Reviews with content warning for Violence - Chain of Gold

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

32 reviews

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

3.5

It is strange to finally be reaching the end of my Shadowhunters journey. I feel like I have been reading these books for so long, and so much has happened, but I still have so much more to learn. I think overall this was my favorite start to a trilogy in the Shadowhunters world.
"Chain of Gold" mainly follows Cordelia Carstairs, a young Shadowhunter who has been trained since birth to rid the world of demons. Her mother, brother, and herself have fled to a new town, London, because her father was accused of a terrible crime, and if he is convicted, the family will not be able to live in peace. Unfortunately, London begins to be plagued by demon attacks, and these attacks are unlike any they have seen before. With her new friends by her side, Cordelia embarks on a journey to save London, and discover what is really happening in the Shadowhunter world.
It has been really fun to read all of the Shadowhunter books at my leisure, and not have to wait for the next one to come out. I have also really enjoyed seeing how Cassandra Clare's writing has improved over the series. This book was written amazingly, and I was so enthralled by the characters from page one. I really enjoyed seeing the children from previous characters and how things have evolved since we last saw them. This specific book was more intresting to me because I was really invested in Cordelia learning more about her own family and why her father was accused of this crime. I also really enjoyed her secret love plot. Like with most of Cassandra Clare's books, I did feel like it was too long, but I know the diehard fans love seeing more and being immersed entirely into this world.
I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book, because boy were there some cliffhangers I need resolved!

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andrikkk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I absolutely love Cassandra Clare. The infernal devices is my favourite series to date and I loved the mortal instruments and it’s what got me into reading. When I found out that Cassandra Clare has written a series about the kids of the infernal devices, I was so excited! This first book did not disappoint and it’s a strong start for the series.

This book follows Cordelia Carstairs, who is a Shadowhunter, she is a warrior who has been trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime. She and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like the Shadowhunters have fought before –these demons can walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with a deadly poison and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Whilst they are trapped in the city, Cordelia and her friends discover that their own connection to a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers. This book is a young adult historical fantasy fiction.

I still love the dynamic of Will and Tessa and the lightwoods. I love seeing the children being EXACTLY like their parents. It made me laugh especially the running joke of Herondales hating the ducks. I like seeing Cordelia and Lucie being parabatais before they are actually parabatais. I love the fact that it’s back in England. I’ve never been to London but I loved the fact that is in the same country as me. I loved the storyline of James and Lucie having the weird Shadowhunter/warlock powers due to Tessa and Will being their parents.

I wouldn’t say there is any weaknesses during this novel, I just think that this book is building up to something that is going to be explained in the next book. Cassandra Clare manages to do it Every. Single. Time - you don’t have to read any of the other series to know what’s going on, some immortal characters make an appearance but you could read this series on its own without having to read The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices or The Eldest Curses.

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fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

While I was a little confused at first because there are so many characters, I now want to protect these characters? Like fiercely. Especially Christopher and Matthew! And I adore Cordelia and Lucie and their badass female friendship and strength! Cannot wait to see where this goes next!

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lucy_shanners's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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lectricefeministe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

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humanmosquito's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.25

Once again Clare delivers a decent concept with sloppy execution.

To no one's surprise, a book that started with two solid chapters of casual racism and awkward exposition dump was terrible.
It suffered heavily from the usual Clareisms. (Such as comma splicing, overwritten descriptions weighing down scenes, flat protagonists, kissing scenes in place of actual romantic chemistry and cartoonishly ridiculous antagonists to name a few)

This book felt like Downton Abbey meets Bridgerton, an apt comparison given that the book manages to trot out almost every tired period drama cliche by chapter 5.

As is typical of The Shadowhunter Chronicles, the minor characters were genuinely interesting but never afforded enough page time. Some of the book’s 800 pages should have been spent on characters like Alastair Carstairs, whose coloured past the reader is constantly reminded of but never elaborated on; or the Lightwood cousins, specifically Anna and Thomas, the only ones with love interests. (This is a romance novel.)

At the two-thirds point I began to skip Cordelia and James' POV chapters as they completely lost anything compelling they'd had in the beginning.

So many plot details, character attributes and similar were informed rather than shown. Sometimes Cassandra Clare books feel like being forced to read a twitter thread of obvious misinformation but no one around you notices or cares. This is one of those times. Overall, it was unenjoyable but with a concept I would otherwise have been excited about (Great Expectations in the way of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies)

Random things that ticked me off in this book: (equal parts nitpick and criticism)
CoRsETS aRe EvIL and other tired clichés (corsets within The Last Hours render the poor women who wear unable to eat or breathe, yet shadowhunter women continue to not only wear them but train and fight demons whilst doing so.)
The lack of any kind of research into this era. (Edwardian)
That fact that Shadowhunters have a fucking social season? And it’s in London? Not the Shadowhunter country. (*shrek meme* They don’t even have a monarchy)
Being closeted, for the book’s three closeted queer characters, is framed as lying and as morally wrong despite it being 1903. This is also despite the society of the book being rife with casual queerphobia.
‘Brown girls can’t wear pastel’ every other chapter (It’s a fucking plot point).
No respect is paid to a character’s (Anna Lightwood) Word of God genderqueerness (but given that the writer made one post about it on her Tumblr six years ago, I’m not at all surprised.)

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