Chain of Gold – Review

I am beyond happy to have finished this HUGE book of almost 600 pages. It felt so good to be back in the Shadowhunter world, in this familiar universe. Here are my thoughts on Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Last Hours.

Synopsis

Cordelia Carstairs just arrived in London, but she’s determined to make precious connections hoping to save her father, who’s on trial in Alicante. However, her plans are crossed when a series of demon attacks cause several deaths and many injuries. Together with her soon-to-be parabatai, Lucie, her older brother James and his best friends, known as the Merry Thieves, Cordelia must unravel secrets in order to save the lives of many and determine who’s responsible. And if the demon attacks weren’t complicated enough, Cordelia has to deal with her unrequited feelings towards James, the boy deliberately in love with a girl, Grace, far away. But when Grace suddenly arrives in London, the plot seems to thicken as she might not just be the girl James has been in love for so long…

Genre: YA fantasy

Publication Date: March 3rd 2020

Pages: 642

My thoughts:

I ended up rating this book 5 stars because it turned out to be spectacular – I had quite a few doubts when I first started (read my First and Second Impression!), but it developed marvelously, the ending was breathtaking and therefore, what else can I do?!

The plot was why I first had doubts: after so many series, the start of the book didn’t strike me as extraordinary, because some weird demon attacks are nothing too special. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The demon attacks play a huge role, but there’s so much more behind them than just a demon! The plot is super intricate, everything has much more meaning than first hinted at, all the characters have their own troubles and are interconnected and the story is complex through and through.

The characters are probably my favorite aspect! Besides the pleasant addition to seeing Will, Tessa and Jem again, Cassie introduces some wonderfully crafted new characters! The friendship between Lucie and Cordelia is so sweet, and the parabatai bond between James and Matthew is the purest thing I’ve ever seen! And of course, it wouldn’t be a Shadowhunter novel without the romance: unrequited, complicated, maybe it only needs a conversation to sort it out, platonic, parental love – all sorts of love to be found and again, hints that will make me super excited to read the next book!

To be fair, the characters were overwhelming at first: so many new characters were introduced, and while I fell in love with them during the book, it was hard to keep up with them at first. They are all interconnected, related here and there, and it was just too much for my brain to handle. Thankfully, after about 200 pages, I had the relations all figured out and that was where the book began to deepen and things started to get heated!

Connected as always, the writing and atmosphere can’t be compared! Cassandra Clare has a gift to create the most powerful and relatable sentences and quotes to have ever been written down. She is truly a remarkable writer, one who’s able to bring across passion, grief, joy and suspense with just one sentence, but full of meaning like nothing you will ever witness – if you want to read more, I posted Shadowhunter quotes that go way too deep – you’ll understand then.

Recommendable: a must read for every Cassie Clare fan!

All in all, a brilliant debut of what I expect to be a brilliant series! Everything’s on point, she will leave me speechless for quite some time desperate to figure out how the story continues!