Reviews

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

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

tjildau's review against another edition

3.0

I had such high expectations of this book, but the first 50% or so was just annoying. All the lying, secrecy and just no communication was so frustrating. After that, it got better, but it could have been so much more if it didn't feel so rushed.

yt99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

4.75

manuelapalmieri0109's review against another edition

2.0

2.5* Never thought I’d say this but Grace was the best part of this book

jesperfahey's review

slow-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? Yes

1.0

ghood_27's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

wiktoria's review against another edition

1.5

I feel personally victimised by Cassandra Clare's editor. This book did not need to be this long and someone should have told her that. 
The pacing in scenes that were meant to be emotional was frankly insulting. 
The only thing that stopped me from DNF-ing this book is that it's the last of the series and honestly might be the last Clare book I read.

merireadstuff's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 bc of the triangle bc ???’!;€/ okay e also per come cambia all’inizio cordelia

LOVED THIS .
there were of course a few moments where i was confused at things happening but… it’s cassandra clare and it’s okay.
christopher’s death BROKE me i think i felt worse than livvy’s, it was very hard to get through and i had to stop for a while because i couldn’t see the page behind the tears.
my thomastair ily and i will always love u
this was my favourite ever cc cast, i loved every single character of this found family.
cordelia for most part of the book kinda disappointed me, but as soon as she started talking to lucie properly she was the same badass as always. lucie was amazing.
i have many thoughts but no organisation in my mind, so just one last thing: BRIDGET RULES .

i’m done

gabilisantos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

fernanda28's review against another edition

5.0

The almost two-year wait was worth it.
That's the perfect closing for the trilogy, everything wrapped up nicely and the long epilogue was great to give a bit of the life after everything went down.
I won't even pretend I can give an unbiased review of a Cassandra Clare book because she's my favourite author, and I've loved every single book she's ever released. Nevertheless, it's undeniable that Chain of Thorns, and the whole The Last Hours trilogy, is a great fantasy series.
I suffered less than I thought I would, for a very specific reason, I thought my favourite character would die, but they didn't. It still had some very, very sad moments, as well as some really funny and wholesome ones.
It still amazes me how CC can outdo herself with every new book. I really didn't want this book to end.

Guess now I have to (im)patiently wait for Sword Catcher.