Reviews with content warning for Child death - Chain of Iron

Was overall a good read and I thought it was a good addition to the shadowhunter universe. The plot was interesting, connects well to the previous book and sets up well for the next book. I love the characters and their relationships with each other. The main thing I didn’t like was that there was a lot of miscommunication/dramatic irony where I felt like I was always waiting for the characters to discover something or tell each other something. It’s so thing I think is common and Cassandra Clare books but it drives me a little crazy.

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sunsetcity's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So... I will be the first to admit that this book is probably way too long. This book focuses a lot on character development and feelings so there is not a lot of forward movement in the actual plot until the last third of the book. But I really love the characters in this book and I was invested in their struggles and strife, so I didn't mind the slower pace. I still love Matthew and I am so excited to see how this wraps up in the next book with the new developments and the places our characters left off at the end of this one.

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gm_vak's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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dragontomes2000's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Chain of Iron picks up a few weeks after the ending of Chain of Gold. Now this being like the second in book in the current series but the like sixteenth book overall, excluding novella bind ups, it is going to incredibly painful to try and not spoil anything.

Now I will start off by saying this, Cassandra Clare has never had like stand out plots in her books. There have been some, but she is more characters first before plot kind of story writer. I would say that is entirely true when it come to Chain of Iron. This was a purely character driven story, with plot completely secondary. Again as I said before Chain of Iron picks up with the big event that Chain of Gold set up. Some of you who have read know what said event is, some of you don't. We spend a good majority of the beginning of this book on this event and never really anything plot wise happening, which is okay but I do wish Clare didn't spend as much time as she did on the event. Once we finally got away from said event, the plot got started and the story really took off.

I would say I am a reader who needs both plot and character focus in my stories. I can tolerate a story with a great plot and lackluster characters or even vice versa. But for me to really make the story shine I need both. With Chain of Iron it was definitely more character focused like I said, but the plot no matter how small it really was, compelled me. Sure at times it can be predictable, but if the author can still keep my interest, if they can keep me wanting to turn the pages for more, for me that is a win. That is exactly what Clare did with Chain of Iron. I adore these characters, I adore this world, I am so invested with the intricacies of this game board Clare has been weaving since City of Bones.

I have to say though, I think this story would have benefited from Clare's initial release plan. Which if I remember correctly she wanted to release it like she did with The Mortal instruments final three books and The Infernal Devices. There are some major plot points and history markers that would have hit differently had she done it that way, in my opinion. I know we would have waited longer for books, but I remember reading The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices that way and truly appreciating how the stories weaved together harmoniously.

Are the Shadowhunter books perfect absolutely not, no book is and I will die on that hill defending that argument. The Shadowhunter books however bring me so much joy and escapism and that is what truly makes this series shine for me. I am so looking forward to Chain of Thorns the final book in The Last Hours series. I will also continue to look forward to every Shadowhunter book that is yet to come!

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