Book Review: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

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If you love urban fantasy, I highly recommend any of Cassandra Clare’s books. Her shadowhunter series is so expansive, diversified, and well-crafted. With every new series, she releases into this fictional world, the plot and the characters get better. Consequently, she makes her loyal readers (new and old alike) fall even more in love with every new release.

I will be discussing “Chain of Iron” by Casandra Clare, which is the second book of The Last Hours trilogy.

“Chain of Iron” is the second installment in The Last Hours. It follows Cordelia and her convenient untruthful marriage to James in order to save her honour. She’s as in love with James as ever but she knows he doesn’t feel the same even while they’re playing house. Worse yet, now she has to pretend in front of her drunken father who’s finally returned home.

Meanwhile, her best friend Lucy – James’ sister – is aiding Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse is among the undead. The boys of the Merry Thieves – James, Matthew, Thomas, and Christopher – have their own adventures playing out.

However, there’s a serial killer on the loose. The murderer is targeting shadowhunters. The Merry Thieves and their allies have to come together to stop evil from killing their own and prevent greater evil to take over.

I don’t know how Cassandra Clare did it, does it, and keeps doing it.

I really enjoyed “Chain of Iron” but maybe not as much as “Chain of Gold” however I am so excited for the next book!

Cordelia has become my top favorite character in the whole Shadowhunter series.

All I can say without spoiling too much is that Cassandra Clare really knows how to keep two characters in love apart. And, she loves her cliffhanger. She loves making her readers suffer miserably. 🥲

Another thing I want to mention is the delicate care Cassandra Clare takes to deal with topics such as grief and addiction when writing in the genre of urban fantasy.

She can write hundreds of pages and it will never be enough. Her characters feel so real that I just never want to stop reading about them!

As always, I love she pays attention to detail as this series is set in Edwardian London. She’s masterful at describing the moors of the time (especially concerning expectations of women and questions of sexuality) as well as other elements such art, history, fashion, etc. of the time. When reading this series, I truly feel transported to a different time as well as to a different world.

“Someone who broke your heart is often not the person who can mend it.”

“You cannot save people who do not want to be saved,” said Magnus. “You can only stand by their side and hope that when they wake and realize they need saving, you will be there to help them.” 

⭐⭐