Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
This series very quickly became one of my favourites of Cassandra Clare’s. There’s something about her series set in Edwardian England that are just perfect. It makes sense that the sequel series to The Infernal Devices would be great.
The cast of characters are probably my favourite of all of the books. But I can’t decide if I love Cordelia and James more than Emma and Julian. They both have undeniable levels of angst and chemistry. I think the forbidden love part of Emma and Julian gives them the edge but James and Cordelia have a very special place in my heart. There’s something about the Carstairs women that I absolutely love. Well, it’s probably the fact that they all wield a huge gold sword called Cortana.
Prepare yourself to fall completely in love with all of the characters. If you’re a Will Herondale fan, you will love this series. He’s not in it a ton but older dad Will is something to behold. Also, the entirety of The Merry Thieves: James, Kit, Thomas and Matthew will steal your heart. Well, most of the characters will but I don’t want to spoil too much by naming any more of them.
Also, you get to see the side effects of what happens when a half Shadowhunter, half Warlock has children. Again, I won’t spoil anything but it’s prettttty cool.
Synopsis: An inheritance of shadows. A love in chains. An unconquerable foe.
Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.
But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia’s friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
I don’t know if this is technically a fantasy book, maybe more of an urban supernatural thriller (is that a genre? Probably not). However, as the whole premise of the book is a brutal world of twisted fairytales and folklore, I’m classifying it as a fantasy.
I can still remember sitting down to read this book. Like the exact things I did before and during reading it. Potentially even finishing it as I’m pretty sure I read the entire thing in just one sitting, but that was over 6 years ago so I may be remembering wrong.
This book is chilling and entirely gripping. I don’t think I’d ever read anything like it before picking it up or again after. It’s wholly unique and I devoured it. But this isn’t a best thriller books post, it’s a best fantasy books post. This book really does toe the line as it has a magic of sorts, but not out right fantastical magic. Does that make sense?
The whole thing, including the second book, is like a strange magical paradox. The Hinterland is a magical place but not quite how you’d think. I think my review of the second book summed it up pretty perfectly: “Filled with residents who exist to play out stories for eternity, as death is different in The Hinterland, life is run like clockwork with stories playing out over and over again.”
I’d be very tempted to re-read The Hazel Wood as I never actually reviewed it.
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away-by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: ARC Review: All-Nighter by Cecilia Vinesse
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