Reviews

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

Only show reviews with written explanations

melissaannejohn's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Well. I knew it, I warned myself that it was going to be scary and painful. Cassie has a reputation with second books in a trilogy, and I should've steeled myself more about what's to come.

But to be honest... Cassie had me enjoying the 3/4 of the book. Truly.

First of all, it was a very fun book. It's really dramatic, what with all the romantic problems we read ever since page 1. You guys understand that. I hate Grace, still. I mean... I know it's not her fault, but come on. Is she that stupid? Is she that foolish? I just dislike her still. I love how the humor is casually inserted but in a way that it just doesn't seem so out of place.

Second, the plot. I didn't realize cassie was delaying so much from me. That was the most antagonizing journey ever. Literally, the story brings you slowly—so painstakingly slow— to the very edge of your seat, and then you find yourself bouncing up and down, knocking the chair down and you punch invisible demons in the air while cheering your Shadowhunter pals. And then you breathe, smiling. Suddenly, you find yourself with your eyes open wide—SLOWLY, SO PAINFULLY SLOW, TAKING A SEAT ON THE FLOOR, HUGGING YOURSELF BECAUSE WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING WITH THE JAMES-CORDELIA-MATTHEW TRIANGLE. Miss Cassie, chapter 29 broke my heart so bad. It's like Clockwork Princess' epilogue. I couldn't read everything, I only skimmed it. This is why I so terribly hate love triangles. I hate it so much. I just want them all to be happy, if Matthew wanted to go to Paris he could've just told me and left Cordelia with James. I'm sorry, I love Matthew so much but I just don't see him with Cordelia at all. AND LUCIE. LUCIE. LUCEEE. I KNOW YOU LOVE JESSE, WE ALSO DO, BUT MISS MA'AM IM SCARED FOR YOU. I'm guessing Malcolm brought them to his house at Cornwall, which will be refreshing to see when I read chain of thorn—WHICH WON'T COME OUT TIL NEXT YEAR, HOW CRUEL. JUST CRUEL. I love the wessa moments, as always. Also, I found it sort of funny how cassie was like "nope, you guys aren't gonna get wessa, magnus, and jem until the last 3 chapters" the whole book. It's... AHHHH!

LASTLY. LASTLY. LASTLY. THE CHARACTERS ARE JUST SO WELL WRITTEN. My issue was Lucie being overshadowed by the others. I felt like Lucie deserved much more credit.

Do I have theories? I'm not going to formulate any. I want to be surprised. But overall, this book was not a disappointment. I loved it all throughout. I cried at the smallest comments. I laughed so much. I LOVED IT SO MUCH I'M GONNA CRY BECAUSE CHAIN OF THORNS WONT COME OUT TIL NEXT YEAR. OKAY BYE.

thecrescentreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

amzs's review

Go to review page

3.0

the plot of this book is a mess, but seeing the big bad demon villains fight over the pettiest shit is ridiculously funny.

the james/cordelia/matthew love triangle needs to be thrown in the trash, it does not work. herondaisy endgame and fairstairs besties.

the thomastairs angst it top tier, love it.

the scene between christopher and grace in the lab was adorable. i would like to see those two kiss.

anna and ariadne angst. i want more of them. give me sapphics.

but once again the drama between these idiotic 20th century teens is more interesting than the plot of the book. do better, cassandra.

however i cannot deny that i enjoyed the lucie, grace and jesse side story.

vintagekisstodaye's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? Yes

4.25

linr's review

Go to review page

found out it existed today and finished it on the same night bc i have no self control.... when will cassandra clare give up her weird thing for incest.... and i am also really done with parabatai love triangles, they always gotta be in love with the same person/each other. will and jem 2.0

gabburrit0's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

this gets an almost perfect rating cause I HATE the miscommunication trope. not even half, ALL OF THE PROBLEMS in this book could've been easily figured out if someone had just said "this is what's happening/how I feel" n yes there's secrets involved but gosh darn it I need ppl to actually talk to each other
also ik that this book was supposed to be grace's beginnings of redemption but I still only really pity her which is upsetting