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fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
Life is pain. The Princess Bride was at least right when it comes to THIS BOOK. Goodness these characters were put through the wringer in this one! And that ending!? Basically I am not okay. I need a "Matthew Fairchild deserves better" support group please. And to have more of Thomas in the story. AND POOR CORDELIA I can't. Anyways. I will basically not be able to write a cohesive review so this is what you get. Officially converted to adoring the entire Merry Thieves group and outliers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
oliviaangelixx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, and Murder
cakrolik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
foreverinastory's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-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
5.0
Just like Lord of Shadows this one ripped my heart out.
Rep: Biracial (Persian and white) heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual male MC, white bisexual male MC, biracial (Persian and white) gay male side character, two white gay male side characters, lesbian genderqueer side character, Malaysian bisexual male warlock, biracial (Chinese and white) male side character, adopted Indian lesbian female side character, Persian female side character.
CW: Alcohol consumption, alcoholism, blood, death, death of parent, emotional abuse/mind control, gun violence, infidelity, injury/injury detail, murder, violence. Moderate: Pregnancy of major side character.
Rep: Biracial (Persian and white) heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual male MC, white bisexual male MC, biracial (Persian and white) gay male side character, two white gay male side characters, lesbian genderqueer side character, Malaysian bisexual male warlock, biracial (Chinese and white) male side character, adopted Indian lesbian female side character, Persian female side character.
CW: Alcohol consumption, alcoholism, blood, death, death of parent, emotional abuse/mind control, gun violence, infidelity, injury/injury detail, murder, violence. Moderate: Pregnancy of major side character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy
adhdru's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
alibader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow this was long. I quite literally take back everything I said in my review of Chain of Gold (except for the Matthew bit I still love him). The writing was as good as ever and the characters were really solid and were easily the best part of the book I also really liked learning more about Grace and her background; she deserved better.
However:
I take back everything I said about James Herondale , he is the most exceptionally boring and frustrating characters in the shadowhunter chronicles. Apart from that... literally nothing happened in this book. absolutely nothing. also it was SO slow.
However:
I take back everything I said about James Herondale , he is the most exceptionally boring and frustrating characters in the shadowhunter chronicles. Apart from that... literally nothing happened in this book. absolutely nothing. also it was SO slow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Stalking
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
It’s been about a year since I read Chain of Gold , so I’ll be honest: I did have some trouble remembering who some of the characters were. This series and Clare’s The Dark Artifices trilogy have too many characters to keep track of, and sometimes I’d get halfway through a scene (or all the way through) and realize that it was about a different person than I’d originally thought. Other than that, though, I really do love most of the characters in this book, and they are definitely the reason I'm still reading the series, because it’s certainly not for the plot.
I love the Merry Thieves (even though—or actually probably because—they are basically a Marauders/Raven Boys dupe). What I don’t love is the love triangle. In general, it’s not a trope I like (with the rare exception of Tessa, Will, and Jem from Clare’s The Infernal Devices because it actually works out for everyone), and I especially don’t like it when a) it breaks up important friendships and b) will ultimately break the heart of a character I care about. I need James and Cordelia to end up together… but I also need Matthew to find a true love too! If Clare can manage that in the next book (and I’m pretty sure she will), I’ll be okay, but until then…
The other romantic relationships were frustrating as well; Alistair and Thomas are great, but the back and forth and drama from their history together makes it hard to see a happy ending for them. As much as I liked Lucie and Jesse’s storyline in Chain of Gold, it definitely dropped off in this book, and I’m honestly way more interested in seeing her develop her powers than her relationship at this point.
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending): This very much depends on which characters you like, but I wouldn’t call it happy. Definitely a bit of a cliffhanger, and now I have to wait another year or so for the next book. Ugh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence
ember_eyes_are_for_tigers's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- Cordelia’s is one of the best main characters I have ever read about. She has such depth and feels so real and tangible, in her wants and desires and personality traits. Her driving force is her love, I feel like, her strong connection to her family and heritage, to her friends and to James. It’s something I really admire of her character.
- I loved the pacing, although many would disagree. I enjoyed the slow pacing of the book in the beginning, describing the domesticity of the life between Cordelia and James and setting up the tension about the murders.
- Talking about the murders I really enjoyed discovering who it was, as I was certain it was Tatiana. Instead, I really enjoyed the reveal and the ending. With the reveal of Cordelia being sworn as a Paladin to Lilith (and perhaps it’s just me) but, at the moment, I do not see how troubling it must be.
Perhaps it was not emphasised enough or perhaps I simply think that Cordelia shouldn’t shy away from the power Lilith is offering, and embrace it for the time being. But, I can see how being sworn to a demon can be bad- although, I’m certain there will be a resolution so I’m not quite worried.
- Instead I’m worried about Lucie and Jesse, and Mathew and Cordelia in Paris:
On one hand I know that Paris will be a disaster and I’m certain that both Cordelia and Mathew will realise so. Mathew’s promise to remain sober will not last and I’m actually really excited to see the fallout of that and Cordelia having to realise that Mathew is far more similar to her father than she wants to believe.
On the other hand, there’s Lucie. Her arc throughout the book was so fascinating, I really enjoyed how it’s subtly shown how, as she becomes more infatuated with Jesse and more time went by, the more her morals skewed. From being against necromancy she revived her ghost boyfriend and I really enjoyed that.
I can’t wait to see the fallout of her having to face what she did and having her family and friends having to come to terms with it.
However, I will also admit that while I enjoyed the book there were certain details I wish would be different. Mostly with Anna and Ariadne/Kamala, and Filomena.
With the latter I was really excited about her character, but, she ended up dying rather soon and not really having a time to shine. Nevertheless I really enjoyed every scene she was in, although there was the scene where Cordelia and Lucie where in the training room and Filomena interrupted and later made a comment about James’ shoulders, I believe, that had me quite uncomfortable.
Another character that I was really disappointed from was Anna.
She was my favourite character in Chain of Gold, and I related so much to her in Every Exquisite Thing, as a nonbinary lesbian, but her character felt incredibly unrealistic throughout the book. The detail that most threw me off was not how she reacted to Ariadne/Kamala wanting to return into her life, but how she doesn’t acknowledge her privilege as a queer presenting white woman.
There were so many small details about her that made me furious, even the instance where she keeps the names of her “conquests” in a small book- that was such an unnecessary detail.
I hope, however, that in Chain of Thorns she will have an actual character arc. But, for the moment, I believe that Ariadne/Kamala deserves better.
I also really hope to get more scene with Alastair, he’s a really fascinating character and I’m really rooting for him (and to have some friends).
- Talking about the murders I really enjoyed discovering who it was, as I was certain it was Tatiana. Instead, I really enjoyed the reveal and the ending. With the reveal of Cordelia being sworn as a Paladin to Lilith (and perhaps it’s just me) but, at the moment, I do not see how troubling it must be.
Perhaps it was not emphasised enough or perhaps I simply think that Cordelia shouldn’t shy away from the power Lilith is offering, and embrace it for the time being. But, I can see how being sworn to a demon can be bad- although, I’m certain there will be a resolution so I’m not quite worried.
- Instead I’m worried about Lucie and Jesse, and Mathew and Cordelia in Paris:
On one hand I know that Paris will be a disaster and I’m certain that both Cordelia and Mathew will realise so. Mathew’s promise to remain sober will not last and I’m actually really excited to see the fallout of that and Cordelia having to realise that Mathew is far more similar to her father than she wants to believe.
On the other hand, there’s Lucie. Her arc throughout the book was so fascinating, I really enjoyed how it’s subtly shown how, as she becomes more infatuated with Jesse and more time went by, the more her morals skewed. From being against necromancy she revived her ghost boyfriend and I really enjoyed that.
I can’t wait to see the fallout of her having to face what she did and having her family and friends having to come to terms with it.
However, I will also admit that while I enjoyed the book there were certain details I wish would be different. Mostly with Anna and Ariadne/Kamala, and Filomena.
With the latter I was really excited about her character, but, she ended up dying rather soon and not really having a time to shine. Nevertheless I really enjoyed every scene she was in, although there was the scene where Cordelia and Lucie where in the training room and Filomena interrupted and later made a comment about James’ shoulders, I believe, that had me quite uncomfortable.
Another character that I was really disappointed from was Anna.
She was my favourite character in Chain of Gold, and I related so much to her in Every Exquisite Thing, as a nonbinary lesbian, but her character felt incredibly unrealistic throughout the book. The detail that most threw me off was not how she reacted to Ariadne/Kamala wanting to return into her life, but how she doesn’t acknowledge her privilege as a queer presenting white woman.
There were so many small details about her that made me furious, even the instance where she keeps the names of her “conquests” in a small book- that was such an unnecessary detail.
I hope, however, that in Chain of Thorns she will have an actual character arc. But, for the moment, I believe that Ariadne/Kamala deserves better.
I also really hope to get more scene with Alastair, he’s a really fascinating character and I’m really rooting for him (and to have some friends).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Alcoholism, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
katloupet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy
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