Chain of Iron

What’s great about Clare is her world building and her characters that you love and become so invested in…
What’s not are her plots! Recycled plots are even worse than the thin plots of the last several books…
Necromancy
Possession
Lilith
Huge Misunderstandings
Fake Relationships
Blackthorns including Annabel
Malcolm Fade
Tremendous Guilt
Dangerous Secrets
I was more excited about this group of characters after falling in love with them in GOTSM but with these plots, so disappointing…

Chain of Iron picks up a few weeks after the ending of Chain of Gold. Now this being like the second in book in the current series but the like sixteenth book overall, excluding novella bind ups, it is going to incredibly painful to try and not spoil anything.

Now I will start off by saying this, Cassandra Clare has never had like stand out plots in her books. There have been some, but she is more characters first before plot kind of story writer. I would say that is entirely true when it come to Chain of Iron. This was a purely character driven story, with plot completely secondary. Again as I said before Chain of Iron picks up with the big event that Chain of Gold set up. Some of you who have read know what said event is, some of you don’t. We spend a good majority of the beginning of this book on this event and never really anything plot wise happening, which is okay but I do wish Clare didn’t spend as much time as she did on the event. Once we finally got away from said event, the plot got started and the story really took off.

I would say I am a reader who needs both plot and character focus in my stories. I can tolerate a story with a great plot and lackluster characters or even vice versa. But for me to really make the story shine I need both. With Chain of Iron it was definitely more character focused like I said, but the plot no matter how small it really was, compelled me. Sure at times it can be predictable, but if the author can still keep my interest, if they can keep me wanting to turn the pages for more, for me that is a win. That is exactly what Clare did with Chain of Iron. I adore these characters, I adore this world, I am so invested with the intricacies of this game board Clare has been weaving since City of Bones.

I have to say though, I think this story would have benefited from Clare’s initial release plan. Which if I remember correctly she wanted to release it like she did with The Mortal instruments final three books and The Infernal Devices. There are some major plot points and history markers that would have hit differently had she done it that way, in my opinion. I know we would have waited longer for books, but I remember reading The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices that way and truly appreciating how the stories weaved together harmoniously.

Are the Shadowhunter books perfect absolutely not, no book is and I will die on that hill defending that argument. The Shadowhunter books however bring me so much joy and escapism and that is what truly makes this series shine for me. I am so looking forward to Chain of Thorns the final book in The Last Hours series. I will also continue to look forward to every Shadowhunter book that is yet to come!

Although I have yet to read the book, I will update my review once I have done so. The packaging and shipping for this book was great. It was released today and I received it today which I am very excited about. The book was undamaged by shipping and looks beautiful.

I’ll admit to not being the biggest fan of Cassandra Clare’s writing. She excels at bringing characters to life. She does not excel at plot development, consistency, and writing competency I would expect from a veteran writer. I have not read past the beginning of part 2 and I’m not sure I will. She name drops Magnus and Jem merely to remind readers of characters we love, but without giving them a true purpose. I think this book suffers from too much output during a pandemic. She’s released three 500+ page books in about a year and you can tell this one has suffered for that.

This book was amazing. I literally coupd not put it down. From the first chapter, I was completely enticed to keep reading. I don’t want to give spoilers but if you are a fan of the Shadowhunter World that Cassandra created, this is a must read. Amazing, just absolutely amazing. Very well done, it will kill me to wait for the next book. James, Cordelia, Lucy, Math, all of these characters have absolutely captured my heart just like Tessa, Will, Jace and Clary.