James and Cordelia must save London—and their marriage—in this conclusion to the Last Hours series from author Cassandra Clare.
Chain of Thorns is a Shadowhunters novel.
Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.
After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.
Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.
For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.
Review:
I’ve had a weird relationship with this series. I didn’t love the first book in the series. But, then I did LOVE book 2. And I guess I should own up to being an avid Cassandra Clare fan. Until this book, I’ve purchased all of the books when they come out. I love the characters and the shippy romances. And I love the shadow world where supernatural creatures blend with humans.
Sadly, the plot of book 1 of this series felt so recycled to me that I almost stopped reading Clare’s books. It was literally half taken from City of Bones and half taken from Clockwork Angel….without a lot of new ideas. But, then I still went and read the sequel and I was glad I did. I needed to read something comforting at the beginning of 2021…Maybe it was a Covid security blanket? Maybe it was just a lot better. I don’t know. And the plot had a serial killer and the characters grew on me. There was a love story with a ghost….And lots of LGBT love happening.
And then this book happened. Maybe for the first time in all of my history of this author, I found myself skimming whole sections of the book….It did not need to be 778 pages (with bonus chapters after that). Again, all of the love stories felt old. The fight scenes felt old. It took what felt like hundreds of pages for James to find his sister and for anything to actually happen. I almost stopped reading because it felt like the book needed an editor.
When stuff finally did start happening, it felt more like a filler book (a book 2 between installments) and less like a finale. There was a death in here that felt unnecessary, almost like the author felt like someone had to go. Everything just felt forced, like Clare didn’t want to be writing it. Even the cameos of beloved characters from the past didn’t feel authentic. Their voices just didn’t ring true to me.
And again, normally I’m a huge fan. This is the first time I didn’t purchase the book (and I’m glad). Maybe this series just wasn’t for me. And maybe I’m just done with the universe for now. I don’t know. I still love this world. And I’ll always have my old favorite books to go back to. But, this one gets a 6/10.
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