A review by annakh16
Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

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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