Chain of Gold, the first book in The Last Hours has been the most anticipated release for me so far this year meaning that I had extremely high expectations. Expectations that were definitely met.
If you have been reading Young Creative Press for a while you will know just how much I love Cassandra Clare and will not be surprised that I am yet again singing her praises.
Chain of Gold was simply stunning. With some of the most loveable characters she has ever written, the story could have had zero development and I honestly would not have cared. I can confidently say that Cordelia Carstairs is definitely my favourite female character, if not favourite overall. This is definitely helped by the fact that she is the owner of Cortana, my favourite weapon in the shadowhunter world.
Set in Edwardian London around 20 years after the clockwork war, Chain of Gold is a sequel series to The Infernal Devices trilogy. Focusing mainly on James and Lucie Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs, Chain of Gold tells its story within a present tense and ‘days past’. The Carstairs family, who moved around a lot in the past are now taking up permanent residence in London after the arrest of Cordelia’s father.
Strange demons, who are impervious to sunlight, are targeting the London shadowhunters and infecting them with an unknown poison. James, who is the son of famous shadowhunter Will Herondale and shadowhunter/warlock Tessa Gray, has an ability, unlike his fellow shadowhunters due to his partial demon blood. This ability is something that is imperative to find out what is happening and why the shadowhunters are being attacked.
Firstly I think it is important to mention the cover of this book. Personally, I think it is the most stunning cover of any Cassandra Clare book and is definitely up there with one of my favourite book covers of all time. My favourite season is autumn and it definitely has autumnal vibes.
I also had the Fairy Loot exclusive edition, which is just as beautiful. However, it is more of a minimalist take which accenting gold foil. My favourite part of this edition is the sprayed edges which have the image of Cortana. The Chain of Gold box was my first ever box from Fairy Loot and I was really impressed with everything that came in it. I’m now very tempted to get a subscription to Fairy Loot.
Can we just talk about the fact that Cordelia is possibly the most interesting and incredible character that Cassandra Clare has ever created? I LOVE the fact that she has Persian heritage and really enjoyed the moments in the book where she and her family would use Persian terms of endearment for each other.
I have seen a lot of people saying that this book is structurally cluttered with jumps in time, however, I actually really enjoyed this element as it gave extra depth to both the story and its characters. This is not something I usually enjoy however I will admit that it does take away from the action at times.
Before reading Chain of Gold, I would have happily said that the shadowhunters in The Dark Artifices were my favourite group, however, James, Lucie, Cordelia and ‘The Merry Thieves’ are very good contenders. I actually do not think I really dislike any characters so far however the jury is still out on Grace Blackthorn.
In my last book post: My Favourite Authors #1: Cassandra Clare, I talked about how James is no competition for Julian when it comes to number one in my heart. Yeah, I’m not so sure about that now. There’s just something about the Herondales that I can resist.
Julian’s love for Emma was so romantic and heartbreaking at the same time that I think he will always have an edge over James. Quite possibly because I see a lot of myself in Emma and want my own Julian Blackthorn. However, this is only book one of The Last Hours series so who knows what will happen?
With the cover of the next book in the series, Chain of Iron being revealed on July 1st, I am so unbelievably excited for the next book that I do not think I can wait until March 2021 for it to be released.
So glad it doesn’t disappoint! I am pretty sure Cassandra Clare could write a shed-building manual and I would love it 😍
I completely agree, I’ll read anything she writes!!
We enjoyed this book so much too and cannot wait for Chain of iron! Thomas and Matthew were two of our favourites, so we hope there’ll be more of them coming up 🙂 We agree that Cordelia is amazing too!
Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
[…] loved everything about this book and as I said in my full review of (read it here) Chain of Gold is my favourite cast of characters. Cordelia is most definitely sitting at the top […]