come on here and attack me. God, just grow up already.
Disclaimer: Fanbots and trolls will be blocked. I don't care if you think I'm mean to Cassandra Clare. I really doubt she's read this review and I doubt she's hurt by it. I really don't care if you think these books are great and that having a grand total of eighteen plus books in a series is a good idea. If you want to whine about it write your own damn review.
Let me tell you a little story, boys and girls. It's how to over milk a series.
Pre Step One: Start a ridiculous popular fan fic that you later use for the basis on your work. Never mind the fact you might occasionally borrow quotes and passages from other sources. If you get enough reviews you'll get noticed and eventually.....hello, publishing contract.
Step One: Write a fairly decent YA series. It doesn't have to be great, but decent enough to have interest and a catchy theme that you can use over and over again. It also helps if you get a blurb from Stephenie Meyer.
Step Two: Come up with a spin off (note, spin off should be fairly decent and better than the original).
Step Three: Restart first series even though it had a decent ending so you can add in future conflicts. Add a bunch of annoying characters and unnecessary plot to claim there's room for more story.
Step Four: Sell movie rights after a substantial amount of time so you don't look like a sell out and build a substantial fan base.
Step Five: Graphic novel adaptions. Note, once spinoff is successful rinse and repeat step five.
Step Six: After your first series starts sagging and your second series is about to wrap up announce a new series in addition to a lot of info books about your world.
Step Seven: Edit your own info books and gets your b.f.f.s to write the essays so they portray you in the best light. Also, state you and your hubby are going to write a guide to your own universe as well. Because hey, info books worked for Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling has mentioned a Harry Potter encyclopedia throughout the years as well. So that must be the cool thing to do.
Step Eight: Get your b.f.f.s to help you write a spinoff with your best character-spread this out over time so you can keep getting those royalties.
Step Nine: After second series wraps up and the hype for your movie starts announce you'll be writing at least two more series (it also helps if final book in said series has a family tree which will make fanoholics want to know what happens with these characters and write fan fic that might be better than your own work).
Step Ten: Relish in the green. You're a true success now. Also work on licensing out games, toys, etc. Heck, maybe you can get your own theme park/production company if you're successful enough.
Amendment Post City of Heavenly Fire:
1) Pimp your new series with brand new characters in your last book. So that it's almost a prequel to that series. And furthermore, feature your other spinoff so fans and people who want to know what's actually going on other than feeling stupid the entire book, will have to read the eight other books prior to this epic finale.
Disclaimer: Fanbots and trolls will be blocked. I don't care if you think I'm mean to Cassandra Clare. I really doubt she's read this review and I doubt she's hurt by it. I really don't care if you think these books are great and that having a grand total of eighteen plus books in a series is a good idea. If you want to whine about it write your own damn review.
Let me tell you a little story, boys and girls. It's how to over milk a series.
Pre Step One: Start a ridiculous popular fan fic that you later use for the basis on your work. Never mind the fact you might occasionally borrow quotes and passages from other sources. If you get enough reviews you'll get noticed and eventually.....hello, publishing contract.
Step One: Write a fairly decent YA series. It doesn't have to be great, but decent enough to have interest and a catchy theme that you can use over and over again. It also helps if you get a blurb from Stephenie Meyer.
Step Two: Come up with a spin off (note, spin off should be fairly decent and better than the original).
Step Three: Restart first series even though it had a decent ending so you can add in future conflicts. Add a bunch of annoying characters and unnecessary plot to claim there's room for more story.
Step Four: Sell movie rights after a substantial amount of time so you don't look like a sell out and build a substantial fan base.
Step Five: Graphic novel adaptions. Note, once spinoff is successful rinse and repeat step five.
Step Six: After your first series starts sagging and your second series is about to wrap up announce a new series in addition to a lot of info books about your world.
Step Seven: Edit your own info books and gets your b.f.f.s to write the essays so they portray you in the best light. Also, state you and your hubby are going to write a guide to your own universe as well. Because hey, info books worked for Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling has mentioned a Harry Potter encyclopedia throughout the years as well. So that must be the cool thing to do.
Step Eight: Get your b.f.f.s to help you write a spinoff with your best character-spread this out over time so you can keep getting those royalties.
Step Nine: After second series wraps up and the hype for your movie starts announce you'll be writing at least two more series (it also helps if final book in said series has a family tree which will make fanoholics want to know what happens with these characters and write fan fic that might be better than your own work).
Step Ten: Relish in the green. You're a true success now. Also work on licensing out games, toys, etc. Heck, maybe you can get your own theme park/production company if you're successful enough.
Amendment Post City of Heavenly Fire:
1) Pimp your new series with brand new characters in your last book. So that it's almost a prequel to that series. And furthermore, feature your other spinoff so fans and people who want to know what's actually going on other than feeling stupid the entire book, will have to read the eight other books prior to this epic finale.
October 28, 2021
Me: ahahaha I'm so over Cassie Clare. She's really just milking this series. Gosh when will she stop with the recycled tropes?!
Also me: I would die a thousand deaths for Will Herondale and his babies
[ a list of the short stories that feature the crew from Chain of Gold can be found at the end of this review 猡碉笍]
The Shadowhunters of the London Institute have had 10 years of peace. The younger generation have been raised surrounded by love and with little exposure to the hardships their parents faced in their youth. For some odd reason demons have been avoiding London. But that changes when the Carstairs and Blackthorn families move to the city.
A series of demon attacks leave several Shadowhunters poisoned and London goes on lock down. Nobody in, nobody out. And no help from the rest of the Clave.
Cordelia Carstairs along with her soon to be parabatai Lucy Herondale her brother James and his friends find themselves not entangled in the search for answers and a cure.
Friendships, secrets, betrayal and love - this book is everything we adore about the Shadowhunter Chronicles
鈥淭he point of stories is not that they are objectively true, but that the soul of the story is truer than reality. Those who mock fiction do so because they fear the truth.鈥�
TID was one of my favourite series ever. So when Cassie announced she'd be writing about the next generation of Herondales/Carstairs/Lightwoods/Fairchilds I, like everyone one else in this fandom, freaked out!
Yes it took years of patience, but it's finally here and it did not dissapoint.
To me the plot felt splendidly thought out. This is a generation raised by loving parents with hardly any need for them to fight demons. But still, none of them are perfect, they all have they own problems. The reason I thought this was so, is because as we all know, YA authors are fond of killing off the protagonists parents. Happy and whole families just aren't a normal feature in YA. So it was really interesting to see how Cassie would tackle this.
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.
In true CC fashion, we had a group of friends who love each other fiercely and who, despite knowing they shouldn't, take it upon themselves to get things done while the adults and the Clave argue and bicker.
Cordelia was an awesome MC. She is fierce and sweet and loyal, but also a bit lonely. I loved how welcoming the Merry Theives were to her.
I absolutely loved getting to know more about Cortana. Like wow, I thought that sword was amazing before but now I'm just in awe. Gotta get me one of those 馃槀.听
The Merry Thieves were precious. I loved their dynamic, their banter and how much they care for each other. I also liked James's place as leader.
So yes, this book is jam packed with new characters I love. But there were also ones I hated. *cough*Grace, Charles, Tatiana*cough*
The only reason I didn't give a full five stars is because I thought there was one trope the CC is recycling once again that everyone is tired of and was really unnecessary.
The ending was fantastic. It has me so desperate for the next book and I sincerely hope we get it soon!
鈥� Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review 鈥�
_____
鈥� WHAT TO READ OR RE-READ BEFORE CHAIN OF GOLD 鈥�
When they said you can read this without reading of the previous Shadowhunter books, THEY LIED. A lot of people were confused and couldn't keep track of all the characters and families. At least read The Infernal Devices before jumping into this. If you haven't read Chain of Gold yet and wondering which short stories feature our crew from CoG that you might want to reread, I've made a list:
The Bane Chronicles:
4. - [very important!!] about James Herondale, set just before COG
Tales from the shadowhunter academy:
3. - about Tessa and Will and the kids are still babies. Not very relevant to COG but still interesting to see domestic will/tessa
4. - [important] James at the academy
Ghost of the Shadow market:
2. - [important] about Matthew Fairchild
3. - about Anna Lightwood
______
My reviews for:
The Infernal Devices Series
Book 1: Clockwork Angel
Book 2: Clockwork Prince
Book 3: Clockwork Princess
[Sorry no reviews for TMI, I read it too long ago and don't plan to re-read]
The Dark Artifices Series
Book 1: Lady Midnight
Book 2: Lord of Shadows
Book 3: Queen of Air and Darkness
Also me: I would die a thousand deaths for Will Herondale and his babies
[ a list of the short stories that feature the crew from Chain of Gold can be found at the end of this review 猡碉笍]
The Shadowhunters of the London Institute have had 10 years of peace. The younger generation have been raised surrounded by love and with little exposure to the hardships their parents faced in their youth. For some odd reason demons have been avoiding London. But that changes when the Carstairs and Blackthorn families move to the city.
A series of demon attacks leave several Shadowhunters poisoned and London goes on lock down. Nobody in, nobody out. And no help from the rest of the Clave.
Cordelia Carstairs along with her soon to be parabatai Lucy Herondale her brother James and his friends find themselves not entangled in the search for answers and a cure.
Friendships, secrets, betrayal and love - this book is everything we adore about the Shadowhunter Chronicles
鈥淭he point of stories is not that they are objectively true, but that the soul of the story is truer than reality. Those who mock fiction do so because they fear the truth.鈥�
TID was one of my favourite series ever. So when Cassie announced she'd be writing about the next generation of Herondales/Carstairs/Lightwoods/Fairchilds I, like everyone one else in this fandom, freaked out!
Yes it took years of patience, but it's finally here and it did not dissapoint.
To me the plot felt splendidly thought out. This is a generation raised by loving parents with hardly any need for them to fight demons. But still, none of them are perfect, they all have they own problems. The reason I thought this was so, is because as we all know, YA authors are fond of killing off the protagonists parents. Happy and whole families just aren't a normal feature in YA. So it was really interesting to see how Cassie would tackle this.
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.
In true CC fashion, we had a group of friends who love each other fiercely and who, despite knowing they shouldn't, take it upon themselves to get things done while the adults and the Clave argue and bicker.
Cordelia was an awesome MC. She is fierce and sweet and loyal, but also a bit lonely. I loved how welcoming the Merry Theives were to her.
I absolutely loved getting to know more about Cortana. Like wow, I thought that sword was amazing before but now I'm just in awe. Gotta get me one of those 馃槀.听
鈥淚 never quite thought of friendship like that鈥攁s something that makes you more than you are.鈥�
The Merry Thieves were precious. I loved their dynamic, their banter and how much they care for each other. I also liked James's place as leader.
鈥淓ach of you follows his own star鈥攂ut you are the thread that binds all four together. You are the one who sees what everyone needs, if anyone requires extra care from their friends, or even to be left alone. Some groups of friends drift apart, but you would never let that happen.鈥�
鈥淒o not let those who cannot see the truth tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.鈥�
So yes, this book is jam packed with new characters I love. But there were also ones I hated. *cough*Grace, Charles, Tatiana*cough*
The only reason I didn't give a full five stars is because I thought there was one trope the CC is recycling once again that everyone is tired of and was really unnecessary.
The ending was fantastic. It has me so desperate for the next book and I sincerely hope we get it soon!
鈥� Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review 鈥�
_____
鈥� WHAT TO READ OR RE-READ BEFORE CHAIN OF GOLD 鈥�
When they said you can read this without reading of the previous Shadowhunter books, THEY LIED. A lot of people were confused and couldn't keep track of all the characters and families. At least read The Infernal Devices before jumping into this. If you haven't read Chain of Gold yet and wondering which short stories feature our crew from CoG that you might want to reread, I've made a list:
The Bane Chronicles:
4. - [very important!!] about James Herondale, set just before COG
Tales from the shadowhunter academy:
3. - about Tessa and Will and the kids are still babies. Not very relevant to COG but still interesting to see domestic will/tessa
4. - [important] James at the academy
Ghost of the Shadow market:
2. - [important] about Matthew Fairchild
3. - about Anna Lightwood
______
My reviews for:
The Infernal Devices Series
Book 1: Clockwork Angel
Book 2: Clockwork Prince
Book 3: Clockwork Princess
[Sorry no reviews for TMI, I read it too long ago and don't plan to re-read]
The Dark Artifices Series
Book 1: Lady Midnight
Book 2: Lord of Shadows
Book 3: Queen of Air and Darkness
January 12, 2021
El mejor inicio posible a una saga que promete ser espectacular.
Por fin ha llegado el momento en el que he le铆do Chain of Gold, la primera parte de la saga The Last Hours de Cassandra Clare, que nos cuenta la historia de los descendientes de Will, Tessa, Sophie, Henry, Charlotte鈥� Es decir: contin煤a -en parte- con la historia de Los 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉, aunque este libro se puede leer sin haber le铆do nada de la saga con anterioridad. 隆Que eso es IMPORTANTE saberlo!
PERO VAMOS POR PARTES. No estaba ready para esta novela. Tengo TANTO que comentar鈥� As铆 que coge un cafecito o algo para comer, porque se viene una rese帽a bastante larga. Contendr谩 peque帽os spoilers, pero nada demasiado grave como para no disfrutar de la lectura. O eso espero... As铆 que: *lee bajo tu propia responsabilidad.*
El principio de la novela nos presenta a algunos de los personajes centrales, en este caso empezamos con Lucie teniendo una experiencia sobrenatural que hace levantar bastantes interrogantes, pero que sobre todo te engancha a querer saber m谩s de la historia. He de decir que la trama de Lucie me ha gustado 惭鲍颁贬脥厂滨惭翱, no solo porque me haya encantado como personaje (luego hablar茅 m谩s de eso), sino por lo interesante que me parece explorar el talento de los Herondale con los fantasmas. En esta ocasi贸n creo que podemos aprender much铆simas cosas interesantes, que estoy SEGURO AL CIEN POR CIEN que veremos reflejadas en Kit de Renacimiento/The Dark Artifices para la guerra final en The Wicked Powers.
Continuamos con la introducci贸n de los Merry Thieves, que me han robado el coraz贸n. Matthew, Thomas, Cristopher y James son un cuarteto fantabuloso. Parecen un amalgama de personalidades, pero poco a poco durante la novela se va viendo mejor de qu茅 pie cojea cada uno, y c贸mo cada uno aporta algo diferente con din谩micas propias.
En la introducci贸n de esta tanda de personajes, que es el primer cap铆tulo, vemos el esfuerzo de Cassandra Clare por introducir de cero qu茅 es un cazador de sombras, las runas, las estelas, los demonios鈥� Me record贸 mucho a la primera escena de 脕ngel mec谩nico, ya que se inicia con un ataque demoniaco en las calles de Londres y los protagonistas terminan ba帽ados en icor. La cuesti贸n es que llevamos tan solo unas p谩ginas y ya tenemos unos cuantos personajes y tramas de las que preocuparnos. Y, por cierto, Cassie sale airosa de esa introducci贸n. Well done!
En Chain of Gold lo m谩s importante son los personajes, sus din谩micas y relaciones. Pero la manera en la que estas evolucionan me han encantado, porque se entrelazan irremediablemente con las tramas. Esto creo que puede llevar la saga a nuevas alturas porque hay destinos irremediablemente oscuros que pueden oscurecer a los personajes sin que lo puedan evitar. Hay much铆simos intereses ocultos, y como siempre, temas de la Clave, juicios... Ya sabemos, 驴no? Todas esas cosillas del mundo adultos que siempre hacen que nuestros protagonistas j贸venes act煤en. Aunque sea algo que vemos en bastantes libros de Cassandra Clare, creo que en esta ocasi贸n est谩 mucho mejor llevado. 础诲别尘谩蝉, todos los personajes protag贸nicos encajan super bien entre ellos, y son probablemente la mejor tanda de nuevos cazadores de sombras que ha habido, por sus diferentes intereses y potenciales. (Lo siento, Emma.)
La representaci贸n LGTB levant贸 ampollas en la comunidad lectora un poco hater de Cassandra Clare, porque argumentaban que no era realista tener un cast tan amplio de personajes de la comunidad. Y yo en plan鈥� 驴Perd贸n? 驴Las lesbianas, bisexuales y gays solo existen a partir del a帽o 2005 o qu茅 c*帽o pasa? No, no, Cassie, lo est谩s haciendo genial. Ya conoc铆amos la orientaci贸n sexual de personajes como Anna Lightwood gracias a historias de Ghosts of the Shadow Market, que en este caso tambi茅n se explora su expresi贸n de g茅nero y no puedo estar m谩s on board con ella. Otros personajes creo que es mejor que descubr谩is que pertenecen al colectivo, porque sus tramas son de lo mejorcito. 隆Y bueno! Obviamente tenemos magos y brujas que ya conocemos, como Magnus Bane o Hypatia Vex, que hacen gala de nuevo de vivir como quieren independientemente de la 茅poca en la que se encuentren.
Las relaciones rom谩nticas鈥� Mira, si pensaba que el tri谩ngulo amoroso Jem-Will-Tessa era insuperable, me da a m铆 que en esta saga vamos a sufrir much铆simo m谩s. Al final del libro hay tantos tri谩ngulos y personajes enamorados de otros que no les corresponden porque est谩n enamorados de otros pero esos otros tampoco les corresponden, etc. HE PERDIDO LA MALDITA CUENTA. Me gustan y me parecen coherentes todas estas din谩micas de pareja -o al menos rom谩nticas- de los personajes. Est谩n muy bien desarrolladas y planteadas, y ninguna parece forzada. Estoy deseando ver c贸mo se desarrollan algunas de ellas en Chain of Iron, que podremos leer en menos de dos meses. Me muero de ganas.
Respecto a lo que es la trama, que en este caso es el tema de los ataques de demonios con comportamientos extra帽os y todo lo que va surgiendo de ello, adem谩s de una nueva enfermedad, s铆 que tengo que admitir que se me ha quedado un poco floja. El libro es muy character-driven en el sentido de que las tramas que m谩s peso tienen -o van a tener- van muy ligadas a los personajes, como comentaba m谩s arriba, y no en s铆 a una trama grande como tal. S铆 que creo que para el segundo se presentan conflictos m谩s que interesantes, pero me ha faltado un poquitito m谩s de trama que una todo un poco m谩s. 础诲别尘谩蝉, el gran conflicto que parec铆a ser la nueva enfermedad se soluciona en este libro, dejando solo conflictos de personajes planteados para los siguientes, algo que no s茅 todav铆a si me convence鈥�
En cuanto a ritmo y estilo, Cassandra Clare vuelve a sorprendernos con una novela cuidada al detalle. Adapta los di谩logos de los personajes a la 茅poca en la que se encuentran, al igual que hizo en la saga 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉. No solo eso, sino que al final del libro hay una nota donde Cassie explica el uso de ciertos elementos, llegando al punto de mencionar traducciones de libros concretos de la 茅poca o gentilicios mal usados que se utilizaban err贸neamente en el Londres eduardiano. El ritmo en este caso me ha parecido brillante, porque introduce el mundo de los cazadores de un modo sencillo para nuevos lectores al mismo tiempo que no aburre al lector que ya es seguidor de la saga, presenta a los personajes y sus conflictos con calma pero para que se entiendan bien todos los matices, y las escenas de acci贸n est谩n bien equilibradas con todo lo dem谩s. Si tuviera algo negativo que decir ser铆a justamente de esto 煤ltimo, y es que siento que hay escenas de acci贸n no lo suficientemente largas o con demasiados conflictos durante las luchas con demonios como para sentir que sean importantes en la trama y/o para apreciar la verdadera amenaza y conflicto de los demonios en Londres. Por lo dem谩s, impoluto. Es una delicia leer a Cassandra Clare.
Ahora quiero hablar de los personajes. Solo hablar茅 de los nuevos, ya que volver a decir lo guay que es Magnus y lo que adoro a Jem o Tessa鈥� Pues no, mi ciela, aqu铆 estamos para hablar de Las 脷ltimas Horas y sus nuevos integrantes.
TOP PERSONAJES
(Un poquito de spoilers, I鈥檓 so sorry)
Alastair. Sinceramente, igual me mat谩is, pero creo que es uno de mis personajes favoritos. Durante el libro vamos viendo su proceso interno, qu茅 es lo que siente y por qu茅 act煤a como act煤a, y me parece un incomprendido. Todo en su entorno va en su contra y lleva m谩s responsabilidad sobre los hombros de lo que deber铆a, especialmente con Cordelia y su protecci贸n. Al principio lo odiaba por ser un bully, pero creo entender sus motivaciones y conflictos internos. Y el tema con Charles... Mira, ES QUE ME MUERO YA MISMO. Pobre mi ni帽o.
Lucie. El vibe de Dru que me da鈥� no puc m茅s. Me parece la m谩s tierna de todas, la m谩s consciente y que m谩s amor est谩 dispuesta a dar casi sin necesitar que se lo devuelvan. El tema de los esp铆ritus -su poder como Herondale potenciado por la sangre demoniaca de Tessa- es de lo m谩s interesante planteado en el mundo de Cazadores de Sombras, y de lo que m谩s se pueden derivar tramas interesantes y con grandes implicaciones. O SEA QUE PUEDE INVOCAR A FANTASMAS Y QUE OBEDEZCAN SUS 脫RDENES. Iconic. Su relaci贸n con los Merry Thieves me encanta, as铆 como con su futura parabatai Cordelia. Es inteligente, decidida鈥� ADEM脕S QUIERE SER ESCRITORA. En serio que necesito leer su libro, que me parece una aut茅ntica fantas铆a (adem谩s que lleno de referencias a los libros de Holly Black, que me ha dado cuenta). Quiero abrazarla y no soltarla y protegerla. Y m temo lo peor, porque Cassandra Clare no perdona nunca a los personajes que son buenos. #HateHer
Cordelia. Tengo sentimientos encontrados con que en teor铆a ella sea la protagonista de esta nueva saga, pero no la he percibido como tal. Sin embargo, es una de las mejores construidas de la novela. No solo es valiente, sino que se enfrenta en muchos aspectos a la sociedad de los cazadores de sombras en su 茅poca, algo que me gusta. 础诲别尘谩蝉, todo el tema de Cortana es brutal. Me rompe los esquemas totalmente y me flipa ver una Nephilim tan poderosa en la 茅poca eduardiana. Dilo tata! Y que oye, si tiene que enfrentarse a 233465 demonios ella solita con todo su papo lo hace. Probablemente evolucione hasta convertirse en mi personaje favorito de todos, pero de momento se queda en el top de los mejores.
Anna. ELLA. Simplemente ELLA. Adoro su vida, adoro todo. Es tan magn茅tica como Magnus Bane, cada vez que aparec铆a solo quer铆a que hablara por esa boquita y contara experiencias. Me encanta el tema de su expresi贸n de g茅nero y sobre todo me fascina lo buena persona que es, y que si茅ndolo descoloque tanto al resto de personas de su entorno. Es sacrificada y consciente de que es una cazadora de sombras, y su lealtad no se ve interrumpida por nada. Me encanta que tambi茅n tenga tan buena relaci贸n con los subterr谩neos. El tema con Ariadne鈥� mejor me callo porque quiero ver qu茅 narices pasa en Chain of Iron. Necesito un libro spin-off de Magnus y Anna viajando por el mundo conquistando a todo el mundo como solo ellos saben hacerlo.
Thomas. Mi favorito de los Merry Thieves, s铆, obviamente por encima de James, Cristopher y Matthew. Creo que es el mejor construido de todos, o al menos al que mejor podemos conocer pese a tener un poco el papel de secundario. Su trama con Alastair鈥� POR DIOS, NECESITO M脕S AHORA MISMO. Sufro con 茅l, pero tambi茅n me parece de los m谩s nobles y sacrificados del grupo. No s茅, simplemente creo que es como con el que m谩s representado me he sentido de todo el grupito. Esas escenitas en Par铆s... Demasiado dolor para mi cuerpo. Necesito que le quieran como 茅l quiere.
PEORES PERSONAJES
James. Estoy harto de los protagonistas de Cassandra Clare que empiezan por J: Jace, Julian, James. TODOS SON IGUALES. En este caso, James es un poco menos pesado que los otros, pero por favor ya es suficiente de personajes as铆 de planos y que su meta en la vida es ayudar a todos y ser bueno y ser el h茅roe. Por dios, STOP IT.
Grace. Obviamente, 驴no? La odio, s铆, pero creo que est谩 muy bien construida. He dicho siempre que Cassie tiene talento innato para crear villanos, y junto a su madre Tatiana, son de lo mejorcito de la novela. Lo manipuladora que es Grace ????? Simplemente incre铆ble, hay que tener talento para ser tan mala p茅cora y hacerlo tan bien. Todo el entramado del brazalete, Jesse... No s茅, demasiados frentes abiertos con Grace. Me tiene confundido.
Charles. 隆No lo odio! O sea lo odio pero no lo odio. Es extra帽o. Siento que no debe gustarme, pero no es que todo me indique que es malo por naturaleza o que no va a cambiar, sino que su trama con Alastair puede cambiarle bastante, y creo que puede llegar a buen puerto. Lo pongo aqu铆 porque no es que conozcamos demasiado de 茅l, PERO le doy un voto de confianza. As铆 que de momento, aunque sea un narcisista y una mala compa帽铆a para los personajes principales que m谩s me gustan, siento que nos va a sorprender para bien en el futuro de la trilog铆a.
(Fin de los SPOILERS)
En definitiva, creo que Chain of Gold es una de las mejores novelas de Cassandra Clare. Es coherente y consecuente con el universo creado, los personajes son espectaculares y en apenas unas p谩ginas somos capaces de conectar con ellos y comprender sus conflictos. Las tramas presentadas pueden traer consecuencias interesantes en el Mundo de las Sombras y siento que esta trilog铆a puede superar a Los 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉. Nos vemos en dos meses con Chain of Iron. MUERO POR LEERLO.
ESTA RESE脩A CONTIENE LIGEROS SPOILERS. LA PARTE DE PERSONAJES EXPLORA M脕S EN ELLOS. EST脕 DEBIDAMENTE INDICADO.
Por fin ha llegado el momento en el que he le铆do Chain of Gold, la primera parte de la saga The Last Hours de Cassandra Clare, que nos cuenta la historia de los descendientes de Will, Tessa, Sophie, Henry, Charlotte鈥� Es decir: contin煤a -en parte- con la historia de Los 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉, aunque este libro se puede leer sin haber le铆do nada de la saga con anterioridad. 隆Que eso es IMPORTANTE saberlo!
PERO VAMOS POR PARTES. No estaba ready para esta novela. Tengo TANTO que comentar鈥� As铆 que coge un cafecito o algo para comer, porque se viene una rese帽a bastante larga. Contendr谩 peque帽os spoilers, pero nada demasiado grave como para no disfrutar de la lectura. O eso espero... As铆 que: *lee bajo tu propia responsabilidad.*
El principio de la novela nos presenta a algunos de los personajes centrales, en este caso empezamos con Lucie teniendo una experiencia sobrenatural que hace levantar bastantes interrogantes, pero que sobre todo te engancha a querer saber m谩s de la historia. He de decir que la trama de Lucie me ha gustado 惭鲍颁贬脥厂滨惭翱, no solo porque me haya encantado como personaje (luego hablar茅 m谩s de eso), sino por lo interesante que me parece explorar el talento de los Herondale con los fantasmas. En esta ocasi贸n creo que podemos aprender much铆simas cosas interesantes, que estoy SEGURO AL CIEN POR CIEN que veremos reflejadas en Kit de Renacimiento/The Dark Artifices para la guerra final en The Wicked Powers.
Continuamos con la introducci贸n de los Merry Thieves, que me han robado el coraz贸n. Matthew, Thomas, Cristopher y James son un cuarteto fantabuloso. Parecen un amalgama de personalidades, pero poco a poco durante la novela se va viendo mejor de qu茅 pie cojea cada uno, y c贸mo cada uno aporta algo diferente con din谩micas propias.
En la introducci贸n de esta tanda de personajes, que es el primer cap铆tulo, vemos el esfuerzo de Cassandra Clare por introducir de cero qu茅 es un cazador de sombras, las runas, las estelas, los demonios鈥� Me record贸 mucho a la primera escena de 脕ngel mec谩nico, ya que se inicia con un ataque demoniaco en las calles de Londres y los protagonistas terminan ba帽ados en icor. La cuesti贸n es que llevamos tan solo unas p谩ginas y ya tenemos unos cuantos personajes y tramas de las que preocuparnos. Y, por cierto, Cassie sale airosa de esa introducci贸n. Well done!
En Chain of Gold lo m谩s importante son los personajes, sus din谩micas y relaciones. Pero la manera en la que estas evolucionan me han encantado, porque se entrelazan irremediablemente con las tramas. Esto creo que puede llevar la saga a nuevas alturas porque hay destinos irremediablemente oscuros que pueden oscurecer a los personajes sin que lo puedan evitar. Hay much铆simos intereses ocultos, y como siempre, temas de la Clave, juicios... Ya sabemos, 驴no? Todas esas cosillas del mundo adultos que siempre hacen que nuestros protagonistas j贸venes act煤en. Aunque sea algo que vemos en bastantes libros de Cassandra Clare, creo que en esta ocasi贸n est谩 mucho mejor llevado. 础诲别尘谩蝉, todos los personajes protag贸nicos encajan super bien entre ellos, y son probablemente la mejor tanda de nuevos cazadores de sombras que ha habido, por sus diferentes intereses y potenciales. (Lo siento, Emma.)
La representaci贸n LGTB levant贸 ampollas en la comunidad lectora un poco hater de Cassandra Clare, porque argumentaban que no era realista tener un cast tan amplio de personajes de la comunidad. Y yo en plan鈥� 驴Perd贸n? 驴Las lesbianas, bisexuales y gays solo existen a partir del a帽o 2005 o qu茅 c*帽o pasa? No, no, Cassie, lo est谩s haciendo genial. Ya conoc铆amos la orientaci贸n sexual de personajes como Anna Lightwood gracias a historias de Ghosts of the Shadow Market, que en este caso tambi茅n se explora su expresi贸n de g茅nero y no puedo estar m谩s on board con ella. Otros personajes creo que es mejor que descubr谩is que pertenecen al colectivo, porque sus tramas son de lo mejorcito. 隆Y bueno! Obviamente tenemos magos y brujas que ya conocemos, como Magnus Bane o Hypatia Vex, que hacen gala de nuevo de vivir como quieren independientemente de la 茅poca en la que se encuentren.
Las relaciones rom谩nticas鈥� Mira, si pensaba que el tri谩ngulo amoroso Jem-Will-Tessa era insuperable, me da a m铆 que en esta saga vamos a sufrir much铆simo m谩s. Al final del libro hay tantos tri谩ngulos y personajes enamorados de otros que no les corresponden porque est谩n enamorados de otros pero esos otros tampoco les corresponden, etc. HE PERDIDO LA MALDITA CUENTA. Me gustan y me parecen coherentes todas estas din谩micas de pareja -o al menos rom谩nticas- de los personajes. Est谩n muy bien desarrolladas y planteadas, y ninguna parece forzada. Estoy deseando ver c贸mo se desarrollan algunas de ellas en Chain of Iron, que podremos leer en menos de dos meses. Me muero de ganas.
Respecto a lo que es la trama, que en este caso es el tema de los ataques de demonios con comportamientos extra帽os y todo lo que va surgiendo de ello, adem谩s de una nueva enfermedad, s铆 que tengo que admitir que se me ha quedado un poco floja. El libro es muy character-driven en el sentido de que las tramas que m谩s peso tienen -o van a tener- van muy ligadas a los personajes, como comentaba m谩s arriba, y no en s铆 a una trama grande como tal. S铆 que creo que para el segundo se presentan conflictos m谩s que interesantes, pero me ha faltado un poquitito m谩s de trama que una todo un poco m谩s. 础诲别尘谩蝉, el gran conflicto que parec铆a ser la nueva enfermedad se soluciona en este libro, dejando solo conflictos de personajes planteados para los siguientes, algo que no s茅 todav铆a si me convence鈥�
En cuanto a ritmo y estilo, Cassandra Clare vuelve a sorprendernos con una novela cuidada al detalle. Adapta los di谩logos de los personajes a la 茅poca en la que se encuentran, al igual que hizo en la saga 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉. No solo eso, sino que al final del libro hay una nota donde Cassie explica el uso de ciertos elementos, llegando al punto de mencionar traducciones de libros concretos de la 茅poca o gentilicios mal usados que se utilizaban err贸neamente en el Londres eduardiano. El ritmo en este caso me ha parecido brillante, porque introduce el mundo de los cazadores de un modo sencillo para nuevos lectores al mismo tiempo que no aburre al lector que ya es seguidor de la saga, presenta a los personajes y sus conflictos con calma pero para que se entiendan bien todos los matices, y las escenas de acci贸n est谩n bien equilibradas con todo lo dem谩s. Si tuviera algo negativo que decir ser铆a justamente de esto 煤ltimo, y es que siento que hay escenas de acci贸n no lo suficientemente largas o con demasiados conflictos durante las luchas con demonios como para sentir que sean importantes en la trama y/o para apreciar la verdadera amenaza y conflicto de los demonios en Londres. Por lo dem谩s, impoluto. Es una delicia leer a Cassandra Clare.
Ahora quiero hablar de los personajes. Solo hablar茅 de los nuevos, ya que volver a decir lo guay que es Magnus y lo que adoro a Jem o Tessa鈥� Pues no, mi ciela, aqu铆 estamos para hablar de Las 脷ltimas Horas y sus nuevos integrantes.
TOP PERSONAJES
(Un poquito de spoilers, I鈥檓 so sorry)
Alastair. Sinceramente, igual me mat谩is, pero creo que es uno de mis personajes favoritos. Durante el libro vamos viendo su proceso interno, qu茅 es lo que siente y por qu茅 act煤a como act煤a, y me parece un incomprendido. Todo en su entorno va en su contra y lleva m谩s responsabilidad sobre los hombros de lo que deber铆a, especialmente con Cordelia y su protecci贸n. Al principio lo odiaba por ser un bully, pero creo entender sus motivaciones y conflictos internos. Y el tema con Charles... Mira, ES QUE ME MUERO YA MISMO. Pobre mi ni帽o.
Lucie. El vibe de Dru que me da鈥� no puc m茅s. Me parece la m谩s tierna de todas, la m谩s consciente y que m谩s amor est谩 dispuesta a dar casi sin necesitar que se lo devuelvan. El tema de los esp铆ritus -su poder como Herondale potenciado por la sangre demoniaca de Tessa- es de lo m谩s interesante planteado en el mundo de Cazadores de Sombras, y de lo que m谩s se pueden derivar tramas interesantes y con grandes implicaciones. O SEA QUE PUEDE INVOCAR A FANTASMAS Y QUE OBEDEZCAN SUS 脫RDENES. Iconic. Su relaci贸n con los Merry Thieves me encanta, as铆 como con su futura parabatai Cordelia. Es inteligente, decidida鈥� ADEM脕S QUIERE SER ESCRITORA. En serio que necesito leer su libro, que me parece una aut茅ntica fantas铆a (adem谩s que lleno de referencias a los libros de Holly Black, que me ha dado cuenta). Quiero abrazarla y no soltarla y protegerla. Y m temo lo peor, porque Cassandra Clare no perdona nunca a los personajes que son buenos. #HateHer
Cordelia. Tengo sentimientos encontrados con que en teor铆a ella sea la protagonista de esta nueva saga, pero no la he percibido como tal. Sin embargo, es una de las mejores construidas de la novela. No solo es valiente, sino que se enfrenta en muchos aspectos a la sociedad de los cazadores de sombras en su 茅poca, algo que me gusta. 础诲别尘谩蝉, todo el tema de Cortana es brutal. Me rompe los esquemas totalmente y me flipa ver una Nephilim tan poderosa en la 茅poca eduardiana. Dilo tata! Y que oye, si tiene que enfrentarse a 233465 demonios ella solita con todo su papo lo hace. Probablemente evolucione hasta convertirse en mi personaje favorito de todos, pero de momento se queda en el top de los mejores.
Anna. ELLA. Simplemente ELLA. Adoro su vida, adoro todo. Es tan magn茅tica como Magnus Bane, cada vez que aparec铆a solo quer铆a que hablara por esa boquita y contara experiencias. Me encanta el tema de su expresi贸n de g茅nero y sobre todo me fascina lo buena persona que es, y que si茅ndolo descoloque tanto al resto de personas de su entorno. Es sacrificada y consciente de que es una cazadora de sombras, y su lealtad no se ve interrumpida por nada. Me encanta que tambi茅n tenga tan buena relaci贸n con los subterr谩neos. El tema con Ariadne鈥� mejor me callo porque quiero ver qu茅 narices pasa en Chain of Iron. Necesito un libro spin-off de Magnus y Anna viajando por el mundo conquistando a todo el mundo como solo ellos saben hacerlo.
Thomas. Mi favorito de los Merry Thieves, s铆, obviamente por encima de James, Cristopher y Matthew. Creo que es el mejor construido de todos, o al menos al que mejor podemos conocer pese a tener un poco el papel de secundario. Su trama con Alastair鈥� POR DIOS, NECESITO M脕S AHORA MISMO. Sufro con 茅l, pero tambi茅n me parece de los m谩s nobles y sacrificados del grupo. No s茅, simplemente creo que es como con el que m谩s representado me he sentido de todo el grupito. Esas escenitas en Par铆s... Demasiado dolor para mi cuerpo. Necesito que le quieran como 茅l quiere.
PEORES PERSONAJES
James. Estoy harto de los protagonistas de Cassandra Clare que empiezan por J: Jace, Julian, James. TODOS SON IGUALES. En este caso, James es un poco menos pesado que los otros, pero por favor ya es suficiente de personajes as铆 de planos y que su meta en la vida es ayudar a todos y ser bueno y ser el h茅roe. Por dios, STOP IT.
Grace. Obviamente, 驴no? La odio, s铆, pero creo que est谩 muy bien construida. He dicho siempre que Cassie tiene talento innato para crear villanos, y junto a su madre Tatiana, son de lo mejorcito de la novela. Lo manipuladora que es Grace ????? Simplemente incre铆ble, hay que tener talento para ser tan mala p茅cora y hacerlo tan bien. Todo el entramado del brazalete, Jesse... No s茅, demasiados frentes abiertos con Grace. Me tiene confundido.
Charles. 隆No lo odio! O sea lo odio pero no lo odio. Es extra帽o. Siento que no debe gustarme, pero no es que todo me indique que es malo por naturaleza o que no va a cambiar, sino que su trama con Alastair puede cambiarle bastante, y creo que puede llegar a buen puerto. Lo pongo aqu铆 porque no es que conozcamos demasiado de 茅l, PERO le doy un voto de confianza. As铆 que de momento, aunque sea un narcisista y una mala compa帽铆a para los personajes principales que m谩s me gustan, siento que nos va a sorprender para bien en el futuro de la trilog铆a.
(Fin de los SPOILERS)
En definitiva, creo que Chain of Gold es una de las mejores novelas de Cassandra Clare. Es coherente y consecuente con el universo creado, los personajes son espectaculares y en apenas unas p谩ginas somos capaces de conectar con ellos y comprender sus conflictos. Las tramas presentadas pueden traer consecuencias interesantes en el Mundo de las Sombras y siento que esta trilog铆a puede superar a Los 翱谤铆驳别苍别蝉. Nos vemos en dos meses con Chain of Iron. MUERO POR LEERLO.
January 31, 2023
Wow! Cordelia Carstairs with Cortana. I love it!!!
James Herondale, son of William Herondale!!!!!
James Herondale, son of William Herondale!!!!!
March 12, 2021
Let me tell you a funny story.
After this disaster and this dumpster fire, I was ready to distance myself from Cassandra Clare once and for all. But at least five people kept telling me to read Chain of Gold, that The Last Hours was better than TMI and TID, that even though I hated everything I鈥檝e read by CC, I would love CoG.
I highly doubted it.
But I ended up reading this anyway, because it was free and available and what鈥檚 the worst that could happen? I had resigned myself to the loss of a few more brain cells from my dwindling supply.
What happened?
How dare I enjoy a Cassandra Clare book?
Chain of Gold is essentially a soap opera. It鈥檚 filled with romantic drama, hilarious cliffhangers, cheesy dialogue. I love it so much.
But this book did something that shocked me and made me question my addled logic.
I enjoyed the love triangles. All of them.
How could I?
Spoilers for the romance in this next paragraph only.
James likes Grace, Cordelia likes James, Matthew likes Cordelia and Lucie, Lucie likes no one, Grace is engaged to Charles, James is engaged to Cordelia. As if that weren鈥檛 confusing enough, Anna likes Ariadne, who was previously engaged to Charles. Alastair likes Charles and Thomas, and Charles is definitely not available.
Is this book okay? No.
Do I care? No.
It鈥檚 so dramatic and juicy and angsty and my heart is bursting.
What cements this book鈥檚 place in my soap-worthy shelf is the prioritization of drama over plot. I could honestly care less, because plot has always been a secondary thing for me, but I can see how some people wouldn鈥檛 enjoy this due to its lack of a comprehensive storyline.
Chain of Gold is about Cordelia Carstairs, whose family has fled to London in the wake of a scandal related to her father. She鈥檚 a bold, down-to-earth and logical main character who knows what鈥檚 good for her. She confronts those who are unpleasant to her, she always thinks a step ahead. Well, almost always, but we鈥檙e not going to talk about that. I actually 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 like her at first because I thought she was going to turn out to be Tessa Gray 2.0, but I was pleasantly surprised when she gained her own personality.
Her Persian heritage was woven in very organically. Congratulations to Clare for finally adding some diversity to her books. And she did a very good job, actually. It was all quite natural and an integral part of the characters themselves, rather than, uh鈥� what happened with Jem Carstairs in Clockwork Angel. We don鈥檛 talk about that.
The other main character is James Herondale, who is the son of Tessa and Will from TID. He was my least favorite character. He鈥檚 your typical leader-with-a-troubled-past, and I wasn鈥檛 too interested in him. I was more interested in Cordelia/James as a ship (even though I shipped Matthew and Cordelia more), because they had an intriguing dynamic.
I do think that the next generation of Herondales is more mild than the TID generation, which I absolutely love. That was one of my biggest complaints about TID. Will was just so brash and loud and I hated him. But James is calm and soft and sweet and overall much better than Will ever was. (Sorry, Will stans.)
Lucie Herondale, James鈥檚 sister, was an incredible character. I loved her. She鈥檚 a dryly sarcastic writer, and her narrative was so refreshing and subtly funny. Her relationship with Jesse Blackthorn wasn鈥檛 the best, mostly because Jesse had a ghost of a personality (ehehehe puns), so I definitely shipped her with Matthew. At least, I did in the beginning, but that changed at the end, and now I don鈥檛 ship her with anyone. She鈥檚 so bright on her own.
Matthew Fairchild鈥� Oh, Matthew. What can I say? He鈥檚 amazing. He struggles with his alcohol addiction, but inside he鈥檚 a caring person who loves deeply and is just trying his best. He is my cinnamon roll.
Alastair Carstairs is such a morally grey and intriguing character. He was a bully when he was younger, and he鈥檚 still dealing with the repercussions of his actions. Not to mention that he feels like an outcast in society. He鈥檚 struggling to protect Cordelia while battling his own inner demons. I need more of these characters in my life.
I read this entire book in a British accent, it鈥檚 that classy and sophisticated and English. Cassandra Clare has a way of bringing the setting to life in Chain of Gold, and while it may be a little cliche, it鈥檚 just so, so good.
I was not expecting to love this book. In fact, I was prepared to rate it one star and write a rant review and move on. But fate had chosen a different path for me.
Why isn鈥檛 a copy of Chain of Iron in my hands right now. This is sacrilege.
4.5 stars, my favorite guilty pleasure book ever
I鈥檓 not ready to move on from this book, so here鈥檚 some amazing fanart. Seriously, this series has perfect art.
Also, a Chain of Gold playlist! Because鈥� why not?
James - Line Without a Hook (Ricky Montgomery)
Cordelia - Chinese Satellite (Phoebe Bridgers)
Matthew - Sweater Weather (The Neighbourhood)
Lucie - Kyoto (Phoebe Bridgers)
Anna - we fell in love in october (girl in red)
Alastair - Black (Pearl Jam)
Chain of Iron review
Chain of Thorns review
After this disaster and this dumpster fire, I was ready to distance myself from Cassandra Clare once and for all. But at least five people kept telling me to read Chain of Gold, that The Last Hours was better than TMI and TID, that even though I hated everything I鈥檝e read by CC, I would love CoG.
I highly doubted it.
But I ended up reading this anyway, because it was free and available and what鈥檚 the worst that could happen? I had resigned myself to the loss of a few more brain cells from my dwindling supply.
What happened?
How dare I enjoy a Cassandra Clare book?
Chain of Gold is essentially a soap opera. It鈥檚 filled with romantic drama, hilarious cliffhangers, cheesy dialogue. I love it so much.
But this book did something that shocked me and made me question my addled logic.
I enjoyed the love triangles. All of them.
How could I?
Spoilers for the romance in this next paragraph only.
James likes Grace, Cordelia likes James, Matthew likes Cordelia and Lucie, Lucie likes no one, Grace is engaged to Charles, James is engaged to Cordelia. As if that weren鈥檛 confusing enough, Anna likes Ariadne, who was previously engaged to Charles. Alastair likes Charles and Thomas, and Charles is definitely not available.
Is this book okay? No.
Do I care? No.
It鈥檚 so dramatic and juicy and angsty and my heart is bursting.
What cements this book鈥檚 place in my soap-worthy shelf is the prioritization of drama over plot. I could honestly care less, because plot has always been a secondary thing for me, but I can see how some people wouldn鈥檛 enjoy this due to its lack of a comprehensive storyline.
Chain of Gold is about Cordelia Carstairs, whose family has fled to London in the wake of a scandal related to her father. She鈥檚 a bold, down-to-earth and logical main character who knows what鈥檚 good for her. She confronts those who are unpleasant to her, she always thinks a step ahead. Well, almost always, but we鈥檙e not going to talk about that. I actually 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 like her at first because I thought she was going to turn out to be Tessa Gray 2.0, but I was pleasantly surprised when she gained her own personality.
Her Persian heritage was woven in very organically. Congratulations to Clare for finally adding some diversity to her books. And she did a very good job, actually. It was all quite natural and an integral part of the characters themselves, rather than, uh鈥� what happened with Jem Carstairs in Clockwork Angel. We don鈥檛 talk about that.
The other main character is James Herondale, who is the son of Tessa and Will from TID. He was my least favorite character. He鈥檚 your typical leader-with-a-troubled-past, and I wasn鈥檛 too interested in him. I was more interested in Cordelia/James as a ship (even though I shipped Matthew and Cordelia more), because they had an intriguing dynamic.
Reading together. Never had Cordelia heard of anything so romantic.
I do think that the next generation of Herondales is more mild than the TID generation, which I absolutely love. That was one of my biggest complaints about TID. Will was just so brash and loud and I hated him. But James is calm and soft and sweet and overall much better than Will ever was. (Sorry, Will stans.)
Lucie Herondale, James鈥檚 sister, was an incredible character. I loved her. She鈥檚 a dryly sarcastic writer, and her narrative was so refreshing and subtly funny. Her relationship with Jesse Blackthorn wasn鈥檛 the best, mostly because Jesse had a ghost of a personality (ehehehe puns), so I definitely shipped her with Matthew. At least, I did in the beginning, but that changed at the end, and now I don鈥檛 ship her with anyone. She鈥檚 so bright on her own.
Those who mock fiction do so because they fear the truth.
Matthew Fairchild鈥� Oh, Matthew. What can I say? He鈥檚 amazing. He struggles with his alcohol addiction, but inside he鈥檚 a caring person who loves deeply and is just trying his best. He is my cinnamon roll.
Alastair Carstairs is such a morally grey and intriguing character. He was a bully when he was younger, and he鈥檚 still dealing with the repercussions of his actions. Not to mention that he feels like an outcast in society. He鈥檚 struggling to protect Cordelia while battling his own inner demons. I need more of these characters in my life.
I read this entire book in a British accent, it鈥檚 that classy and sophisticated and English. Cassandra Clare has a way of bringing the setting to life in Chain of Gold, and while it may be a little cliche, it鈥檚 just so, so good.
I was not expecting to love this book. In fact, I was prepared to rate it one star and write a rant review and move on. But fate had chosen a different path for me.
Why isn鈥檛 a copy of Chain of Iron in my hands right now. This is sacrilege.
4.5 stars, my favorite guilty pleasure book ever
I鈥檓 not ready to move on from this book, so here鈥檚 some amazing fanart. Seriously, this series has perfect art.
Also, a Chain of Gold playlist! Because鈥� why not?
James - Line Without a Hook (Ricky Montgomery)
Cordelia - Chinese Satellite (Phoebe Bridgers)
Matthew - Sweater Weather (The Neighbourhood)
Lucie - Kyoto (Phoebe Bridgers)
Anna - we fell in love in october (girl in red)
Alastair - Black (Pearl Jam)
If Will was singing, that meant he was in a sociable mood and would seize them the moment he saw them and begin reminiscing about Wales and ducks.
鈥漁h, perfectly,鈥� said Christopher. 鈥淚 told her all about culturing bacteria, and she was so fascinated that she never spoke a word!鈥�
Chain of Iron review
Chain of Thorns review
February 9, 2023
By the Angel 4 Stars!
鈥漌e do not get to choose when in our lives we feel pain,鈥� said Matthew "It comes when it comes, and we try to remember, even though we cannot imagine a day when it will release its hold on us, that all pain fades. All misery passes. Humanity is drawn to light, not darkness.鈥�
I want to make this very, very clear that I am very much a Cassie Clare fan, The Infernal Devices is my favourite series and holds a very special place in my heart, so you can imagine my pure delight when I found out that Chain of Gold was coming out I was so excited to see my favourite characters once more and get to explore their lives as parents. What I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 expect was to fall in love with a whole new group of Shadowhunters (well I did, just not so quickly).
Before I begin I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to Katie for Buddy Reading this with me. Many melt downs, listening to my theories and then telling me some of yours (just saying we nailed it in some parts). I thought I was going to enjoy it either away, but reading it with you made the experience so much more special so thank you!
If you鈥檙e going to read this I strongly suggest you read The Infernal Devices at a minimum but there are lots of little nods to other novellas throughout and in particular a story with a certain character is brought to light in a particular novella.
The story starts off a little slow HOWEVER, I think it was needed. There are a lot of new characters, and it was interesting to see and learn the dynamic of them all. We are back in London and there has been something strange going on鈥� there is no sightings of demons, however more and more attacks keep cropping up and some of them happen at lets say questionable times and the result of this makes the Shadowhunter have to come together and sort through a plan.
When you compare it to the other books in this world it is its own book, there are some similarities in the sense of strong bonds, something is going on and the younger generation are going to investigate, but some of the usual cliches we see such as forbidden romance, a love triangle are not there and I think it made it it鈥檚 own. Just to point out that the love triangle in both TID and TDA are one of my favourites and the forbidden love trope is always *Chef Kiss*. This had the absolute perfect balance of having TID references in, there wasn鈥檛 too much where it became over bearing and it was sometimes so subtle other than the mentions of worms and demons鈥� still gets me overtime, but the story is itself.
Before going into the character portion of this review I want to point out that I have seen some negativity towards having so many LGBTQ+ Characters and I am completely baffled. I just want to point out a few things, it is always important to have representation in a book and Cassandra Clare always brings that. This is a fantasy book that has half Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Ghosts and many more but you can鈥檛 see why there are so many LGBTQ+ people? Finally just because in the 1900s people weren鈥檛 always outspoken about their sexuality and/or gender doesn鈥檛 mean it 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 happen. I personally loved seeing so much diversity within the characters!
Added Bonus of Will and Tessas鈥� Wedding
Going into this, I knew hands down that I would cry. I just knew it, it just made me feel so happy and overjoyed BUT it also made me feel ridiculously sad just thinking about Jem. I think what made it so special was Charlottes words, the added touches with the Cane (I AM DESTROYED OKAY). It was even better than anything I could of asked for. I hope we get more little snippets of them in their twenties just living their life, because it makes me so ridiculously happy it鈥檚 crazy!
Characters
We have a new set of Shadowhunters for me to cry over and love with all of my heart and here are just some of my thoughts, just to warn you I will be gushing away, in a quick round up I genuinely really liked 90% of the characters, despised a few handful and intrigued about others but I have a feeling that they will come into it a lot more as the story continues.
鈥漈hat鈥檚 everyone鈥檚 dream, isn鈥檛 it, really? Instead of many who give you a little piece of themselves, one who gives you everything鈥�
Cordelia right now is probably my favourite of the new characters. We鈥檝e seen a lot of female characters by Cassie, but I think Cordelia brings something new and exciting. She doesn鈥檛 think she鈥檚 the best, she works and trains so hard, painfully loyal to her friends and family. I low key kind of love her relationship with Alastair in the sense that she sees herself as the annoying younger sister and just wants to be thee for him which was SO sweet and she really puts herself on the line for other people. You know!
We have super sweet Lucie. For me personally Lucie has a super interesting arc that I don鈥檛 want to go too much into because of spoilers but one chapter in particular was so well executed I was sat there screaming at my book like OH MY GOD! It was just amazing. Lucie and Cordelias relationship is lovely and you can see that they both well and truly care about one another, I am invested in this friendship hands down!
Anna is SUCH an interesting character. After reading about her in the novella in Ghosts of The Shadow Market I was very excited to see her in this. I love her attitude, and you can see how much she cares. Her continuous love interests and her reactions had me dying it was just so funny. This is one more character I can鈥檛 wait to read more about! To quote Anna鈥� 鈥漈hey 诲颈诲苍鈥檛鈥� and neither did you.鈥�
Keeping it 100, I am not a fan of Grace. I just, from the very start I did not trust her what so ever. She was just too 鈥減erfect鈥� and sickly sweet and I just couldn鈥檛 work her out, as the story progressed I just disliked her even more, saying this I am very very interested to find out more about her.
The Merry Thieves
鈥滲ut we suffer for love because love is worth it.鈥�
Where to begin with James? To start off you can tell he is Wills鈥� son, he has that easy charm but then he is like Tessa in the sense that he is quite a calming presence. I loved seeing him with the shadows and how relationships progressed. He stepped up to a 鈥渓eader鈥� role and you can see how much he cares.
Matthew is probably the most complex out of the shadow hunters, and it is very useful to of read his backstory. I really really feel for him in Chain of Gold. He has an issue when it comes to alcohol and sometimes like to play the fool. You can see his unyielding protection and love when it comes to James and there are some truly heartfelt moments. Out of all of the shadow hunters this time around Matthew is my favourite male (sorry, but Cordelia is my Queen right now).
鈥漌e don鈥檛 always love people who deserve it鈥�
I鈥檓 finding it slightly hard to talk a lot about Thomas and Christopher/Kit so I think it鈥檚 easier to merge them together for this book. I can see a story arc playing out for Thomas very clearly in my mind, and I am here for it, but after things panned out I鈥檓 wondering HOW>! As for Christopher I think out of all of the characters he鈥檚 the least I know about, hopefully we will get to see more!
Just to point out the next Characters aren鈥檛 part of The Merry Thieves and I know that particularly in Chain of Gold Matthew and Thomas take more of a centre stage compared to Grace and Anna but I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 want to break them up!
Out of all of the character I feel the most conflicted towards Alastair, you can see SO much potential with him, and he is such an interesting character. He鈥檚 quite mysterious and we do learn little bits about him (not all good either) and I was well and truly on my way to full on rooting for him, I mean I still am but I鈥檓 kind of angry with him as well!
I鈥檓 saying it now I LOVE Jesse, he鈥檚 such an interesting character and his relationship with Lucie was one of my favourites. The interactions they have I was just oohing and ahhing, but he is so selfless and my heart literally broke at one point for him. I think that as the story progresses I am intrigued to see what鈥檚 going to happen with him.
You let me be something I had never been before, even when I was living. A Shadowhunter.
We got to see Papa and Mama Herondale AKA Will and Tessa and it was so lovely to see them being parents! I think what was so sweet was how much there loved showed even after all of those years together. You see their protective sides come out when it came to their children, nieces and nephews. You still got to see Wills silly and fun loving side and Tessa with her fondness. You still get so many lovely quotes from these two and see them in a different light. They鈥檙e still the same but just with the view of being parents and slightly more mature!
鈥滱 better Shadowhunter and a better man,鈥� said Will. 鈥淎ll the best of me, I learned from Jem and your Mother...鈥�
Finally last but not least we get Jem, it鈥檚 interesting to see him in his Silent Brother role, but with him still knowing who he truly is. I adored his interactions with the younger generation and the older ones and he really is that figure that many people look to for some form of guidance and knowledge. Even though I expected it and I KNOW what happens with his story Arc up until a certain point it still breaks my little heart.
What I liked?
- Lets state a few obvious ones in a bulk here: Back into the Shadowhunter world I go, Will Herondale, my number one book love, seeing so many people from TID, my heart was so happy, SO many references to TID I was overjoyed!
- So much love and friendship, honestly I don鈥檛 care what anyone says, the friendships across these books are always so well done
- Seeing little snippets of Jem, Will and Tessa had me weeping, by 90 pages in I鈥檇 cried twice.
- Some of the more 鈥渁ction鈥� scenes had me completely gripped, they were done so well and I could just see it all playing out, it was so intense and had me gripped!
- Cortana I found it super interesting this time around, we all know about Cortana but I鈥檓 pretty sure it did something I haven鈥檛 seen it do before and I was like oooooh gurl
- It had me questioning a lot, I thought I had some things figured out and then something would happen and it would completely flip my opinion.
- Horses鈥� and while we鈥檙e on it even though they鈥檙e not linked what so ever. Ghosts.
- The Warlocks that are Malcolm and Hypatia, it was interesting to see a reference in this knowing what we do I was like OOOOOH
- SO MUCH SIBLING LOVE!
- The amount of times I must of said 鈥淲hat is going on鈥�
- Sending of dresses and Sonas reaction, I just knew who had sent them it was great
- A certain Herondale Star popping up鈥� consistency is key!
- Magbus turning up six hours early and his response being 鈥渂loody hell鈥� it was hilarious!
- All of the tension鈥� ooooft
- OSCAR, who鈥檚 a good boy!
- A erm, certain locket and what is inside it鈥�
- Gideon and Gabriel, oh I missed my favourite brothers!
- Hair colours鈥�
I鈥檓 just going to say, that where it left off I am feeling very very anxious for what鈥檚 to come but I鈥檓 so excited, one whole year! Guess the countdown will begin, but I am very very excited!
What I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 like?
My only complaint is I wish we鈥檇 see more of Anna, Christopher and Thomas. I think from this first book we only got a slight glimpse into who they are, however that means that we will hopefully get to see a lot more of them as the series continues!
鈥淏ut at least we can always pick up a book and read it anew. Stories offer a thousand fresh starts.鈥�
Final thoughts鈥�
My heart is so full with happiness, I can鈥檛 begin to explain how much these books and stories mean to me. I think because of my love for The Infernal Devices I was scared to see how this would pan out, but it was so enjoyable and I literally cannot wait for book 2 to be released!
--------
Re-Read 12.09.2022
My first re-read of this series, I have to say I still really really enjoyed this one, the characters really drive this series for me and upon the re-read you can see certain things, I think my only issue with this is that it is so long and I think it could of been slightly compressed. Still very enjoyable!
---------
09.03.2020
By The Angel!
That was hands down one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not let me down what so ever!
What an amazing introduction to the start of the New Years.
Currently sobbing my head out at Will and Tessas wedding but I knew I was going to!
Full review to come and just to warn you it will more than likely be a long one cause your girl is OBSESSED
All Cassandra Clare Reviews:
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel - 5 Stars
Clockwork Prince - 5 Stars
Clockwork Princess - 5 Stars
The Infernal Devices (Manga) Reviews:
Clockwork Angel - 5 Stars
Clockwork Prince - 5 Stars
Clockwork Princess - 5 Stars
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold - 4 Stars
Chain of Iron - 5 Stars
Chain of Thorns - 4 Stars
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones - 5 Stars
City of Ashes - 4 Stars
City of Glass - 4 Stars
City of Fallen Angels - 2 Stars
City of Lost Souls - 3 Stars
City of Heavenly Fire - 4 Stars
The Eldest Curses
The Red Scrolls of Magic - 3 Stars
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight - 5 Stars
Lord of Shadows - 5 Stars
Queen of Air and Darkness - 5 Stars
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
03.03.2020
Happy release day for Chain of Gold! Hope you all have the best time reading it!
Secretly jealous because Amazon ruined it and I haven鈥檛 got my copy even though I preordered it when it first came out...
Let鈥檚 hope I get my Waterstones delivery tomorrow :)
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�-
02.03.2020
TOMORROW THIS WILL ARRIVE... I get to see my love again!
I also booked off Wednesday cause I鈥檓 that person who needs personal time with their books...
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
15.01.2020
It is the year 2020, in less than two months Chain of Gold will be here, I will have at least four copies and two book boxes of this, and if you dare be terrible and not give these character ALL of the love I will Riot (Zoe will join me as well)
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺€�
13.12.18
LOOK AT THAT COVER I AM IN LOVE!
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
28.07.18
So I鈥檓 reading TID (Clockwork Prince) and it鈥檚 just dawned on me.
Page 300
鈥淲e who are immortal, we are chained to this life by a chain of gold, and we dare not sever it for fear of what lies beyond the drop鈥� said Magnus
Coincidence? I think not!
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺€�
When you need a book more than life itself, because your one true love is finally coming back to you... I. need. this. now.
WILL HERONDALE, sooooooooooooon!
鈥漌e do not get to choose when in our lives we feel pain,鈥� said Matthew "It comes when it comes, and we try to remember, even though we cannot imagine a day when it will release its hold on us, that all pain fades. All misery passes. Humanity is drawn to light, not darkness.鈥�
I want to make this very, very clear that I am very much a Cassie Clare fan, The Infernal Devices is my favourite series and holds a very special place in my heart, so you can imagine my pure delight when I found out that Chain of Gold was coming out I was so excited to see my favourite characters once more and get to explore their lives as parents. What I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 expect was to fall in love with a whole new group of Shadowhunters (well I did, just not so quickly).
Before I begin I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to Katie for Buddy Reading this with me. Many melt downs, listening to my theories and then telling me some of yours (just saying we nailed it in some parts). I thought I was going to enjoy it either away, but reading it with you made the experience so much more special so thank you!
If you鈥檙e going to read this I strongly suggest you read The Infernal Devices at a minimum but there are lots of little nods to other novellas throughout and in particular a story with a certain character is brought to light in a particular novella.
The story starts off a little slow HOWEVER, I think it was needed. There are a lot of new characters, and it was interesting to see and learn the dynamic of them all. We are back in London and there has been something strange going on鈥� there is no sightings of demons, however more and more attacks keep cropping up and some of them happen at lets say questionable times and the result of this makes the Shadowhunter have to come together and sort through a plan.
When you compare it to the other books in this world it is its own book, there are some similarities in the sense of strong bonds, something is going on and the younger generation are going to investigate, but some of the usual cliches we see such as forbidden romance, a love triangle are not there and I think it made it it鈥檚 own. Just to point out that the love triangle in both TID and TDA are one of my favourites and the forbidden love trope is always *Chef Kiss*. This had the absolute perfect balance of having TID references in, there wasn鈥檛 too much where it became over bearing and it was sometimes so subtle other than the mentions of worms and demons鈥� still gets me overtime, but the story is itself.
Before going into the character portion of this review I want to point out that I have seen some negativity towards having so many LGBTQ+ Characters and I am completely baffled. I just want to point out a few things, it is always important to have representation in a book and Cassandra Clare always brings that. This is a fantasy book that has half Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Ghosts and many more but you can鈥檛 see why there are so many LGBTQ+ people? Finally just because in the 1900s people weren鈥檛 always outspoken about their sexuality and/or gender doesn鈥檛 mean it 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 happen. I personally loved seeing so much diversity within the characters!
Added Bonus of Will and Tessas鈥� Wedding
Going into this, I knew hands down that I would cry. I just knew it, it just made me feel so happy and overjoyed BUT it also made me feel ridiculously sad just thinking about Jem. I think what made it so special was Charlottes words, the added touches with the Cane (I AM DESTROYED OKAY). It was even better than anything I could of asked for. I hope we get more little snippets of them in their twenties just living their life, because it makes me so ridiculously happy it鈥檚 crazy!
Characters
We have a new set of Shadowhunters for me to cry over and love with all of my heart and here are just some of my thoughts, just to warn you I will be gushing away, in a quick round up I genuinely really liked 90% of the characters, despised a few handful and intrigued about others but I have a feeling that they will come into it a lot more as the story continues.
鈥漈hat鈥檚 everyone鈥檚 dream, isn鈥檛 it, really? Instead of many who give you a little piece of themselves, one who gives you everything鈥�
Cordelia right now is probably my favourite of the new characters. We鈥檝e seen a lot of female characters by Cassie, but I think Cordelia brings something new and exciting. She doesn鈥檛 think she鈥檚 the best, she works and trains so hard, painfully loyal to her friends and family. I low key kind of love her relationship with Alastair in the sense that she sees herself as the annoying younger sister and just wants to be thee for him which was SO sweet and she really puts herself on the line for other people. You know!
We have super sweet Lucie. For me personally Lucie has a super interesting arc that I don鈥檛 want to go too much into because of spoilers but one chapter in particular was so well executed I was sat there screaming at my book like OH MY GOD! It was just amazing. Lucie and Cordelias relationship is lovely and you can see that they both well and truly care about one another, I am invested in this friendship hands down!
Anna is SUCH an interesting character. After reading about her in the novella in Ghosts of The Shadow Market I was very excited to see her in this. I love her attitude, and you can see how much she cares. Her continuous love interests and her reactions had me dying it was just so funny. This is one more character I can鈥檛 wait to read more about! To quote Anna鈥� 鈥漈hey 诲颈诲苍鈥檛鈥� and neither did you.鈥�
Keeping it 100, I am not a fan of Grace. I just, from the very start I did not trust her what so ever. She was just too 鈥減erfect鈥� and sickly sweet and I just couldn鈥檛 work her out, as the story progressed I just disliked her even more, saying this I am very very interested to find out more about her.
The Merry Thieves
鈥滲ut we suffer for love because love is worth it.鈥�
Where to begin with James? To start off you can tell he is Wills鈥� son, he has that easy charm but then he is like Tessa in the sense that he is quite a calming presence. I loved seeing him with the shadows and how relationships progressed. He stepped up to a 鈥渓eader鈥� role and you can see how much he cares.
Matthew is probably the most complex out of the shadow hunters, and it is very useful to of read his backstory. I really really feel for him in Chain of Gold. He has an issue when it comes to alcohol and sometimes like to play the fool. You can see his unyielding protection and love when it comes to James and there are some truly heartfelt moments. Out of all of the shadow hunters this time around Matthew is my favourite male (sorry, but Cordelia is my Queen right now).
鈥漌e don鈥檛 always love people who deserve it鈥�
I鈥檓 finding it slightly hard to talk a lot about Thomas and Christopher/Kit so I think it鈥檚 easier to merge them together for this book. I can see a story arc playing out for Thomas very clearly in my mind, and I am here for it, but after things panned out I鈥檓 wondering HOW>! As for Christopher I think out of all of the characters he鈥檚 the least I know about, hopefully we will get to see more!
Just to point out the next Characters aren鈥檛 part of The Merry Thieves and I know that particularly in Chain of Gold Matthew and Thomas take more of a centre stage compared to Grace and Anna but I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 want to break them up!
Out of all of the character I feel the most conflicted towards Alastair, you can see SO much potential with him, and he is such an interesting character. He鈥檚 quite mysterious and we do learn little bits about him (not all good either) and I was well and truly on my way to full on rooting for him, I mean I still am but I鈥檓 kind of angry with him as well!
I鈥檓 saying it now I LOVE Jesse, he鈥檚 such an interesting character and his relationship with Lucie was one of my favourites. The interactions they have I was just oohing and ahhing, but he is so selfless and my heart literally broke at one point for him. I think that as the story progresses I am intrigued to see what鈥檚 going to happen with him.
You let me be something I had never been before, even when I was living. A Shadowhunter.
We got to see Papa and Mama Herondale AKA Will and Tessa and it was so lovely to see them being parents! I think what was so sweet was how much there loved showed even after all of those years together. You see their protective sides come out when it came to their children, nieces and nephews. You still got to see Wills silly and fun loving side and Tessa with her fondness. You still get so many lovely quotes from these two and see them in a different light. They鈥檙e still the same but just with the view of being parents and slightly more mature!
鈥滱 better Shadowhunter and a better man,鈥� said Will. 鈥淎ll the best of me, I learned from Jem and your Mother...鈥�
Finally last but not least we get Jem, it鈥檚 interesting to see him in his Silent Brother role, but with him still knowing who he truly is. I adored his interactions with the younger generation and the older ones and he really is that figure that many people look to for some form of guidance and knowledge. Even though I expected it and I KNOW what happens with his story Arc up until a certain point it still breaks my little heart.
What I liked?
- Lets state a few obvious ones in a bulk here: Back into the Shadowhunter world I go, Will Herondale, my number one book love, seeing so many people from TID, my heart was so happy, SO many references to TID I was overjoyed!
- So much love and friendship, honestly I don鈥檛 care what anyone says, the friendships across these books are always so well done
- Seeing little snippets of Jem, Will and Tessa had me weeping, by 90 pages in I鈥檇 cried twice.
- Some of the more 鈥渁ction鈥� scenes had me completely gripped, they were done so well and I could just see it all playing out, it was so intense and had me gripped!
- Cortana I found it super interesting this time around, we all know about Cortana but I鈥檓 pretty sure it did something I haven鈥檛 seen it do before and I was like oooooh gurl
- It had me questioning a lot, I thought I had some things figured out and then something would happen and it would completely flip my opinion.
- Horses鈥� and while we鈥檙e on it even though they鈥檙e not linked what so ever. Ghosts.
- The Warlocks that are Malcolm and Hypatia, it was interesting to see a reference in this knowing what we do I was like OOOOOH
- SO MUCH SIBLING LOVE!
- The amount of times I must of said 鈥淲hat is going on鈥�
- Sending of dresses and Sonas reaction, I just knew who had sent them it was great
- A certain Herondale Star popping up鈥� consistency is key!
- Magbus turning up six hours early and his response being 鈥渂loody hell鈥� it was hilarious!
- All of the tension鈥� ooooft
- OSCAR, who鈥檚 a good boy!
- A erm, certain locket and what is inside it鈥�
- Gideon and Gabriel, oh I missed my favourite brothers!
- Hair colours鈥�
I鈥檓 just going to say, that where it left off I am feeling very very anxious for what鈥檚 to come but I鈥檓 so excited, one whole year! Guess the countdown will begin, but I am very very excited!
What I 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 like?
My only complaint is I wish we鈥檇 see more of Anna, Christopher and Thomas. I think from this first book we only got a slight glimpse into who they are, however that means that we will hopefully get to see a lot more of them as the series continues!
鈥淏ut at least we can always pick up a book and read it anew. Stories offer a thousand fresh starts.鈥�
Final thoughts鈥�
My heart is so full with happiness, I can鈥檛 begin to explain how much these books and stories mean to me. I think because of my love for The Infernal Devices I was scared to see how this would pan out, but it was so enjoyable and I literally cannot wait for book 2 to be released!
--------
Re-Read 12.09.2022
My first re-read of this series, I have to say I still really really enjoyed this one, the characters really drive this series for me and upon the re-read you can see certain things, I think my only issue with this is that it is so long and I think it could of been slightly compressed. Still very enjoyable!
---------
09.03.2020
By The Angel!
That was hands down one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not let me down what so ever!
What an amazing introduction to the start of the New Years.
Currently sobbing my head out at Will and Tessas wedding but I knew I was going to!
Full review to come and just to warn you it will more than likely be a long one cause your girl is OBSESSED
All Cassandra Clare Reviews:
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel - 5 Stars
Clockwork Prince - 5 Stars
Clockwork Princess - 5 Stars
The Infernal Devices (Manga) Reviews:
Clockwork Angel - 5 Stars
Clockwork Prince - 5 Stars
Clockwork Princess - 5 Stars
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold - 4 Stars
Chain of Iron - 5 Stars
Chain of Thorns - 4 Stars
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones - 5 Stars
City of Ashes - 4 Stars
City of Glass - 4 Stars
City of Fallen Angels - 2 Stars
City of Lost Souls - 3 Stars
City of Heavenly Fire - 4 Stars
The Eldest Curses
The Red Scrolls of Magic - 3 Stars
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight - 5 Stars
Lord of Shadows - 5 Stars
Queen of Air and Darkness - 5 Stars
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
03.03.2020
Happy release day for Chain of Gold! Hope you all have the best time reading it!
Secretly jealous because Amazon ruined it and I haven鈥檛 got my copy even though I preordered it when it first came out...
Let鈥檚 hope I get my Waterstones delivery tomorrow :)
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�-
02.03.2020
TOMORROW THIS WILL ARRIVE... I get to see my love again!
I also booked off Wednesday cause I鈥檓 that person who needs personal time with their books...
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
15.01.2020
It is the year 2020, in less than two months Chain of Gold will be here, I will have at least four copies and two book boxes of this, and if you dare be terrible and not give these character ALL of the love I will Riot (Zoe will join me as well)
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺€�
13.12.18
LOOK AT THAT COVER I AM IN LOVE!
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌�
28.07.18
So I鈥檓 reading TID (Clockwork Prince) and it鈥檚 just dawned on me.
Page 300
鈥淲e who are immortal, we are chained to this life by a chain of gold, and we dare not sever it for fear of what lies beyond the drop鈥� said Magnus
Coincidence? I think not!
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺€�
When you need a book more than life itself, because your one true love is finally coming back to you... I. need. this. now.
WILL HERONDALE, sooooooooooooon!
July 14, 2021
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I waited too long to start this one! And as you can guess, I鈥檓 slapping at my face for three hours for my illogical delaying decision!
This is brilliant, unique, captivating!
I鈥檓 not gonna give so much away! But that cliffhanger broke my heart into millions of pieces! I鈥檓 still screaming and I am literally craving more! The characterization, balanced pacing, writing style, world building are fantastic!
My favorite books of the author are Clockwork Princess and Lady Midnight. I can proudly say that now I found another favorite one!
Took my five gazillion stars and give me the next book ASAP pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee!
This is brilliant, unique, captivating!
I鈥檓 not gonna give so much away! But that cliffhanger broke my heart into millions of pieces! I鈥檓 still screaming and I am literally craving more! The characterization, balanced pacing, writing style, world building are fantastic!
My favorite books of the author are Clockwork Princess and Lady Midnight. I can proudly say that now I found another favorite one!
Took my five gazillion stars and give me the next book ASAP pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee!
February 10, 2023
4.5 stars! How does Cassandra Clare always find new and painful ways to keep characters apart?馃槶鉂わ笍
I haven't read a book in the shadow hunter universe in YEARS (probably like 8+ years which makes me feel old), so I was SO EXCITED to get back into the shadow hunter world, and I was not disappointed.
I LOVE our main character Cordelia. She is brave, bold, and would do anything for her friends. I also love James and his whole group of friends. They would all walk straight into danger to protect people and do what's right.
We get a big cast of characters. And I loved reading about all of their relationships with each other and their romances. Overall a fast-paced plot in a fun world.
I haven't read a book in the shadow hunter universe in YEARS (probably like 8+ years which makes me feel old), so I was SO EXCITED to get back into the shadow hunter world, and I was not disappointed.
I LOVE our main character Cordelia. She is brave, bold, and would do anything for her friends. I also love James and his whole group of friends. They would all walk straight into danger to protect people and do what's right.
We get a big cast of characters. And I loved reading about all of their relationships with each other and their romances. Overall a fast-paced plot in a fun world.
February 1, 2020
If you're a Cassie Clare fan, ignore this review because you're gonna love the book. But if you're like me, with not enough brain cells to fathom rereading every Shadowhunter book and every little novella in between, you should probably read this book with the Shadowhunters wiki page pulled up in another tab.
I'll give this book its credit where it's due: I think Chain of Gold features my favorite cast of characters yet. Usually in Cassandra Clare worlds, I'll only be able to locate two or three characters I care deeply for and I skip the chapters of the rest. In Chain of Gold, however, I loved every character. You get the perfect balance of being reunited with old characters (ahhem, jem step on my neck) whilst falling in love with new ones (matthew and anna, stomp on me). The writing is great, this book is transporting, all is well.
But Cassie Clare books have ceased to be books that you can read with little effort. Because this book follows characters who have novellas about them already, you're expected to go into this with a lot of background knowledge. I had none. And I was baffled for nearly 300 pages before I finally stopped to Google everything. I hope the final copy has a family tree or a character guide to spare y'all the time. There are easily 10-15 moments in this book where the characters are like "hahaha remember when this happened??" in reference to the events of a previous novella, meanwhile I'm just chillin' with crickets in the background because I wasn't told there was an entire prequel to this new trilogy. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to call it lazy storytelling to require so much extra reading on top of the 600 pages of development in this book, but it was definitely annoying that I felt I was witnessing the middle of a character arc rather than the beginning of it.
Even though I grew to love the characters (after I was finally able to distinguish who was who), not much happened in this book. If I were going to spoil you, there's probably only two or three major events to describe. Although this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020, I found myself procrastinating picking it back up to read because it just isn't that exciting. I'm giving it a bit of credit because it's the first book in a series setting up the plot, but for a 600-page book, it was still a bit excruciating at times.
Another disappointment was the romance. It felt like there was none except one or two scenes, even though the synopsis almost revolves around Cordelia's crush on James. (Side note: It's a stretch to consider Cordelia the main character of this book. It follows the entire cast of characters almost equally.) This book lacked the angst of Cassie's previous books, though likely because a majority of the build-up and action occurred in previous novellas. Also, the time period makes sexuality and lust a lot more taboo, so that might have played a factor in why there was so little action I craved.
All I've said sounds super negative, but once I got into the groove of this book, I really did adore it. There's lots of nods to previous series with Will and Tessa and Magnus and Cortana and certain little Easter eggs that were so fun to find. Part of the reason this book wasn't 5 stars for me is entirely user error since I didn't read the prequel novellas, but I'm also just disappointed that Cassie Clare books from now on are going to be so difficult to read because they'll have required you to read her 20+ book series arc just to understand the basic premise and characters. So although this book took a sec to get through, I'm really looking forward to the sequel and I would like to thank not only God but Jesus that we've been spared too much of a cliffhanger.
I'll give this book its credit where it's due: I think Chain of Gold features my favorite cast of characters yet. Usually in Cassandra Clare worlds, I'll only be able to locate two or three characters I care deeply for and I skip the chapters of the rest. In Chain of Gold, however, I loved every character. You get the perfect balance of being reunited with old characters (ahhem, jem step on my neck) whilst falling in love with new ones (matthew and anna, stomp on me). The writing is great, this book is transporting, all is well.
But Cassie Clare books have ceased to be books that you can read with little effort. Because this book follows characters who have novellas about them already, you're expected to go into this with a lot of background knowledge. I had none. And I was baffled for nearly 300 pages before I finally stopped to Google everything. I hope the final copy has a family tree or a character guide to spare y'all the time. There are easily 10-15 moments in this book where the characters are like "hahaha remember when this happened??" in reference to the events of a previous novella, meanwhile I'm just chillin' with crickets in the background because I wasn't told there was an entire prequel to this new trilogy. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to call it lazy storytelling to require so much extra reading on top of the 600 pages of development in this book, but it was definitely annoying that I felt I was witnessing the middle of a character arc rather than the beginning of it.
Even though I grew to love the characters (after I was finally able to distinguish who was who), not much happened in this book. If I were going to spoil you, there's probably only two or three major events to describe. Although this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020, I found myself procrastinating picking it back up to read because it just isn't that exciting. I'm giving it a bit of credit because it's the first book in a series setting up the plot, but for a 600-page book, it was still a bit excruciating at times.
Another disappointment was the romance. It felt like there was none except one or two scenes, even though the synopsis almost revolves around Cordelia's crush on James. (Side note: It's a stretch to consider Cordelia the main character of this book. It follows the entire cast of characters almost equally.) This book lacked the angst of Cassie's previous books, though likely because a majority of the build-up and action occurred in previous novellas. Also, the time period makes sexuality and lust a lot more taboo, so that might have played a factor in why there was so little action I craved.
All I've said sounds super negative, but once I got into the groove of this book, I really did adore it. There's lots of nods to previous series with Will and Tessa and Magnus and Cortana and certain little Easter eggs that were so fun to find. Part of the reason this book wasn't 5 stars for me is entirely user error since I didn't read the prequel novellas, but I'm also just disappointed that Cassie Clare books from now on are going to be so difficult to read because they'll have required you to read her 20+ book series arc just to understand the basic premise and characters. So although this book took a sec to get through, I'm really looking forward to the sequel and I would like to thank not only God but Jesus that we've been spared too much of a cliffhanger.
March 25, 2020
3.75 stars - This book is exactly what I wanted right now. I鈥檝e only previously read The Infernal Devices, but I enjoyed this for the same reason I enjoyed that series: it鈥檚 follows a bunch of beautiful people in love and there鈥檚 barely any plot. The fantasy world is a fun but fairly unimportant backdrop to the angst and romance of the characters. And I couldn鈥檛 be happier! I go into these books with those expectations and I am not disappointed. These are the book equivalent of a CW tv show (and I say that as a fan of CW shows for the same reason 鈥� pretty people who all love each other!)
While technically these series can be read separately because Clare does a good job of recapping important bits from other series and the Shadowhunter world in general, I can鈥檛 imagine reading it without TID. There鈥檚 too many characters from TID and too many references that make the book more fun if you understand them.
There are so many characters in here that at one point I had to draw a chart to outline how everyone was related and who liked who, but I caught on quickly after that. This was a fun romp with likable characters and plenty of angst and romance tropes to enjoy. But it did drag on a bit towards the end and would have been better as a shorter book.
I will be doing a full review and discussion in my channel :)
While technically these series can be read separately because Clare does a good job of recapping important bits from other series and the Shadowhunter world in general, I can鈥檛 imagine reading it without TID. There鈥檚 too many characters from TID and too many references that make the book more fun if you understand them.
There are so many characters in here that at one point I had to draw a chart to outline how everyone was related and who liked who, but I caught on quickly after that. This was a fun romp with likable characters and plenty of angst and romance tropes to enjoy. But it did drag on a bit towards the end and would have been better as a shorter book.
I will be doing a full review and discussion in my channel :)
May 14, 2020
I was desperate to read this book.
I鈥檝e been part of the world of the Shadowhunters for more than ten years, The Infernal Devices being my favorite saga. I clung to the memories of the London Institute, of holy water and blood, of crushed hearts and clockwork angels and faded parabatai runes through happy times and difficult times, ever since I finished . When my hands touched , when I breathed in its pages and sank into the familiar lives of the Nephilim, it felt like I returned home after a long, bittersweet journey. And yet鈥� And yet a part of me, a guilty part of me wishes that The Last Hours trilogy would remain a distant hope, an expectation rather than a fact.
A part of me wishes it were never written.
The Shadowhunters have grown soft. Demonic activity is scarce, leaving room for frivolity and other mundane pleasures. But old debts must be paid, and a terrible storm is brewing, aiming to destroy the Nephilim once and for all. In the center of this new conspiracy, there is one of mixed heritage. Half angel, half demon, James Herondale and his friends shall fight, lie, bleed in order to uncover the mystery behind the irregular massacres and the poison that has infected the London Enclave, before it is too late.
I can hear my younger self shouting expletives. You were gifted with more time with Will, she says. With Edwardian Shadowhunters. With demon slaying and cosmic friendships and did I mention Will and Tessa as parents? It is true, my soul rejoiced and clenched and drowned in nostalgia and longing. The tether that binds it with the world of the Nephilim remained firm, and I fell in love with the new generation (with James and Lucy and Cordelia and Matthew and Thomas and Christopher and Anna and Jesse), I loathed some evil spawns (Grace and Charles), I am confused about my feelings for others (yes Alastair, that鈥檚 you) and in general, I was lost in a place where I always found myself. And yet, there are reasons felt discordant. Like was playing a song she has mastered but missed a couple of notes, and I can attribute it to two factors.
First, the Shadowhunters Chronicles are no strangers to death. Many beloved characters have perished, leaving fresh wounds in their wake. However, I never wanted to experience such losses through the eyes of the teenagers I once rooted for so deeply. Will, Tessa, Sophie, Gideon, Cecily, Gabriel, Henry, Charlotte, they went through so much that it seems unfair to witness their lives unfold in a manner that will break them. I would prefer the ideal picture I built in my head about their happily ever afters free of revenge, pain and loss. The price of watching them become parents is simply too steep.
Second, a famous ingredient of the Shadowhunter Chronicles is teenagers rebelling against the adults who refuse to listen. In the past, the Clave has been a de facto enemy, the corrupt or scared or stubbornly ignorant authority that forces our valiant heroes to sneak, steal and lie in order to save the world. Now, the Clave consists of said heroes. That鈥檚 why all the secrets and unnecessary risks seem so mind-numbingly stupid. It鈥檚 Will Herondale . It鈥檚 Tessa Gray . It鈥檚 Charlotte Branwell . It鈥檚 Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood . Why, by the Angel, did Cassandra have to present lame excuses and misguided promises in order to keep the parents in the dark? They would assist, they would dive into danger headlong because they value and trust their children. Instead their children lied to their faces, withheld vital information and that was a stab in the heart. A betrayal to the heroes of The Infernal Devices.
On a more cheerful note, was equal parts painful, engaging and amusing, as expected. The relationships tangled as ever. And the characters? They were shooting starts. Vibrant. Burning brightly and fiercely, with love being their greatest strength and most dangerous weakness.
The Merry Thieves are heart stealers. The leader, the scientist, the libertine, the kind one, with the addition of the Beautiful Cordelia (slay Queen, slay) and none other than the aspiring author, ghost-whisperer Lucie, they are all my cinnamon rolls who must.be.protected.at.all.costs. As for the romances? You 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 expect simple, did you? Forbidden, hopeless, devastating, that鈥檚 鈥檚 way, and the road ahead is paved with suffering and pain. And even though I mentally prepared myself to deal with it, there are already cracks in my armor that will eventually leave me exposed to the tragedies which are bound to happen.
was the beginning of a powerful story of revenge, blood and love which will undoubtedly wreak unimaginable emotional havoc.
I am equal parts excited and terrified.
P.S. Did it ever occur to you that for people bound by the holiest of bonds, the parabatai never talk to each other about their romantic aspirations? I sincerely hope that history shall not be repeated, and a love triangle similar to The Infernal Devices will be avoided. Because once was quite enough.
P.P.S. WILLIAM OWEN HERONDALE IS STILL THE LOVE OF MY LIFE MY HUSBAND MY SUN AND STARS
I鈥檝e been part of the world of the Shadowhunters for more than ten years, The Infernal Devices being my favorite saga. I clung to the memories of the London Institute, of holy water and blood, of crushed hearts and clockwork angels and faded parabatai runes through happy times and difficult times, ever since I finished . When my hands touched , when I breathed in its pages and sank into the familiar lives of the Nephilim, it felt like I returned home after a long, bittersweet journey. And yet鈥� And yet a part of me, a guilty part of me wishes that The Last Hours trilogy would remain a distant hope, an expectation rather than a fact.
A part of me wishes it were never written.
鈥淲hither thou goest, I will go, James. Even unto the tedious suburb of Highgate.鈥�
The Shadowhunters have grown soft. Demonic activity is scarce, leaving room for frivolity and other mundane pleasures. But old debts must be paid, and a terrible storm is brewing, aiming to destroy the Nephilim once and for all. In the center of this new conspiracy, there is one of mixed heritage. Half angel, half demon, James Herondale and his friends shall fight, lie, bleed in order to uncover the mystery behind the irregular massacres and the poison that has infected the London Enclave, before it is too late.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 always love people who deserve it.鈥�
I can hear my younger self shouting expletives. You were gifted with more time with Will, she says. With Edwardian Shadowhunters. With demon slaying and cosmic friendships and did I mention Will and Tessa as parents? It is true, my soul rejoiced and clenched and drowned in nostalgia and longing. The tether that binds it with the world of the Nephilim remained firm, and I fell in love with the new generation (with James and Lucy and Cordelia and Matthew and Thomas and Christopher and Anna and Jesse), I loathed some evil spawns (Grace and Charles), I am confused about my feelings for others (yes Alastair, that鈥檚 you) and in general, I was lost in a place where I always found myself. And yet, there are reasons felt discordant. Like was playing a song she has mastered but missed a couple of notes, and I can attribute it to two factors.
First, the Shadowhunters Chronicles are no strangers to death. Many beloved characters have perished, leaving fresh wounds in their wake. However, I never wanted to experience such losses through the eyes of the teenagers I once rooted for so deeply. Will, Tessa, Sophie, Gideon, Cecily, Gabriel, Henry, Charlotte, they went through so much that it seems unfair to witness their lives unfold in a manner that will break them. I would prefer the ideal picture I built in my head about their happily ever afters free of revenge, pain and loss. The price of watching them become parents is simply too steep.
Second, a famous ingredient of the Shadowhunter Chronicles is teenagers rebelling against the adults who refuse to listen. In the past, the Clave has been a de facto enemy, the corrupt or scared or stubbornly ignorant authority that forces our valiant heroes to sneak, steal and lie in order to save the world. Now, the Clave consists of said heroes. That鈥檚 why all the secrets and unnecessary risks seem so mind-numbingly stupid. It鈥檚 Will Herondale . It鈥檚 Tessa Gray . It鈥檚 Charlotte Branwell . It鈥檚 Gabriel and Gideon Lightwood . Why, by the Angel, did Cassandra have to present lame excuses and misguided promises in order to keep the parents in the dark? They would assist, they would dive into danger headlong because they value and trust their children. Instead their children lied to their faces, withheld vital information and that was a stab in the heart. A betrayal to the heroes of The Infernal Devices.
鈥淒id you expect more fear? Then you do not know my father. You do not know my mother. You do not know my family, or me.鈥�
On a more cheerful note, was equal parts painful, engaging and amusing, as expected. The relationships tangled as ever. And the characters? They were shooting starts. Vibrant. Burning brightly and fiercely, with love being their greatest strength and most dangerous weakness.
The Merry Thieves are heart stealers. The leader, the scientist, the libertine, the kind one, with the addition of the Beautiful Cordelia (slay Queen, slay) and none other than the aspiring author, ghost-whisperer Lucie, they are all my cinnamon rolls who must.be.protected.at.all.costs. As for the romances? You 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 expect simple, did you? Forbidden, hopeless, devastating, that鈥檚 鈥檚 way, and the road ahead is paved with suffering and pain. And even though I mentally prepared myself to deal with it, there are already cracks in my armor that will eventually leave me exposed to the tragedies which are bound to happen.
was the beginning of a powerful story of revenge, blood and love which will undoubtedly wreak unimaginable emotional havoc.
I am equal parts excited and terrified.
P.S. Did it ever occur to you that for people bound by the holiest of bonds, the parabatai never talk to each other about their romantic aspirations? I sincerely hope that history shall not be repeated, and a love triangle similar to The Infernal Devices will be avoided. Because once was quite enough.
P.P.S. WILLIAM OWEN HERONDALE IS STILL THE LOVE OF MY LIFE MY HUSBAND MY SUN AND STARS
Want to read
December 13, 2018JEEZ!!!
My heart stopped beating when I saw this cover.
It's so gorgeous I want to marry it. <333
___________________________
I've been dying to read more about James Herondale ever since I read "The Midnight Heir" in "The Bane Chronicles".
I love all those Herondales and Carstairs and Lightwoods and Blackthorns.
Gosh just give me all those awesome Shadowhunters!
I need them like I need air to breathe! <333
I genuinely hope Cassie Clare never stops to write those books because it certainly would be the death of me. *lol*
My heart stopped beating when I saw this cover.
It's so gorgeous I want to marry it. <333
___________________________
I've been dying to read more about James Herondale ever since I read "The Midnight Heir" in "The Bane Chronicles".
I love all those Herondales and Carstairs and Lightwoods and Blackthorns.
Gosh just give me all those awesome Shadowhunters!
I need them like I need air to breathe! <333
I genuinely hope Cassie Clare never stops to write those books because it certainly would be the death of me. *lol*
February 24, 2023
Chain of Gold: 鈽嗏槅鈽嗏槅鈽�
Chain of Iron: 鈽嗏槅鈽嗏槅鈽�
鈥淭here is no better distraction in this world than losing oneself in books for awhile.鈥�
I WANT THE NEXT BOOK
this kids have such a complicated love life, and i didn't really expected some of those, let's say complications...
I just want these teens to be happy.
cassie, you really are a devil playing with our hearts...
but this has to be my favourite shadowhunters' book so far.
First read: March 9th 2020 - March 11th 2020
Second read: July 30th 2020 - August 2nd 2020
Third read: January 26th 2021 - February 6th 2021
*Buddy read with: May and Lorelei
Forth read: February 21st 2021 - February 27th 2021
*Buddy read with: Mashie and Krizzie
Fifth read: February 18th 2023 - February 22nd 2023
*Buddy read with minty 馃挄
Chain of Iron: 鈽嗏槅鈽嗏槅鈽�
鈥淭here is no better distraction in this world than losing oneself in books for awhile.鈥�
I WANT THE NEXT BOOK
this kids have such a complicated love life, and i didn't really expected some of those, let's say complications...
I just want these teens to be happy.
cassie, you really are a devil playing with our hearts...
but this has to be my favourite shadowhunters' book so far.
First read: March 9th 2020 - March 11th 2020
Second read: July 30th 2020 - August 2nd 2020
Third read: January 26th 2021 - February 6th 2021
*Buddy read with: May and Lorelei
Forth read: February 21st 2021 - February 27th 2021
*Buddy read with: Mashie and Krizzie
Fifth read: February 18th 2023 - February 22nd 2023
*Buddy read with minty 馃挄
April 1, 2020
Me reading this book was just like: *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV* *waiting for Matthew POV*
**
Three whole books starring Will Herondale as a DILF? Sign me tf up 馃憖 馃憖 馃憖
**
Three whole books starring Will Herondale as a DILF? Sign me tf up 馃憖 馃憖 馃憖
April 11, 2021
reread#1 鈥� 5鈽� forgot to mention. I read it with @Viki and @Hafsa this time and I loved it! So, thank you, you guys :)
Perhaps life was not like books. Perhaps life was never going to be like that.
Last year, I rated it 5 because I loved it so much and because I'm usually biased when it comes to Cassie's books. Last year I thought this book was a bit too slow, and despite loving it so so much, I felt a bit disappointed too.
This time, however, everything seemed perfect. Maybe because I've become a little more calmer than before. This book was very like "Queen of Air and Darkness" in terms of writing style and plotting and I LOVED IT! Also, I'm glad this book wasn't unnecessarily long like that one because that one was.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Cordelia Carstairs travels to London with her family. Her main goal is to make a good relationship with some of the most influential family members so that she could take them on her side, explain the problem with her dad regarding which she needs help, and also make a good match with someone she can get married to because ... Reasons.
Everything happens very smoothly and clearly, the drama starts from the beginning and the action is almost always there. There are complexities, misunderstandings, secrets, unexpressed love, I mean, everything you could expect from a shadowhunter book. It's not something new. In fact, it's something we know we'll find inside every time we start a Shadowhunter book; at least I do. But the way Cassie shapes the personality of a Character and the way she further develops them is fascinating as well as fun to read. The humour, whether it's 1800s-1900s or 2007-2012, is my favourite! Also the historical world set-up? Cassie does the very best at writing those. I love her books set in modern times but I just LOVE this Edwardian-Victorian time. And this probably falls under character development, but I really want to tell that I love how unique these characters are in terms of their backstory and personality. (Ofc, except Herondales)
About the main characters,
Cordelia Carstairs
I really liked seeing how different Cassie wrote Cordelia from her other female Protagonists (Clary, Emma, Tessa) I personally loved her own family dynamic, having always traveled so she never had any friends, the way she felt like she had to help her father, the way she tried to never hurt her mother and how much she cared for her brother, Alastair, everything really kept me curious. Her love for James, on the other hand, not so much. I like their romance, I even ship them, but I think it's too much drama for my usual taste of shadowhunter-drama. The way she stood up for what was right and never hesitated to tell someone when they were wrong, that was my favourite thing about her. This girl ... was definitely an amazing protagonist. However, even after my reread, I feel like I need more to know her better. (I feel the same for all characters, but) esp. her because she's the main character. I see she's been in love with James, I see how fierce she is and how loyal too, I've seen her hurt and it has hurt me for her too, and yet, something feels missing.
By @adamar.art
James Herondale
hmm. I liked him. I liked his calm nature. But again, the Herondales-destroying-themselves-in-love. Oh boy. Please Cassie, please stop this. I love these Characters. I love these troubled Herondale boys, but just stop. It's not fair that you make us hurt for them and in the end give them a happy ending. Like always!! Why? Why can't they sometimes just be trouble-free and happy? And why are they always the ones to get importance?
Is it just me? Because I noticed the wings in the shadows just a few days ago while I'm looking and admiring this fanart from last year!
My main problem with this bookisn't that characters don't communicate because that's obviously the part of age-old-shadowhunter-drama, it's that I was expecting more about Anna Lightwood, Lucie Herondale, Matthew Fairchild and Jesse Blackthorn, Grace and Tatiana too, which I absolutely didn't get. But oh well, Cassie could only do so much in the first book so let's see if she gives me what I wanted in the sequel.
鈿狅笍 SPOILER ALERT 鈿狅笍
About Characters and relationships while also getting into the plot, so I'll definitely discuss scenes I loved. Kindly avoid reading ahead if you don't wanna be spoiled.
CHARACTERS
鈥擩esse Blackthorn
The most underrated character in this book. I want his pov from when he first met Lucie to when he got shocked Lucie could still see him, I want his pov from when she visited him when she went with Cordelia to when he visited her the time Will called her "Lulu", I want it all! How he felt for her, what he thought of her, why he was so ready to give his last breath away for her or anyone she loved, and I want to know just how much Grace and Tatiana had told him of their plans. I just need to know!
鈥擬atthew Fairchild
My Love. This boy deserves a world full of happiness and that's it. If he doesn't get to be happy, I'm gonna be very mad at Cassie. I love his Character, I love his personality, I love his dialogues, I love his sense of humour, I love how sincere he is and I love how intensely he feels things and loves people/his friends. This boy is just so imperfectly perfect for a fictional world and yet that shadow of the past won't let him fully live the way he could have. I deeply hurt for him everytime he remembers what he's done or gives a hint at what Alastair said or how he's reminded of his mom at times, I really hurt for him and just want him to have it in him to share his burden with someone and just ... Forgive Alastair. The way he makes people (me) laugh, oh! My heart is full of love for him. And yes, I want a long time pov from him too! Esp, after that whispering room scene and that scene in the end when he talks to Magnus.
鈥擫ucie Herondale
Cassie's first character, (I guess) who loves writing, not sketching, painting, reading, etc. This girl has a lot ahead of her.
She's gonna fall into trouble.
And seeing the Chain of Iron cover, I'm assuming the plot is going to mainly revolve around her and her Will-like-reckless decisions, haha. Oh, I'm so in for it.
I think, depending on how Cassie writes book 2, I might love her more than Cordelia. There's definitely a chance.
And, I was a bit hurt the last time I read that she didn't love Matthew, but this time, I'm glad that at least she didn't play around with him by pretending she loves him just so he doesn't get hurt and that she was actually honest, because imo, in those times, relationships used to get affected easily regarding such matters. It was really amazing seeing how strong the friendships were that even such truths couldn't weaken the bonds.
I also wonder who's ghost it might be that she saw. A Blonde boy. 馃
Oh, and I just love the way Lucie always steps forward in any matter of the Herondale family name.
In fact, I loved her spirit when she said,
鈥擜lastair Carstairs
Um, please understand him. Please forgive him. I'm not saying I never hated what he did; I did. But not when I read Chain of Gold. In fact, when I read his story from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. And because I had read this first, I couldn't hate him. I just felt so many things. I hated what he did, I hated what his rumour-spreading made Matthew do, but I also admired him for taking so much care of Cordelia, I was actually happy that he was strong enough to face those he hurt so bad and prove he isn't the same boy from the academy. The things he was going through because of guilt, the insecurity he felt for Cordelia just because he thought James would take revenge through his sister, and lastly, the things he was understanding because of Charles for so long ... It was a lot.
The things I'm glad about for him is that,
he trusts his sister enough to include her in his personal matters and
that he knows that no matter what all wrong things he did, he was worth more than being in a secret relationship with that jerk, Charles.
鈥擥race Blackthorn
Idk if you've noticed it or not but I've seen two sides of Grace. No, not the general, evil and pretentious side. Those are obviously there.
What I'm talking about is the unfriendly and defensive side as well as the caring and helpless side. It might be my assumption or a seeing-what-I-want-to-see kind of case but I feel Grace genuinely cares about James. And I think she's mostly defensive because she sees the judgement about her in people's eyes.
(for reference: scenes when she talked to Cordelia, Matthew, Lucie, and even Magnus in The Midnight Heir)
I really think she could have left Tatiana, that "Tatiana could blame her for something" is just an excuse because most shadowhunters know how mad Tatiana is and wouldn't believe whatever she'd say about Grace, I think she wants to bring Jesse back so so much that it's part of the reason she doesn't want to go against Tatiana or even leave her. I think at least that much is true.
I really hate the way she asked James to marry her even if they had to get their marks stripped, idc if it was a test, it was very cruel and unfair esp. when she knows he doesn't actually love her, and esp. when she knows it's just the influence of the Gracelet.
but in the end, again, thanks to @El in Oz, despite hating some things Grace did, I'm not able to fully hate her. I really need her side of the story.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this illustration of Grace but I feel like she looks way older than her age.
鈥擬agnus Bane
The most iconic character that Cassie has ever created! What was it that Matthew said?
鈥�ch: loyalty binds me
Exactly! Mine too! There's just one thing that bothered me a little, which includes a spoilery paragraph from The Midnight Heir鈥攁 short story in the bane chronicles.
After this, Magnus left London. And by the end of this book, he told in the meeting that Tatiana had asked him for that help in January. I was confused in my but while writing this review, I just remembered that in The Penultimate Hours, Ragnor wrote Magnus a letter about what was happening among these shadowhunters, and I think that's what made Magnus come back to London again and I'm so happy that no matter how hurt Magnus gets, he selflessly gets ready to help anybody he can.
Magnus. Is. Precision. 鉂わ笍鉁�
by @adamar.art
I am not going to talk about Anna, Ariadne or anyone else I'm missing because they just didn't have enough part in this book to talk about individually.
All the rest of fanart is by @charliebowater.
RELATIONSHIPS/FRIENDSHIPS
I'll link it here鈥攕croll a little, as the page count is almost over and I can't write more here.
DAYS PAST CHAPTERS
My absolute Favourites! I enjoyed reading about these glimpses from the past, so so much.
掳 Lucie meeting Jesse for the first time? Not knowing he was Jesse, I had already been so curious to know the boy, and oh! The way he laughed? He just, I knew he was gonna be a favourite and so he is. When he again met Lucie at the ball, told her he is Jesse Blackthorn, oh my! I was just wishing Cassie gave us Jesse's pov. That boy deserves it! I WANT an extra scene written by Cassie in Jesse's pov!
掳 James meeting the oh-so-graceful, Grace. The way she approached him by calling him "Herondale boy". I was like, are you even real? I see, she isn't the real evil bitch here, Tatiana is. But she sure is her mother's blade and has learned a great deal of manipulation.
掳 Grace put the Gracelet on James. I was so relieved when she finally took it back. It clearly showed she was tired of playing Tatiana's games and the first chance she got (when Tatiana was attacked), Grace took the Gracelet back from James. We didn't get any single scene from her pov but I'm assuming she cared enough about James to want to free him from that enchantment. The only thing that makes me sad and mad at her is that she confessed almost everything to James before putting the enchantment back where that Demon asked her to. My only wish for now, is that Lucie keep the words that demon said to Grace, in her mind and put the pieces together when she sees James is wearing the bracelet and acting unlike him. But I guess no one would pay that much attention. Alas! I'm so deeply sad.
掳 When Thomas met Alastair on his holiday from his travel year? All I want to say is I ship them hard and I really appreciate Alastair's initiative towards Thomas, showing he's not the same academy bully, and making things as better as he could by having as much of a quality time, he could have with Thomas. Also, I'm glad Thomas sincerely gave Alastair a chance to prove he's become better than he was, even if it was because he was having butterflies, lol. 馃き
掳 Matthew's memory of the crime he commited? It Seriously hurts me. Idk why some people think it's not much and he should get over it. In fact, I think if only Math shared it with someone, he even would have gotten over it. But something THAT big done for a rumour, that surely can't be easy when you keep it to yourself. Not just because you killed someone in your family, but because you didn't trust them enough to have so easily believed a rumour, and it sure can't be easy to forgive when: 1) that rumour was so sick, and 2) that rumour was reason you went that far, anyway.
掳 Cordelia and Alastair's chapter? My favourite!
To sum up, this book was a mess and it a mess of me too.
Stories connecting to TLH Characters:
Nothing But Shadows 5鈽�
Cast Long Shadows 5鈽�
Every Exquisite Thing 5鈽�
4鈽�
Prequel:
The Penultimate Hours 4鈽�
Sequels:
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns
______
I cannot wait to reread this! Cassie writes the best historical/Victorian set up in books! 鉂わ笍
Perhaps life was not like books. Perhaps life was never going to be like that.
Last year, I rated it 5 because I loved it so much and because I'm usually biased when it comes to Cassie's books. Last year I thought this book was a bit too slow, and despite loving it so so much, I felt a bit disappointed too.
This time, however, everything seemed perfect. Maybe because I've become a little more calmer than before. This book was very like "Queen of Air and Darkness" in terms of writing style and plotting and I LOVED IT! Also, I'm glad this book wasn't unnecessarily long like that one because that one was.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Cordelia Carstairs travels to London with her family. Her main goal is to make a good relationship with some of the most influential family members so that she could take them on her side, explain the problem with her dad regarding which she needs help, and also make a good match with someone she can get married to because ... Reasons.
Everything happens very smoothly and clearly, the drama starts from the beginning and the action is almost always there. There are complexities, misunderstandings, secrets, unexpressed love, I mean, everything you could expect from a shadowhunter book. It's not something new. In fact, it's something we know we'll find inside every time we start a Shadowhunter book; at least I do. But the way Cassie shapes the personality of a Character and the way she further develops them is fascinating as well as fun to read. The humour, whether it's 1800s-1900s or 2007-2012, is my favourite! Also the historical world set-up? Cassie does the very best at writing those. I love her books set in modern times but I just LOVE this Edwardian-Victorian time. And this probably falls under character development, but I really want to tell that I love how unique these characters are in terms of their backstory and personality. (Ofc, except Herondales)
About the main characters,
Cordelia Carstairs
That's everyone's dream, isn't it, really? Instead of many who give you little pieces of themselves鈥攐ne who gives you everything.
I really liked seeing how different Cassie wrote Cordelia from her other female Protagonists (Clary, Emma, Tessa) I personally loved her own family dynamic, having always traveled so she never had any friends, the way she felt like she had to help her father, the way she tried to never hurt her mother and how much she cared for her brother, Alastair, everything really kept me curious. Her love for James, on the other hand, not so much. I like their romance, I even ship them, but I think it's too much drama for my usual taste of shadowhunter-drama. The way she stood up for what was right and never hesitated to tell someone when they were wrong, that was my favourite thing about her. This girl ... was definitely an amazing protagonist. However, even after my reread, I feel like I need more to know her better. (I feel the same for all characters, but) esp. her because she's the main character. I see she's been in love with James, I see how fierce she is and how loyal too, I've seen her hurt and it has hurt me for her too, and yet, something feels missing.
By @adamar.art
James Herondale
I am a Herondale. We love but once.
That is only a story.
Haven't you heard? All the stories are true.
hmm. I liked him. I liked his calm nature. But again, the Herondales-destroying-themselves-in-love. Oh boy. Please Cassie, please stop this. I love these Characters. I love these troubled Herondale boys, but just stop. It's not fair that you make us hurt for them and in the end give them a happy ending. Like always!! Why? Why can't they sometimes just be trouble-free and happy? And why are they always the ones to get importance?
Is it just me? Because I noticed the wings in the shadows just a few days ago while I'm looking and admiring this fanart from last year!
My main problem with this book
鈿狅笍 SPOILER ALERT 鈿狅笍
About Characters and relationships while also getting into the plot, so I'll definitely discuss scenes I loved. Kindly avoid reading ahead if you don't wanna be spoiled.
CHARACTERS
鈥擩esse Blackthorn
Think of me as on the threshold of a door. I am unable to take a step outside the door, and I know I can never be allowed back in, to live again. But the door has not closed behind me.
The most underrated character in this book. I want his pov from when he first met Lucie to when he got shocked Lucie could still see him, I want his pov from when she visited him when she went with Cordelia to when he visited her the time Will called her "Lulu", I want it all! How he felt for her, what he thought of her, why he was so ready to give his last breath away for her or anyone she loved, and I want to know just how much Grace and Tatiana had told him of their plans. I just need to know!
鈥擬atthew Fairchild
I should like to have a portrait in the attic, that would show all my sins, while I stayed young and beautiful.
My Love. This boy deserves a world full of happiness and that's it. If he doesn't get to be happy, I'm gonna be very mad at Cassie. I love his Character, I love his personality, I love his dialogues, I love his sense of humour, I love how sincere he is and I love how intensely he feels things and loves people/his friends. This boy is just so imperfectly perfect for a fictional world and yet that shadow of the past won't let him fully live the way he could have. I deeply hurt for him everytime he remembers what he's done or gives a hint at what Alastair said or how he's reminded of his mom at times, I really hurt for him and just want him to have it in him to share his burden with someone and just ... Forgive Alastair. The way he makes people (me) laugh, oh! My heart is full of love for him. And yes, I want a long time pov from him too! Esp, after that whispering room scene and that scene in the end when he talks to Magnus.
鈥擫ucie Herondale
What was the point of having exciting things happen to you if you couldn't tell a story about them?
Cassie's first character, (I guess) who loves writing, not sketching, painting, reading, etc. This girl has a lot ahead of her.
She's gonna fall into trouble.
And seeing the Chain of Iron cover, I'm assuming the plot is going to mainly revolve around her and her Will-like-reckless decisions, haha. Oh, I'm so in for it.
I think, depending on how Cassie writes book 2, I might love her more than Cordelia. There's definitely a chance.
And, I was a bit hurt the last time I read that she didn't love Matthew, but this time, I'm glad that at least she didn't play around with him by pretending she loves him just so he doesn't get hurt and that she was actually honest, because imo, in those times, relationships used to get affected easily regarding such matters. It was really amazing seeing how strong the friendships were that even such truths couldn't weaken the bonds.
I also wonder who's ghost it might be that she saw. A Blonde boy. 馃
Oh, and I just love the way Lucie always steps forward in any matter of the Herondale family name.
"I see you have decided to follow in the long Herondale tradition of poor decision-making."
"So have I!" said Lucie, determined not be left out.
In fact, I loved her spirit when she said,
I can promise it. I do promise it. I am a Herondale, and we do keep our promises.
鈥擜lastair Carstairs
I chose the one where I wasn't made to feel like a laughingstock.
And how has that worked out?
Awful. It's awful.
Um, please understand him. Please forgive him. I'm not saying I never hated what he did; I did. But not when I read Chain of Gold. In fact, when I read his story from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. And because I had read this first, I couldn't hate him. I just felt so many things. I hated what he did, I hated what his rumour-spreading made Matthew do, but I also admired him for taking so much care of Cordelia, I was actually happy that he was strong enough to face those he hurt so bad and prove he isn't the same boy from the academy. The things he was going through because of guilt, the insecurity he felt for Cordelia just because he thought James would take revenge through his sister, and lastly, the things he was understanding because of Charles for so long ... It was a lot.
The things I'm glad about for him is that,
he trusts his sister enough to include her in his personal matters and
that he knows that no matter what all wrong things he did, he was worth more than being in a secret relationship with that jerk, Charles.
鈥擥race Blackthorn
My mother made me her blade, to cut every barrier raised against her.
Idk if you've noticed it or not but I've seen two sides of Grace. No, not the general, evil and pretentious side. Those are obviously there.
What I'm talking about is the unfriendly and defensive side as well as the caring and helpless side. It might be my assumption or a seeing-what-I-want-to-see kind of case but I feel Grace genuinely cares about James. And I think she's mostly defensive because she sees the judgement about her in people's eyes.
(for reference: scenes when she talked to Cordelia, Matthew, Lucie, and even Magnus in The Midnight Heir)
I really think she could have left Tatiana, that "Tatiana could blame her for something" is just an excuse because most shadowhunters know how mad Tatiana is and wouldn't believe whatever she'd say about Grace, I think she wants to bring Jesse back so so much that it's part of the reason she doesn't want to go against Tatiana or even leave her. I think at least that much is true.
I really hate the way she asked James to marry her even if they had to get their marks stripped, idc if it was a test, it was very cruel and unfair esp. when she knows he doesn't actually love her, and esp. when she knows it's just the influence of the Gracelet.
but in the end, again, thanks to @El in Oz, despite hating some things Grace did, I'm not able to fully hate her. I really need her side of the story.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this illustration of Grace but I feel like she looks way older than her age.
鈥擬agnus Bane
There is no better distraction in this world than losing oneself in books for a while.
The most iconic character that Cassie has ever created! What was it that Matthew said?
Ah, Magnus Bane. My personal hero
鈥�ch: loyalty binds me
Exactly! Mine too! There's just one thing that bothered me a little, which includes a spoilery paragraph from The Midnight Heir鈥攁 short story in the bane chronicles.
He had promised Tessa that he would return, but now he found all he wanted to do was escape. He did not want to care what Shadowhunters thought of him. He did not want to care what would become of them or their children.
He had offered help to three Shadowhunters this night. One of them had replied that he was beyond help, one had asked him to commit murder, and one had pointed a blade at him.
After this, Magnus left London. And by the end of this book, he told in the meeting that Tatiana had asked him for that help in January. I was confused in my but while writing this review, I just remembered that in The Penultimate Hours, Ragnor wrote Magnus a letter about what was happening among these shadowhunters, and I think that's what made Magnus come back to London again and I'm so happy that no matter how hurt Magnus gets, he selflessly gets ready to help anybody he can.
Magnus. Is. Precision. 鉂わ笍鉁�
by @adamar.art
I am not going to talk about Anna, Ariadne or anyone else I'm missing because they just didn't have enough part in this book to talk about individually.
All the rest of fanart is by @charliebowater.
RELATIONSHIPS/FRIENDSHIPS
I'll link it here鈥攕croll a little, as the page count is almost over and I can't write more here.
DAYS PAST CHAPTERS
My absolute Favourites! I enjoyed reading about these glimpses from the past, so so much.
掳 Lucie meeting Jesse for the first time? Not knowing he was Jesse, I had already been so curious to know the boy, and oh! The way he laughed? He just, I knew he was gonna be a favourite and so he is. When he again met Lucie at the ball, told her he is Jesse Blackthorn, oh my! I was just wishing Cassie gave us Jesse's pov. That boy deserves it! I WANT an extra scene written by Cassie in Jesse's pov!
掳 James meeting the oh-so-graceful, Grace. The way she approached him by calling him "Herondale boy". I was like, are you even real? I see, she isn't the real evil bitch here, Tatiana is. But she sure is her mother's blade and has learned a great deal of manipulation.
掳 Grace put the Gracelet on James. I was so relieved when she finally took it back. It clearly showed she was tired of playing Tatiana's games and the first chance she got (when Tatiana was attacked), Grace took the Gracelet back from James. We didn't get any single scene from her pov but I'm assuming she cared enough about James to want to free him from that enchantment. The only thing that makes me sad and mad at her is that she confessed almost everything to James before putting the enchantment back where that Demon asked her to. My only wish for now, is that Lucie keep the words that demon said to Grace, in her mind and put the pieces together when she sees James is wearing the bracelet and acting unlike him. But I guess no one would pay that much attention. Alas! I'm so deeply sad.
掳 When Thomas met Alastair on his holiday from his travel year? All I want to say is I ship them hard and I really appreciate Alastair's initiative towards Thomas, showing he's not the same academy bully, and making things as better as he could by having as much of a quality time, he could have with Thomas. Also, I'm glad Thomas sincerely gave Alastair a chance to prove he's become better than he was, even if it was because he was having butterflies, lol. 馃き
掳 Matthew's memory of the crime he commited? It Seriously hurts me. Idk why some people think it's not much and he should get over it. In fact, I think if only Math shared it with someone, he even would have gotten over it. But something THAT big done for a rumour, that surely can't be easy when you keep it to yourself. Not just because you killed someone in your family, but because you didn't trust them enough to have so easily believed a rumour, and it sure can't be easy to forgive when: 1) that rumour was so sick, and 2) that rumour was reason you went that far, anyway.
掳 Cordelia and Alastair's chapter? My favourite!
To sum up, this book was a mess and it a mess of me too.
Stories connecting to TLH Characters:
Nothing But Shadows 5鈽�
Cast Long Shadows 5鈽�
Every Exquisite Thing 5鈽�
4鈽�
Prequel:
The Penultimate Hours 4鈽�
Sequels:
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns
______
I cannot wait to reread this! Cassie writes the best historical/Victorian set up in books! 鉂わ笍
December 30, 2020
UPDATE: $3.99 on Kindle US 12/30/20
Mel 馃枻馃惗馃惡馃惥
Mel 馃枻馃惗馃惡馃惥
Want to read
July 12, 2013Here We Go Again.
First, I want to make clear to everyone that I Looooove TMI and TID, Loved them. But there's already The Dark Artifices coming and now this?
The thing about lots of books in a series is that, for them to work well, the author has to built this whole excellent world that is just so well written and so thought of that you can't help but want continue to be in it - for example Harry Potter. The Nephilim world is amazing and I've loved learning more and more about it and I can't seem to get enough of CC's books but.... no more.
Let's think about TMI and TID for a minute.... they are different periods of time and yada yada... but what are the similar things??? ....Oh Hell, I'll just say it: Characters. Now please don't hate me for this, but Will is Jace, Jem is Simon, Jessamine is/was Isabel just as Tessa was Clary. Of course there were differences, like how Clary was more... feisty? not sure if that's the word I want to use, but whatever. While Tessa has a more quiet strength in her. Still, they are very similar.
The same theory that applies to the story applies to the characters: Jace for example, was an Amazing character to read, he was refreshing, funny, charming, EVERYTHING. Which is why it did not bother me at all to see the same qualities in Will, but... but.... no more.
CC is an amazing writer, but I would just love to see something new from her. She seems to have so much potential and I really think she has the talent to create a whole other new world, with more new and refreshing characters, I would just really like to see her explore that side.
That being said... maybe I'll read her new Nephilim books. I did not continue reading the second part of TMI, but I did love the whole TID series... I just think that too much of something can really be a turnoff. Personal opinions people, I just felt like ranting.
Want to read
July 31, 2017See's William Herondale in the synopsis. *Screams*
February 23, 2021
The Written Review
Just released my - now that you know this one made the list, click the link to find the rest!
So...it was alright.
I feel like I'm missing a lot, since it's in the world of Shadow Hunters and I'm literally at book 2 of the main series.
But at the end of the day, it was an interesting story.
But probably not as interesting as it would be to someone who knows the background and can follow who was who.
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never-ever-ever-reading-this
July 23, 2014Dear lord, will someone take this woman's pen away!?
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