Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

10 reviews

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

First things first: I love this world and these characters. Which is why this was still an enjoyable book. And finishing this trilogy and saying goodbye to the longer Infernal Devices story was sad, too. But I had my gripes with it. 

I thought the plot was too slow for the first part of the book, whereas in the second part it felt somewhat sloppy. 

Christopher and Grace were very sweet and I was rooting for them. In light of that,

Christopher’s death was terribly done. The fact that the description of his death itself was cut could maybe be excused with the need for a shock factor. But then, no funeral scene, not much time spent with Anna & Thomas grieving and especially: no scene or mention of Cecily and Gabriel finding out? It made this feel like a cheap kill mainly done for the unpredictability of diverting from the family tree.

Tatiana’s death and even Belial’s felt very trivial as well.

The stakes were so high, but it didn’t really come across how meaningful this was. 

The Paladin plot also felt weak. It didn’t seem like Cordelia was nearly scared enough of Lilith, or maybe it was that Lilith seemed quite bland all things considered?

The connections between books is always a joy. That said, I was a little sad to not see more of the Infernal Devices characters. The Clave drama scenes were fun, partly because they were more about them. (Yes, these books aren’t actually about them. But that makes me sad, okay?) And while the family tree excuse was quite funny, I did ultimately think it was a bit lazy. I don’t really care if stories are spoiled or predictable, as long as they’re good, and like I said, it often felt like she diverted from the tree just for the sake of it, without really pulling it off. It put somewhat of a damper on the Clockwork Princess ending that the family tree was suddenly false. 

The love triangle didn’t really get me in the feels. I think in general, there were too many things happening off the page for this book to be as emotional as it could’ve been. There were some nice quotes and bits of wisdom though, especially around the Matthew situation and the value of supportive friends. 

I’m also  just tired of

sacrifice plots.

They feel so 2014 YA, and not in a good way. 

All of this doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book, but I enjoyed it less than I could’ve. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Moderate: Grief, Murder, and Child death

Minor: Outing and Pregnancy

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Outing, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Miscarriage, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Confinement

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, Addiction, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, War, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia

emsavors's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Alcoholism, Child death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Outing, Death, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Confinement, Grief, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, and War

aklovekorn's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I picked this up because obviously I needed to see how the Shadowhunters world continues.
"Chain of Thorns" is the third and final book in The Last Hours trilogy. This story starts off bleak. Cordelia's life is turned upside down and all her plans are destroyed. Her father is murdered, her best friend can no longer become her parabatai, and she is now bound to a demon. When she returns to London, she is awed to see that everything is changed, and her life is in perlious danger. Now Cordelia and the rest of the Shadowhunters must ban together to stop this evil, and if they fail, they too might lose their souls.
I have been excited to see the conclusion of this trilogy and intrigued to see if this would bump my favorite Shadowhunters' trilogy out of first place (The Infernal Devices). Spoiler alert: it did not. Although I had a fine time reading this series as a whole, and I loved seeing the children of the main characters in The Infernal Devices, this series did not have that addictive magic for me.
I did really enjoy Cordelia as a character, as well as the other Shadowhunters. I love how Cassandra Clare writes her characters and makes them equal parts empowered and strong-willed, with a sprinkling of soft humanity.
I am SO excited for the next book in the series, and I will be counting down the days until it releases!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Torture, Child death, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

catherines032's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

I loved this book so much. No matter how long it's been since I last read a Cassandra Clare book, she always manages to describe the world and characters so vividly that I feel I slot right back in. Although I found COT to be slower paced than some of the previous two in the last hours trilogy, I actually enjoyed how she slowed the pace for its conclusion- it gave me more time with a cast of characters who I love so much and I honestly wish I had more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Blood

cardanrry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcoholism, Violence, Death, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Gun violence

book_lover206's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death