Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy
Blurb (on back of book):
Chain of Gold is the first novel in a new trilogy that stars the Shadowhunters of Edwardian London.
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.
MY OPINION: *****
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and I'm so happy with how it ended. If you don't already know, I'm a pretty large fan of Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter novels and I believe this one is my fifteenth or sixteenth book of hers that I've read. My favorite of her series is Infernal Devices and always will be but I loved this book.
It centers around Will and Tessa's children and their friends, and I loved that. Will and Tessa are my absolute favorites of any of Clare's characters and I loved getting to see more of them and her life after the tragic ending of TID.
I adored the characters in this book. Cassandra Clare is truly a love story genius; instead of love triangles, we get love dodecahedrons at this point. I loved the relationships between each character and while of course I have my own little ships I'm rooting for, I already know it's going to be so beautifully-written like the rest of her books.
James Herondale. I loved him (not as much as Will) so much. His character was so beautifully complex. His mother, Tessa, is the daughter of a Prince of Hell, which has ramifications on James, as he is strangely able to visit a realm of hell's shadow world against his will. I loved that whole idea because it has a lot of potential to cause future conflicts for James and his character. <spoiler>I am praying that the next book will reveal his compulsion and everything that's happened to him because of Grace. I need him to be with Cordelia truly and completely, rather than a possessed shell of himself.</spoiler> I loved his relationship with the other characters, including Matthew, his parabatai, and Cordelia, his best friend and possible lover.
Cordelia was another strong female protagonist that I absolutely adored. It's rare that I love the protagonists of books but Cassandra Clare did not fail me with Cordelia and James. I loved her strength, courage, and determination to protect those she loves. She is in love with James but respects his relationship with Grace, and I admired that about her; she wasn't a vindictive, crazy, psycho girl like the girls are in a lot of other books I've read.
Alastair Carstairs. My absolute favorite out of all of them. He comes off as a rude, cruel, awful character that I instantly disliked in the beginning. We learn that he bullied and tormented the Merry Thieves (Christopher, Thomas, Matthew, and James) when they were at the Shadowhunter Academy, but I ended up loving his character. He truly redeemed himself by the end and even apologized to everyone, which is rare coming from a bully. <spoiler>His relationship with Charles broke my heart. I can't imagine what he must have felt. I really hope the next books will develop his relationship with Thomas further though because I truly loved them and hope they end up together.</spoiler>
Matthew. I can't tell what's going on with him. He has dark secrets that have driven him to become an alcoholic and I hope that we get to understand his character in the next books. I loved his relationship with James and I wish I could have a parabatai (come on, it would be great). I don't know what his feelings are concerning women or men, because he seemed to be sort of flirtatious with everyone. <spoiler> I really hope that he's not in love with Cordelia, which was strongly hinted at towards the end of the book, because I already know that is going to cause a lot of future conflicts with James. Also, I loved his relationship with Magnus Bane because he idolized him and it was cute how they finally had a real conversation by the end.</spoiler> Matthew Fairchild deserves everything and if he doesn't get it, I might throw hands.
Jesse Blackthorn. I also loved his character so much and his relationship with Lucie. <spoiler> If he's truly dead in the next book, I'm suing.</spoiler> I loved how fiercely protective he was and loyal to the end.
The plot isn't the most developed and there isn't as much action as you would expect. It focused more on the drama and romances than anything but for me, personally, that was where I thrived. I loved it, especially because I'm not really a fantasy reader. I couldn't help but draw parallels with their quarantine and ours but theirs seemed to be fairly successful by the end so I'm praying.
The ending of this book left me in physical pain and I need the second book NOW. Regretfully, as it has not been written yet, I can only die in silence and impatience as I wait for the next one.
I would recommend this book to all readers who adore drama and romance all wrapped up in a fantasy novel centering around the vast world of Shadowhunters.
*read The Infernal Devices before this at the very least*
Main Character: Cordelia, James, etc
Sidekick(s): Thomas, Alastair, Christopher, Matthew, Lucie, Jesse, Anna, etc
Villain(s): Demons, Prince of Hell, disease, etc
Fantasy Elements: This book had fanatic elements, including characters, demons, setting, etc.
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