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A review by selfmythologies
Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
4.0
Well - I've been waiting for this one.
(slight spoilers - nothing too big!)
Without exaggeration, The Last Hours is the most anticipated book series of....my life? Yes, I've been waiting for it since 2013. 7 years. Completely crazy to think about.
The Infernal Devices was so important as a formative reading experience of my teenage years and it will always mean so much to me. This is its sequel series, featuring the children of TID's characters, which was announced ages ago and pushed back many times, so it was quite surreal for me to finally get to it. At the same time, I was somewhat scared of my high expectations. Having met the majority of these characters before in short stories and excerpts, I was a bit afraid the actual novel wouldn't live up to how I had already constructed them in my mind.
Thankfully, these fears were largely unfounded. Chain of Gold is a delightful, enjoyable and intriguing read, with lovable and interesting characters that have lots of potential.
It has got an atmosphere that's fairly different from TID - the dark, mysterious Victorian mood has been replaced by a sunnier, lighter and more playful general feel of this series. I like the fact that these moods are specifically tied into the plots of each series - while TID centered people who were alone and lost finding hope and love in each other, in TLH the main characters grew up in safety and love, with parents that were there for them and very few demonic threats. However, that peace is deceptive.....and we're seeing the first glimpse of the threatening darkness underneath in this first book, though no doubt there is much more to come in the next volumes.
One of my favorite plotlines and also places is the one surrounding Tatiana and Grace Blackthorn and their two family estates (in London and Idris). The atmosphere of these two manors was just so delightfully eerie, dark and uncanny - the overgrowth of nature everywhere, vines choking the gates, the rot and decay within, the stopped clocks (a very well done reference to Great Expectations). And in contrast to that the happiness of the Herondale family and the others, who are all a loving, tightly knit group - but they're also oblivious to the danger that is around them. Just....the vibes of this are so good.
And Grace is definitely one of my favorite characters already just in terms of how interesting she is. She is clearly emotionally manipulative, and there are moments where it's almost chilling how cold-hearted, cruel and cunning she comes across. You're left wondering: Is all of her identity just an act? But then you remember the circumstances she grew up in, and how she wants to protect herself and her brother, and consider how she how many choices she really has. I have no doubt she will become even more complex as the series continues, and I can't wait.
But now to the actual main characters: Cordelia Carstairs pretty much immediately found her way into my heart. She's absolutely my favorite of the Shadowhunter main heroines so far, together with Tessa (but who knows? she might rival even her, and that is a high compliment indeed from me) I love how she's pragmatic and direct, but also thoughtful, shy, and kind. Honestly, she's probably the closest I've come to actually directly relating to a character in a Shadowhunter book in terms of personality and behavior. I appreciate her very much. Also love the fact that she's half Persian, and it's actually relevant for the plot and her characterization (also, the excerpts from Persian literature are all so beautiful!) Her relationship to her mom and brother also struck me as very realistic in their imperfection - the Carstairs family definitely intrigued me the most out of them all (together with the Blackthorns ofc)
I liked the young Herondales as well, and their sibling bond especially, which was really cute and heartwarming. Lucie actually intrigued me a little more in terms of her plotline, which is connected to her special ability. It's no secret that I love anything to do with ghosts, so I really appreciated the storyline with Jesse and Lucie. I think they make a very interesting pair (whether platonic or possibly romantic) - her being very spontaneous, brash and upbeat and him more melancholic and internally focused.
I feel like I'm gonna warm up to James as an individual character more in the next two books. Funnily enough I connected to him more when he was young and awkward in TFSA - now, all grown up, he almost seems a little too perfect, always caring, kind, funny and perfectly handsome. Not saying that male characters who are kind aren't the best (they're in fact my favorites), but I was kind of missing a bit more dimensionality to James. But, as I said, I'm very sure that will change in the future.
Matthew....oh well. Self-destructive and engaging in unhealthy behaviors, but there's no big fallout in this book yet - it will for sure happen in the next one. I read the short story that explains the big 'shadow' hanging over him, and I'm very curious how that will resolve itself.
Thomas and Christopher took a while to really feel like actual people to me, but I'm very on board now. Christopher is super funny and sweet, and I feel like Thomas has some hidden sides to him that are yet to be explored!
HOWEVER. I absolutely need to talk about Alastair Carstairs, whose depiction hints at what could be a great, realistic redemption arc. Hell yes. Alastair was a bully to the main characters in the past, but now it's years later and we follow him as he struggles with....the person he wants to be now? I really, really loved all his scenes with Cordelia and the complexity this relationship added to his character. He's super well written and at such an interesting point in his character development - how do you really break free of the person you've been? it's got so much potential!
that's most of the characters really? there's Anna of course, who is her confident self - i'll be more interested in her when she shows her more vulnerable side in the next books.
The plot itself was pretty characteristic for a 'first in the series' book - entertaining, but the focus is clearly more on getting to know the characters, and the biggest threats can't yet be revealed. I liked it alright, I'm not a very plot-focused reader anyway. (Though it was kind of trippy that this book, written and thought of way before 2020, was released precisely when the coronavirus crisis really started kicking in in Europe and it's.......about an unknown disease, the search for an antidote and a quarantine. Yup....eerily timely.)
The setting of London and the historical time period definitely added to my enjoyment, as it did with TID - it's just a combination I particularly love. I liked the fact that old locations from TID were brought up, but also new ones were explored and all of the placed had specific feels to them - Anna's flat, the Carstairs' big mansion, the Institute, and as I already mentioned, the amazing atmosphere of the Blackthorns' mansions.
Now, as with every CC book, there is a lot of drama around romance and about a dozen love triangles and stuff. It took me a while to get on board with James/Cordelia, but I do like them considerably more than the main couple of TDA at last. I think this ship does have the potential to win me over, it was just a bit on the nose here. It did annoy me a little at times when it went into too tropey territory. ('omg does he love her or not'/'he secretly loves her but doesnt realize it for some reason' are two tropes I don't like when they're stretched out too long and this book did sometimes test my patience with it). I was actually going to write a whole rant about how the J/C romance would have been way better if it hadn't used these tired tropes so much - but then came the ending, which was admittedly new and very unexpected. It did give me considerable feels, so I'll have to make a concession and won't go off on the rant. However. It might just be reserved for Chain of Iron if that book spends its whole time on 'but does he actually love me??' mode which it probably will.....oh well.
And I'm not sure what to think of Matthew now also being interested in Cordelia. Boy got enough troubles to sort out by himself. Give him a break.
Other than that....I'm interested in pretty much all of the other romances that have been hinted at, but not seriously committed to any as of now.
So my final opinion is - I'm in, I'm invested, and I'm very hopeful for the future of this series. With TID, the first book was good and solid and then the next two absolutely shattered my heart. With all the buildup of character relationships here, I have a specific feeling that TLH will take a similar route. CC is definitely not holding back if the ending of the first book already has such a bittersweet tone.
deserved 4 stars, and looking forward to Chain of Iron with delight!
(slight spoilers - nothing too big!)
Without exaggeration, The Last Hours is the most anticipated book series of....my life? Yes, I've been waiting for it since 2013. 7 years. Completely crazy to think about.
The Infernal Devices was so important as a formative reading experience of my teenage years and it will always mean so much to me. This is its sequel series, featuring the children of TID's characters, which was announced ages ago and pushed back many times, so it was quite surreal for me to finally get to it. At the same time, I was somewhat scared of my high expectations. Having met the majority of these characters before in short stories and excerpts, I was a bit afraid the actual novel wouldn't live up to how I had already constructed them in my mind.
Thankfully, these fears were largely unfounded. Chain of Gold is a delightful, enjoyable and intriguing read, with lovable and interesting characters that have lots of potential.
It has got an atmosphere that's fairly different from TID - the dark, mysterious Victorian mood has been replaced by a sunnier, lighter and more playful general feel of this series. I like the fact that these moods are specifically tied into the plots of each series - while TID centered people who were alone and lost finding hope and love in each other, in TLH the main characters grew up in safety and love, with parents that were there for them and very few demonic threats. However, that peace is deceptive.....and we're seeing the first glimpse of the threatening darkness underneath in this first book, though no doubt there is much more to come in the next volumes.
One of my favorite plotlines and also places is the one surrounding Tatiana and Grace Blackthorn and their two family estates (in London and Idris). The atmosphere of these two manors was just so delightfully eerie, dark and uncanny - the overgrowth of nature everywhere, vines choking the gates, the rot and decay within, the stopped clocks (a very well done reference to Great Expectations). And in contrast to that the happiness of the Herondale family and the others, who are all a loving, tightly knit group - but they're also oblivious to the danger that is around them. Just....the vibes of this are so good.
And Grace is definitely one of my favorite characters already just in terms of how interesting she is. She is clearly emotionally manipulative, and there are moments where it's almost chilling how cold-hearted, cruel and cunning she comes across. You're left wondering: Is all of her identity just an act? But then you remember the circumstances she grew up in, and how she wants to protect herself and her brother, and consider how she how many choices she really has. I have no doubt she will become even more complex as the series continues, and I can't wait.
But now to the actual main characters: Cordelia Carstairs pretty much immediately found her way into my heart. She's absolutely my favorite of the Shadowhunter main heroines so far, together with Tessa (but who knows? she might rival even her, and that is a high compliment indeed from me) I love how she's pragmatic and direct, but also thoughtful, shy, and kind. Honestly, she's probably the closest I've come to actually directly relating to a character in a Shadowhunter book in terms of personality and behavior. I appreciate her very much. Also love the fact that she's half Persian, and it's actually relevant for the plot and her characterization (also, the excerpts from Persian literature are all so beautiful!) Her relationship to her mom and brother also struck me as very realistic in their imperfection - the Carstairs family definitely intrigued me the most out of them all (together with the Blackthorns ofc)
I liked the young Herondales as well, and their sibling bond especially, which was really cute and heartwarming. Lucie actually intrigued me a little more in terms of her plotline, which is connected to her special ability. It's no secret that I love anything to do with ghosts, so I really appreciated the storyline with Jesse and Lucie. I think they make a very interesting pair (whether platonic or possibly romantic) - her being very spontaneous, brash and upbeat and him more melancholic and internally focused.
I feel like I'm gonna warm up to James as an individual character more in the next two books. Funnily enough I connected to him more when he was young and awkward in TFSA - now, all grown up, he almost seems a little too perfect, always caring, kind, funny and perfectly handsome. Not saying that male characters who are kind aren't the best (they're in fact my favorites), but I was kind of missing a bit more dimensionality to James. But, as I said, I'm very sure that will change in the future.
Matthew....oh well. Self-destructive and engaging in unhealthy behaviors, but there's no big fallout in this book yet - it will for sure happen in the next one. I read the short story that explains the big 'shadow' hanging over him, and I'm very curious how that will resolve itself.
Thomas and Christopher took a while to really feel like actual people to me, but I'm very on board now. Christopher is super funny and sweet, and I feel like Thomas has some hidden sides to him that are yet to be explored!
HOWEVER. I absolutely need to talk about Alastair Carstairs, whose depiction hints at what could be a great, realistic redemption arc. Hell yes. Alastair was a bully to the main characters in the past, but now it's years later and we follow him as he struggles with....the person he wants to be now? I really, really loved all his scenes with Cordelia and the complexity this relationship added to his character. He's super well written and at such an interesting point in his character development - how do you really break free of the person you've been? it's got so much potential!
that's most of the characters really? there's Anna of course, who is her confident self - i'll be more interested in her when she shows her more vulnerable side in the next books.
The plot itself was pretty characteristic for a 'first in the series' book - entertaining, but the focus is clearly more on getting to know the characters, and the biggest threats can't yet be revealed. I liked it alright, I'm not a very plot-focused reader anyway. (Though it was kind of trippy that this book, written and thought of way before 2020, was released precisely when the coronavirus crisis really started kicking in in Europe and it's.......about an unknown disease, the search for an antidote and a quarantine. Yup....eerily timely.)
The setting of London and the historical time period definitely added to my enjoyment, as it did with TID - it's just a combination I particularly love. I liked the fact that old locations from TID were brought up, but also new ones were explored and all of the placed had specific feels to them - Anna's flat, the Carstairs' big mansion, the Institute, and as I already mentioned, the amazing atmosphere of the Blackthorns' mansions.
Now, as with every CC book, there is a lot of drama around romance and about a dozen love triangles and stuff. It took me a while to get on board with James/Cordelia, but I do like them considerably more than the main couple of TDA at last. I think this ship does have the potential to win me over, it was just a bit on the nose here. It did annoy me a little at times when it went into too tropey territory. ('omg does he love her or not'/'he secretly loves her but doesnt realize it for some reason' are two tropes I don't like when they're stretched out too long and this book did sometimes test my patience with it). I was actually going to write a whole rant about how the J/C romance would have been way better if it hadn't used these tired tropes so much - but then came the ending, which was admittedly new and very unexpected. It did give me considerable feels, so I'll have to make a concession and won't go off on the rant. However. It might just be reserved for Chain of Iron if that book spends its whole time on 'but does he actually love me??' mode which it probably will.....oh well.
And I'm not sure what to think of Matthew now also being interested in Cordelia. Boy got enough troubles to sort out by himself. Give him a break.
Other than that....I'm interested in pretty much all of the other romances that have been hinted at, but not seriously committed to any as of now.
So my final opinion is - I'm in, I'm invested, and I'm very hopeful for the future of this series. With TID, the first book was good and solid and then the next two absolutely shattered my heart. With all the buildup of character relationships here, I have a specific feeling that TLH will take a similar route. CC is definitely not holding back if the ending of the first book already has such a bittersweet tone.
deserved 4 stars, and looking forward to Chain of Iron with delight!