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andotherworlds's review against another edition
3.0
3ish-3.5 // still not my fav of all of cassie’s series but was nevertheless an enjoyable source of mindless escapism pour moi (albeit with its wtf moments at some of the truly bizarre lines of dialogue)
luv cordelia, matthew, sona
chill with lucie, grace, rest of the crew, alstair
a tad meh with james (oops)
luv cordelia, matthew, sona
chill with lucie, grace, rest of the crew, alstair
a tad meh with james (oops)
betsyfelix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
rosewitch44's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lyakimov's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. this took me forever to finish solely because of how STRESSFUL it was. i had low expectations as always, just wanted entertainment, and it was definitely entertaining as hell.
i will never forgive cassie clare for the last 200 pages of this book, i cannot remember the last time a book ending caused me such intense stress for this goddamn long.
it was kinda boring in the beginning and I don’t really care about what happens I just like to get immersed in the DRAMA and a lot of the tropes in the book pissed me off and I’m annoyed about a lot of things but honestly idgaf, I’m just glad I finished this damn thing
okay I LOVED Lucie in this book, she’s lowkey becoming morally gray and I like it, her point of view was definitely my favorite in the book because she just found out EVERYTHING before everyone else. The way she schemes and does detective work is so entertaining. I REALLY enjoyed her interactions with the other girls in this book.
some of my favorite scenes in the book were anna, Ariadne, and lucie’s detective work. i loved the dynamic. also loved the dynamic between Lucie and grace. Lucie definitely had the most interesting point of view, and it’s sad that she’s sidelined. I truly felt her pain about Jesse, especially at the end.
Lucie writing a self-insert fanfic about her and Jesse >>>>
ARIADNE AKA KAMALA >>>>>>>>>>>
IM STILL AN ALASTAIR SIMP, I love him so much, THE SANCTUARY SCENE OWNS ME. Christopher also is my fave, the most PURE PERSON EVER. I want more alastair and Christopher.
Cordelia PISSED ME OFF with Matthew. I love her, but what the hell. The way that he is so rude to alastair and she is just chill about it was so out of character in my opinion. Alastair cannot be blamed for matthew’s decisions.
ALSO that ending???? If cordelia stayed ONE MORE SECOND listening to james and grace then she wouldn’t have run off. Like seriously whyyyyy did this happen. Matthew violated the bro code SO HARD. How the HELL are james and Matthew ever going to repair their relationship after this??
James is literally being constantly tormented by belial and Matthew and cordelia are like “yall year sum?” And then just dip. UMMMM WHAT THE HELL ARE YALL ON. also I can’t BELIEVE that Cordelia would just leave Lucie like that!!! The last time she saw her, Lucie was clearly mourning Jesse and cordelia knew that she loved him, and she left her without supporting her AT ALL. Even when Lucie comforted cordelia over her father’s death in the middle of the book. LIKE WHAT THE HELL?????
I literally love james and feel so bad for him. James is a king. He is the sweetest person ever and he really got done dirty. Also I love him and lucie’s sibling relationship.
But I’m actually excited for the next book because of LUCIE going missing and magnus, will, and james trying to find her. ma’am there is gonna be so much tea, so much drama. I’m not excited to read the scenes of Matthew and cordelia in Paris tho, screw that, they pissed me off.
ONE LAST THING: dad Will is the BEST Will. When he was freaking out about Lucie running away with Malcolm to do necromancy it was peak dad moment and I loved it
i will never forgive cassie clare for the last 200 pages of this book, i cannot remember the last time a book ending caused me such intense stress for this goddamn long.
it was kinda boring in the beginning and I don’t really care about what happens I just like to get immersed in the DRAMA and a lot of the tropes in the book pissed me off and I’m annoyed about a lot of things but honestly idgaf, I’m just glad I finished this damn thing
okay I LOVED Lucie in this book, she’s lowkey becoming morally gray and I like it, her point of view was definitely my favorite in the book because she just found out EVERYTHING before everyone else. The way she schemes and does detective work is so entertaining. I REALLY enjoyed her interactions with the other girls in this book.
some of my favorite scenes in the book were anna, Ariadne, and lucie’s detective work. i loved the dynamic. also loved the dynamic between Lucie and grace. Lucie definitely had the most interesting point of view, and it’s sad that she’s sidelined. I truly felt her pain about Jesse, especially at the end.
Lucie writing a self-insert fanfic about her and Jesse >>>>
ARIADNE AKA KAMALA >>>>>>>>>>>
IM STILL AN ALASTAIR SIMP, I love him so much, THE SANCTUARY SCENE OWNS ME. Christopher also is my fave, the most PURE PERSON EVER. I want more alastair and Christopher.
Cordelia PISSED ME OFF with Matthew. I love her, but what the hell. The way that he is so rude to alastair and she is just chill about it was so out of character in my opinion. Alastair cannot be blamed for matthew’s decisions.
ALSO that ending???? If cordelia stayed ONE MORE SECOND listening to james and grace then she wouldn’t have run off. Like seriously whyyyyy did this happen. Matthew violated the bro code SO HARD. How the HELL are james and Matthew ever going to repair their relationship after this??
James is literally being constantly tormented by belial and Matthew and cordelia are like “yall year sum?” And then just dip. UMMMM WHAT THE HELL ARE YALL ON. also I can’t BELIEVE that Cordelia would just leave Lucie like that!!! The last time she saw her, Lucie was clearly mourning Jesse and cordelia knew that she loved him, and she left her without supporting her AT ALL. Even when Lucie comforted cordelia over her father’s death in the middle of the book. LIKE WHAT THE HELL?????
I literally love james and feel so bad for him. James is a king. He is the sweetest person ever and he really got done dirty. Also I love him and lucie’s sibling relationship.
But I’m actually excited for the next book because of LUCIE going missing and magnus, will, and james trying to find her. ma’am there is gonna be so much tea, so much drama. I’m not excited to read the scenes of Matthew and cordelia in Paris tho, screw that, they pissed me off.
ONE LAST THING: dad Will is the BEST Will. When he was freaking out about Lucie running away with Malcolm to do necromancy it was peak dad moment and I loved it
eesh25's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
This is the lowest rating I've ever given to a Cassandra Clare novel. And this review will most likely be a disorganized mess. And a long one, at that. So, I'm gonna apologize in advance.
I've wondered for years if there would come a time when I wouldn't enjoy Cassie's books anymore. And yeah, my dislike for this book may be a one-time thing. But maybe not? The reason I've always wondered if I'd get fed-up with Cassie's books is that she uses so many tropes/elements that I hate. For example:
Take the lying and secrets, for instance. All of these main characters are supposed to be family and close friends. Lucy and Cordelia are supposed to become parabatai. Yet, this entire time, Lucy didn't tell Cordelia about Jesse, about her powers, about working with Grace, or about the fucking necromancy! How do you expect me to believe that they're the best of friends if they never talk to each other?
I really disliked Lucy in this book. Her storyline held no interest for me. I hated that she was working with Grace and that it was still boring somehow. Hers and Jesse's relationship was so rushed that I just didn't buy it. Their feelings for each other read like those of two children who fancy themselves in love because they don't know better.
The Anna and Ariadne romance was also disappointing. I'd been so looking forward to it, and it feels like nothing happened with them at all. The Alistair and Thomas story was slightly better, but I still would've liked to see more.
And finally, we get to James and Cordelia. As characters, I loved Cordelia in the first book. By the end of this one, I didn't. She made so many dumb decisions that it's hard to believe that it was the same smart and rational person we were introduced to in Chain of Gold. Though, her relationship with James is one I did enjoy reading about. Their married life was sweet and didn't hinge on angst. I also loved that they remained friends and got to know each other better. That, and a lot of the humour in the book, gave me some my favourite parts. Also, Will stole most of the scenes he was in.
But of the main characters, James is the only one who came out better than in the previous book. Possibly because he was the only one willing to fucking communicate! With everyone else, it was one needless secret after another. James is the only one who tried being open. Well, him and Christopher. But he had such a small role that it doesn't count.
And speaking of people who had small roles, there's Matthew. You know, I could've sworn Matthew was introduced as one of the main characters. Yet, he had nothing to do in the book besides drink and being in love with Cordelia. And latter serves no purpose (and makes no sense) beyond creating a fucking love-triangle that no one asked for. Don't we already have one of those with Grace? Who, by the way, also had little to do. I mean, she did stuff, but it had no effect on the events of the book.
Finally, we come to the "main" plot about the murderer running around offing shadowhunters. And you might wonder why I'm mentioning it as almost as an afterthought. Well, it's because that's how the book treated it. This was one arc that I was really interested in. And it was one of the few positives. But the book was all secrets, followed by unnecessary side-plots, accompanied by bajillions of POV changes, and then someone would die, and the book would remember that, oh yeah, there's a killer on the loose.
Also—this is the last thing, I swear—I just remember that a character named Filomena di Angelo was introduced as well. Cassie dedicated the book to Rick Riordan for the surname. And after that, the way she decided to treat the character just felt disrespectful. The di Angelo name deserves better.
I'm honestly so disappointed in this book. And fucking pissed of because of the ending. I actually skimmed the last 100 pages because I was frustrated and impatient. And I hated what happened so much that I could bring myself to go through those pages properly like I'd planned to. I might do that at some point, but for now, I just wanna forget this book ever happened.
This is the lowest rating I've ever given to a Cassandra Clare novel. And this review will most likely be a disorganized mess. And a long one, at that. So, I'm gonna apologize in advance.
I've wondered for years if there would come a time when I wouldn't enjoy Cassie's books anymore. And yeah, my dislike for this book may be a one-time thing. But maybe not? The reason I've always wondered if I'd get fed-up with Cassie's books is that she uses so many tropes/elements that I hate. For example:
1. Fucking love trianglesIf one were to take out all of these things from Cassie's novels, they'd be a third of the length that they are. And yet, I've been able to deal with all of them in her books. That's changed now, partially because of how pointless the use of them was. And they actually did a disservice to what the author wants us to believe.
2. Miscommunication as the cause of conflicts
3. An abundance of descriptions
4. Keeping secrets and lying for no good reason
Take the lying and secrets, for instance. All of these main characters are supposed to be family and close friends. Lucy and Cordelia are supposed to become parabatai. Yet, this entire time, Lucy didn't tell Cordelia about Jesse, about her powers, about working with Grace, or about the fucking necromancy! How do you expect me to believe that they're the best of friends if they never talk to each other?
I really disliked Lucy in this book. Her storyline held no interest for me. I hated that she was working with Grace and that it was still boring somehow. Hers and Jesse's relationship was so rushed that I just didn't buy it. Their feelings for each other read like those of two children who fancy themselves in love because they don't know better.
The Anna and Ariadne romance was also disappointing. I'd been so looking forward to it, and it feels like nothing happened with them at all. The Alistair and Thomas story was slightly better, but I still would've liked to see more.
And finally, we get to James and Cordelia. As characters, I loved Cordelia in the first book. By the end of this one, I didn't. She made so many dumb decisions that it's hard to believe that it was the same smart and rational person we were introduced to in Chain of Gold. Though, her relationship with James is one I did enjoy reading about. Their married life was sweet and didn't hinge on angst. I also loved that they remained friends and got to know each other better. That, and a lot of the humour in the book, gave me some my favourite parts. Also, Will stole most of the scenes he was in.
But of the main characters, James is the only one who came out better than in the previous book. Possibly because he was the only one willing to fucking communicate! With everyone else, it was one needless secret after another. James is the only one who tried being open. Well, him and Christopher. But he had such a small role that it doesn't count.
And speaking of people who had small roles, there's Matthew. You know, I could've sworn Matthew was introduced as one of the main characters. Yet, he had nothing to do in the book besides drink and being in love with Cordelia. And latter serves no purpose (and makes no sense) beyond creating a fucking love-triangle that no one asked for. Don't we already have one of those with Grace? Who, by the way, also had little to do. I mean, she did stuff, but it had no effect on the events of the book.
Finally, we come to the "main" plot about the murderer running around offing shadowhunters. And you might wonder why I'm mentioning it as almost as an afterthought. Well, it's because that's how the book treated it. This was one arc that I was really interested in. And it was one of the few positives. But the book was all secrets, followed by unnecessary side-plots, accompanied by bajillions of POV changes, and then someone would die, and the book would remember that, oh yeah, there's a killer on the loose.
Also—this is the last thing, I swear—I just remember that a character named Filomena di Angelo was introduced as well. Cassie dedicated the book to Rick Riordan for the surname. And after that, the way she decided to treat the character just felt disrespectful. The di Angelo name deserves better.
I'm honestly so disappointed in this book. And fucking pissed of because of the ending. I actually skimmed the last 100 pages because I was frustrated and impatient. And I hated what happened so much that I could bring myself to go through those pages properly like I'd planned to. I might do that at some point, but for now, I just wanna forget this book ever happened.
igneoplus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
calicokaels's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
sheimoon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
sethsparksss's review against another edition
4.0
this book made me feel so many emotions throughout and ending made me ready for the next book
i've had a few days to gather all my thoughts and I think my biggest complaint is all the miscommunication at the end of this book. Like come on now. I did love everything else though and i adore these characters sm
i've had a few days to gather all my thoughts and I think my biggest complaint is all the miscommunication at the end of this book. Like come on now. I did love everything else though and i adore these characters sm
roses_are_rosa's review against another edition
4.25
These kids are gonna be the death of me. So much pain. I am afraid to continue.
Loved the extra story at the end. At least that was a bit lighthearted
Loved the extra story at the end. At least that was a bit lighthearted