Review: Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Title – Chain of Gold
Series – The Last Hours #1
Author – Cassandra Clare
How I Got It – From the publisher
Pages – 592 pages
Publication Date – March 3rd 2020 by Walker Books
ISBN – 9781406390766
My Rating – ★★★★★/5

“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.”

I received a copy of Chain of Gold from HarperCollins New Zealand to review. I was so excited when I received my copy because The Infernal Devices was my favourite out of all the books I’d read by Clare (still haven’t picked up The Dark Artifices though…) and I couldn’t wait to read more about Will Herondale (my absolute favourite) and his kids.

I went into this not knowing any of the characters except the original ones in TID. I had read about James in The Bane Chronicles but I can’t remember anything from that book as I read it years ago. Anyway, I quickly fell in love with all the Merry Thieves, Lucie, Cordelia and Anna. I loved how these characters were so accepting of Anna and Matthew. Even other gay characters in the book. But as this is set waaaaaay before The Mortal Instruments I don’t understand how the Shadowhunters of Alec’s time were “if it happens we don’t talk about it” but Anna was out (right?) and wearing all kinds of men’s suits and all her family and friends support her. Matthew seems to be out with his friends and accepted too. I’m not too sure about his family though. There are others in the ‘closet’ so to speak and not telling anyone for fear of what their families would say. And then there’s one  who is marrying a woman for a position and claiming its for another reason. But all I saw was a political move.

Like I said, I love Anna, Matthew and other characters that are LGBT in Chain of Gold. What I don’t get is how Alec and even Helen and Aline were treated in TMI series for also being LGBT. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” bullshit. I get Alec’s dad had his own issues but still. How can Edwardian London be so accepting when 2007 New York wasn’t? Reading how these characters were so loved and accepted by the people around them made me feel even more for Alec. Am I just picking these up tiny details because I love Alec? Because I hate how he, and Helen and Aline, were treated?

I had read Chain of Gold straight after a re-read of TID so I had also picked up on inconsistencies from the epilogue in Clockwork Princess and Chain of Gold.  I can’t mention too much because one is a spoiler but here are some I can mention – “Cecy’s blue-eyed boys” – Christopher has lilac eyes. I know, that’s a little thing but there’s more to come. “Gideon and Sophie’s two girls” – *cough* Thomas *cough* – also a spoiler I can’t mention here. “And the Fairchild sons and daughters” – Charlotte and Henry only had boys – Charles and Matthew – unless Charlotte is pregnant again and it just wasn’t mentioned? I wouldn’t have picked these details up at all had I not re-read TID before but because I did I saw them straight away. It might be small details, one is kind of big but I left that out because it’s a spoiler, but they were kind of annoying to me.

So, after reading all that I bet you’re wondering why I gave the book five stars? Because I loved the characters. I loved the storylines. Like, wtf is up with Grace and wtf is she or that bracelet? Her hold over James is creepy and then what she did with Matthew? W.T.F??? Then there’s Jesse.. I really like Jesse and don’t understand how he has family like Tatiana and Grace and seems normal. Well, normal despite the fact he’s dead and only three people can see him. But still seems more sane than Tatiana and Grace. Especially Tatiana. Because I have no idea what the hell is going on with Grace…

And there were so many stories or dramas going on at the same time – Cordelia’s family, James and Grace, Jesse Blackthorn, James and Lucie’s grandfather, a virus with no cure (sound familiar??). As much as I loved the book there was a lot going on.

I loved that Magnus and Woolsey made appearances and that Matthew is a huge Magnus fanboy. I loved the banter between the Merry Thieves. I loved seeing Will and Tessa married and with their children. And Will still makes me laugh with how he treats Gabriel.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far in my review and haven’t read Chain of Gold I do recommend it. And I’d definitely recommend reading the short stories first, even though I didn’t. I did read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy after and there is a story with the Merry Thieves, Will and Alistair in there which made me laugh out loud a few times, mostly Will though. He is the best at making me laugh.

*Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for sending me a copy to review*

– Aimee