The Last Hours – Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
Hello Books Lovers,
It is now a fact that for us Clare’s fans the day of the year when a new book on Shadowhunters is released creates more trepidation than Christmas itself. Sometimes we are so lucky that this happens even more than once a year. Finally that day of the year has arrived! For those who have read Chain of Gold and were waiting for the sequel to find out how things would go, or like me was waiting for the moment when the spark would break out between Alastair and Thomas, two days ago, for Mondadori it is arrived in Italy Chain of Iron, second book of The last hours.
We can finally continue the story of James, Cordelia, Lucy, Matthew, Christofer, Thomas, Alastair, Grace and Jesse, with spectacular cameos from Will, Tessa, Jem, Gabriel, Cecily, Sophie, Gideon, Charlotte and Henry. Yes, there are many characters but this vast number has never been appreciated as in Clare’s books.
I refer you to my review of Chain of Gold if you would like to read it, and I also tell you that this review will be totally no spoilers. As for Clare’s style I don’t say anything because by now you know the situation well, and even if some of her latest books I have seen many people have not liked, Clare was my first author, even if I’d try to not like one of her stories, I couldn’t, I love everything she writes, whether they are books or stories or just extracts. So, if I never say anything negative about her writing, it is precisely because I do not see anything negative.
The novel begins with a great important event. The famous one year marriage between James and Cordelia. This event will end up breaking our protagonist’s heart as she really loves James, but he only has eyes for Grace who, as we know, is only manipulating him. And as if that weren’t enough, on the adventure side, something is killing the Shadowhunters of London, and our guys will make a commitment to understand what’s going on.
There is a lesser demonic presence in this book. Everything is much more focused on the characters, but I like it like that, also because as I said before, what prompted me to throw myself into the frantic reading of this volume was precisely the desire to arrive, if it had existed, at the scene in which finally something would have blossomed between Thomas and Alastair, I don’t know why but I’ve been shipping them since the first book. Maybe more than I wanted together Alec and Magnus, and Clary and Jace, and Emma and Julian.
However, there is no shortage of adventurous moments here either. An aspect of this volume that I really liked was the bigger space given to the voice, the thoughts and the point of views of Grace Blackthorn. Some paragraphs are entirely dedicated to her, and even though the story of some characters, like Matthew, still remain a mistery, at least we can have a more clear vision on Grace’s past, on how she got her abilities, and on everything she had to go through before arriving in the London Institute.
Chain of Iron was a very interesting story to read. In my opinion it seemed much more focused on the story of the characters, with that characterizing background of the Shadowhunter books that each time gives an original touch. But now we will have to wait at least a year before we have anything else from Clare, it will be a heartbreaking wait, even though she said she is working on stories that she will distribute for free to kill the wait a bit. Yay Cassie!
Plus, for who was wandering – can your heart break more then once on the same reading – my answer is yes. Mine probably broke around 3-4 times on Chain of iron, minimum. Some theories I have since the previous volume where confirmed, but at the same time they made me feel more anguish and sad knowing what will happen in our characters’ future. So dear Cassie, write the last volume as quick as possible please…
I also leave you the plot of this book. There are so many things to say, yet every time I find myself writing a review of these books I find myself at a loss for words. Then a beautiful thing is that we finally got the original cover, or at least a very similar copy, the problem is: will it look good next to Chain of Gold that is blue? We’ll see. If you want to see the result I suggest you follow me on instagram and when I have purchased it and I will be back home to make the comparison you will be the first to see it.
Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.
But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.
Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.
