Chain Of Gold by Cassandra Clare | Bokk Review

Title: Chain of Gold

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Last Hours #1

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Paranormal

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Publication date: March 3rd, 2020

Pages: 624

My rating:

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.

“Haven’t you heard? All the stories are true.”

After reading the short stories of Ghost of the Shadow Market I was so pumped to read Chain of Gold, mostly because at this point I’ve sold my soul to Cassandra Clare and I’ll read anything she writes. Nonetheless, I was so excited about this new series because The Infernal Devices hold a special place in my heart, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the events that took place in Chain of Gold.

I would say I wasn’t super committed at the very beginning of the story. I feel it took a little bit for the story to get going, and frankly not much was happening until the middle of the book, where more revelations were done and I had a fair view of who the cast of characters were and their different relationships. It’s true that I think the plot was more of an introduction to what is going to happen in the next two books, and Chain of Gold was more like a prologue and a bridge between the previous generation’s events and the new one, and I think that was done really well, though having in mind the length of the book, maybe it was a bit too much.

However, it felt so good to be back to this world. I adored seeing Will, Tessa and the old crew again being parents, though I have to admit that it felt a bit weird because in my mind they were still these young kinds trying to save the world, but oh, I guess that was just me being an emotional baby.

“People become locked in bitterness sometimes, and they wish to find someone, anyone, to blame for their grief.”

Also, I really enjoyed the new cast of characters. I’d sell my soul to Cordelia Castairs and Anna Lightwood, and I actually really enjoyed Mathew’s arc a lot, too. The thing was that each had a different personality and it was pretty fun to get to know them as the book continued.

Cordelia was honestly one of the strongest characters these book had, and I’m so glad she was such a complex and brave character. Even though I wanted to read a little bit more about her relationship with Lucie, because I felt that was a bit underdeveloped, especially after reading in a Ghost of the Shadow Market novella how much she loved Cordelia, but well.

Still, I think it had an incredible cast of characters that felt so raw and real. And let me tell you, THE ANGST was so real. I felt in a constant state of pain reading Chain of Gold, and I don’t think my heart will recover from everything I put it through, because wow, the unrequited love and the angsty romances were really there, and it got more and more heartbreaking as you kept reading (I’m not complaining I love a good emotionally raw romance let’s be honest).

Something I wasn’t really blown away (but still it hurt just the same) were some of the revelations made towards the end of the book. I don’t know if it was because I suspected these characters from the very beginning and didn’t particularly like them, but that last chapter was something I saw coming. I don’t know the path the second book is going to take, but nonetheless I’m so excited to see what’s going yo happen.

Overall, I really enjoyed Chain of Gold, and though it had quite a repetitive and slow start it did get so much better as I kept reading. I became so attached to these characters and I’m afraid something bad will happen to them.

“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.”