Reviews

Sword Catcher - Die Chroniken von Castellan by Cassandra Clare

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themagicalworldofnian's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare - review

4⭐️

1.5🌶️

Wow this was such a good start for a new series by Cassandra.

When I was younger I loved the books by Cassandra soo much, they were some of my all time favourites. The shadowhunter world was just my teenage years. I just never thought that Cassie would write anything not set in the shadowhunter universe tbh 😂But I just felt like being thrown back into this magical world, but more mature.

Sword catcher is a new series by Cassie. It is about Kel, an orphan, whose life is now dedicated to being the Sword Catcher of prince Connor. This means that he is the body double of the royal heir. When he was a boy he was taken and after he grew up together with the prince, to become his Sword Catcher. He trained and dedicated his life to protecting Connor. They are like brothers, but Kel is destined to die for the prince. No other future is possible.

Lin Caster is the only female Ashkar physician. The Ashkar are this small community that still possess some magical powers, but because of that they are kept in the Sault away from all other citizens of the city. But because she is a physician Lin is able to leave the walls of the Sault to take care of her patients. Despite her skill, she is unfortunately unable to cure her friend, Mariam, without access to some forbidden knowledge.

After a failed assassination, Lin is brought in to take care of Kel and so they meet. Together they are drawn into the mysterious web of the Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of the Castellane underground. He offers them what they want most, but in return they must help him. They discover the corruption and secrets within the city and its citizens. As they uncover this knowledge, they face dilemmas such as should I betray the prince for the greater good? And can forbidden love bring down the kingdom?

This books is soo much politics, fantasy, world building, with a side of romance. So you need to also like the world building and politics. Because there is a lot in this one.

I really enjoyed that both Kel and Connor are bi. So I am excited to see whether their might bloom a little romance between them in the upcoming books… tho I also love the little romance between Connor and Lin, and Kel and Antonetta.

The relationships between everyone and the secrets are soo intriguing and you just want to continue reading to learn and unravel all the secrets.

I loved the in between snippets of the text books that ended each chapter. This way you learned a lot about the background and history of the world and how the politics became how they are in the present time of the book.

The only thing I found a bit annoying is the switching of pov within chapters. You are reading from both Lin and Kel’s perspectives, but sometimes they switch within chapters and I just want to know what happens within one pov.

It just made me really impatient especially in the end 😅.

Overall it was such a good start for a new series and I cannot wait to continue… Unfortunately I now have to wait quite some time for The Ragpicker King to be released… 😪

If you like political fantasy with a lot of world building, and a bit of romance and amazing character relationships this is the book for you. But be aware this is an unfinished series and it will take some time for the next book to be released 😢😭

mclaire24's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The premise of the book was intriguing but there's so much worldbuilding and politics that the main conflicts get pushed to the side and the book begins to lag. Half of the book could be cut out and the story would still be the same, but still an interesting read.

usako's review against another edition

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I was bored out of my mind with the insane amount of exposition, and I'm also not interested in books that have men as main characters. 🤷🏻‍♀️

dharma_s's review against another edition

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4.0

Actual rating: 3.75

This was pretty good overall. I mean it had its highs and lows, and most of the time I was intrigued and other times I was not. For me, this book was nothing to write home about. It was interesting for me to see Cassandra Clare's writing change and evolve, as she is no longer focusing on the YA shadowhunter world.