Book Review // Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

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Title: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours, #1)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pub. Date: March 3rd

Book Synopsis

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.

James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.

(Goodreads, 2020)

Book Review

I was waiting for this book for so long. I’m obsessed with The Infernal Devices so when I found out that there will be a new series that continues the story of Shadowhunters of Edwardian London I was in heaven. I was just hoping it will be as good as I expect it to be. It certainly is.

The story is based on the children of Will and Tessa Herondale: James and Lucie but also on Cordelia Carstairs, a cousin of Jem Carstairs, who is a future parabatai of Lucie. Most of the characters in this book appeared already in other books written by Cassandra Clare for example in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. We meet there Mathew Fairchild, Thomas, and Christopher Lightwood but also Alastair Carstairs so I would recommend reading this book before reading Chain of Gold. It’s helpful to understand the relationship between all characters.

After the arrest of Elias Carstairs, Cordelia, her mother and brother are forced to move to London and look there for allies and future social circles, which would stand on their side and save them from ruin. Cordelia took this task to her heart and from day one, she was working hard to look flawless and make connections with powerful people within the circle. Thankfully, she wasn’t there alone. She was friends with Lucie and James for years. She was happy to be closer to her future parabatai. However, it also meant being close to James with who she was secretly in love. Her happiness ended up very quickly when she found out that the love of her life is already in love with someone else.

As much as I love this aspect of the story, I also hate it. I didn’t understand how he can be in love with someone like Grace Blackthorn. There are so many wrong things with her. I would like to say that the worst thing in her being selfish but it’s unquestionably not that. She’s using James from the beginning. Moreover, I’m sure she has a connection to the attacks of deadly demons in London. The only person worse in this book is Tatiana, her mother.

The action in the book starts with the first attack of demons. It wouldn’t be anything special if the attack wouldn’t happen during the day. The city of London was quiet and free of demons for several years so many shadowhunters weren’t ready for it when it came. Moreover, the injured people were poisoned and couldn’t be healed by iratze or Silent Brothers. One of the injured was a cousin of James and Lucie. They with the help of their friends were looking for clues and solutions to this issue. Cordelia was one of them. She didn’t know any of their friends, but it changed very quickly, and she became one of them. The friendships in Shadowhunters books are always very powerful and this one wasn’t an exception. What made me sad was how many secrets they all hide from each other. The secrets that made them miserable most of the time. Hopefully, in the next, they will finally share it and make each other feel better.

Cordelia is one of my favorite characters in this book. In the beginning, I thought she’s a little bit childish and weak. However, I changed my mind very quickly when she has shown her true face to everyone. She is a warrior, who won’t stand down until all her loved ones will be saved. Her best feature is cleverness. She finds a way out of every single situation and knows how to impress people with her answers.

I can’t make my mind what I think about James. He is a smart guy who cares about his friends and family more than he cares about himself. He falls badly in love with the wrong person and it destroys him slowly. He’s lost in his feelings and he cannot clearly understand them. Besides his love story with Grace, I adore him. He’s an amazing person, loved by many. I just wish he would give all the love to Cordelia, who’s the one who deserves it.

Lucie is a character who surprised me the most with her abilities. She is a writer so I could relate to many of her actions. I knew from the time when she met Jesse Blackthorn and was the only one of Herondales who can see him, that it must be a clue of her warlock aptitudes. I’m very curious about what book two will bring to her story. I’m sure, she will surprise us more than once.

The action in the story was well created. It was hard to guess what will happen next and it made it very exciting. The story contains three matters that its characters had to take care of, and in the end, we find out that they are all connected. Cassandra is a genius in writing stories, so I wasn’t even surprised by this ending. I finished reading it and I couldn’t decide if I’m happy or sad about what happened. Even if I was prepared for a destroying ending, I didn’t know that I will be so frustrated. I hope that we won’t need to wait for the next book for more than one year. I need to know what will happen next.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favorite Quotes

“We do not get to choose when in our lives we feel pain,” said Matthew. “It comes when it comes, and we try to remember, even though we cannot imagine a day when it will release its hold on us, that all pain fades. All misery passes. Humanity is drawn to light, not darkness.”

Cassandra Clare

“There is no better distraction in this world than losing oneself in books for awhile.”

Cassandra Clare

“The point of stories is not that they are objectively true, but that the soul of the story is truer than reality. Those who mock fiction do so because they fear the truth.”

Cassandra clare

“Do not let those who cannot see the truth tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.”

Cassandra clare

If you read this book already, please message me on twitter or Instagram so we can talk about it. I need to talk with someone about it. It will crush me if I won’t.

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