Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review:

This wasn’t my favorite Cassandra Clare story. To be honest, I’m not in the best mindset. My brain is in a constant state of worry about the world. And focusing on reading was hard. That being said, Clare has always been one of my favorites and I was relying on her in my time of need. She didn’t quite do it for me with this one.

I was excited to read about Tessa and Will’s children. How special they had to be! I of course liked them. James was haunted like Will was. But, in a different way. He reminded me a lot of Pip from Great Expectations. He had to be inspired from him. His relationship with Grace was too much like Pip and Estella. There was even a Miss Havisham character and a decaying house. And I’m an English major/nerd. I love Charles Dickens. I loved this. This was Great Expectations on supernatural steroids.  Imagine Satis House with real demons and portals. Also each chapter has a literary quote to start it. This book felt the most literary of all of Clare’s novels to date. Characters were quoting Shakespeare and referencing Oscar Wilde. I loved this.

I didn’t like the whole kind of enchantment that James was under. This plot device has been done too many times by Clare before. We all know what it is. I almost spoiled it just now, but on the rare instance someone doesn’t know….I’ll be good. But come on. We’ve been through this with Jace so many times. I almost wish it was just a matter of him truly loving two people. That would be more interesting at this point.

Lucie was interesting too. I liked her almost more than the main character/love interest: Cordelia. Cordelia is badass. Don’t get me wrong. But, she’s almost too good. What are her flaws? Seriously, I can’t find any. She fights for her father, does everything for her new friends, is braver than everyone, kills with a sword, dances better than anyone, and defends her jerkface brother.  Lucie of course is interesting because of her parents, but there’s also just something about her unique personality and I want to know her more. And I guess this is what Clare still excels at: her characters.

However, the rest of the rat pack fell a little flat. The other boys kind of blended together for me. They were already a team with inside jokes, but I didn’t get to see any of that develop. There’s a drunk character, a scientist, and another guy….and I kept mixing them all up. Cordelia’s brother was interesting because he was a total Slytherin jerk, but I also loved him. He was in a love with a man after power in the Clave (aka: someone who’d never come out of the closet). And then Magnus appears! But of course he has to save the day again. I’ve read this plot line too many times too…I almost want to read about him screwing something up, or doing something else to the story.

All in all, there’s a lot of repetition now with the plot. I do still want to know some of these people/characters. Clare wheels you in with these troubled souls and interesting backgrounds for people. I just wish she’d let these people have different adventures and love stories from her other characters. I like this time in history. I love the literary references. I probably will keep reading this series, even though I’m pretty sure I can call exactly how it will end. I give this one a 7/10.