Chain of Iron - Book Review

This review contains spoilers for Chain of Iron.

Oh my goodness. This book was so complex and I had so many emotions when I finished it. The ending. Was. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. PLEASE, GUYS, COMMUNICATE. GRWloazdlfhbagerlizfh PAIN. PAINNNNNNN. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I'm fine. 

I really liked this book. As one of my friends said, it was heaps better than Chain of Gold. It was really interesting, with the murders and stuff. The murders kinda gave Jack the Ripper vibes... I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Oh, but wasn't there an excerpt from one of Jack the Ripper's letters at the beginning? (Also is it bad that when I read that I immediately recognised it...?)

The plot twist/s in this book were so AHHH. Some crept up slowly but some were just fvgruakegalihsg. My favourite plot twist was when they realised what the "stele" was for (the one that takes runes off and transfers them). My brain was going bonkers at that point. 

I found it really interesting that Chain of Iron REALLY set up a lot of stuff that happens in The Dark Artifices. I'm not going to discuss this much further because spoilers, but I really love how all of the Shadowhunter serieses are so interconnected. I certainly wasn't expecting all of the Dark Artifices stuff though, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Ok. It's time to discuss THE SHIPS. 

ALASTAIR AND THOMAS. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I AM SO HAPPY THAT THEY ARE TOGETHER I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I LOVE THEM SRAGERIIGLHSI. I usually don't care for romance but Cassandra Clare writes it so well. Alastair and Thomas are my favourite couple. If anything separates them I will sob. Both of them deserve WAY better. The Thomas Murder Thing enraged me. But then it led to Alastair and Thomas so, you know... it wasn't that bad...

Ok so I think the tension between James and Cordelia was well-written, but I was getting a bit annoyed at times because Cordelia just seemed to be insisting that there was no way that James could love her, even when he was showing that he DEFINITELY did. I guess I get why she was being so stubborn about it, but at the same time it was still a bit annoying. I am very intrigued to see what happens between James, Cordelia and Matthew in the next book. Things are a mess at the moment so yep. Poor Matthew. Pguaihaogeoh.

Lucie and Jesse... I'm still not sure about how I feel about that. Like I think that they had a wonderful friendship but it got a bit weird when they were being romantic. I'm sorry, but he's a literal ghost. Their story was still sad though. I actually don't know how to feel about Lucie, with all the necromancy and stuff. She is friends with heaps of great people, but she is not making the best choices. And I have a feeling it's only going to get worse...

As much as I dislike Grace, I really liked how she interacted with Christopher. I definitely don't ship them romantically but I'd like to see them become friends. I think that both of them sometimes feel like outsiders and they could bond over that. I'm still a bit confused about how I feel about Grace, but I can understand that she has a lot of trauma, which is why she did the things she did. I think she definitely deserves a friend. And that friend can be Christopher. Because Christopher deserves a friend who acts like Grace did towards him that one time.

Matthew. I adopted him. He's going through so much. I have mixed feelings about him, especially because of what happened with Cordelia, but I know that he deserves better. Anyone who names their dog Oscar Wilde deserves the world. It's sad to see his parabatai relationship with James fraying, and I'm sure that it's going to get strained more after Cordelia and Paris... ahhh.

Ok. Ariadne and Anna. If you are that One Specific Friend who I keep ranting to about Anna Lightwood... I'm sorry. I love Anna. And I really want to know more about her and Ariadne, and just her in general. I think she will have an interesting backstory. But I hope that she and Ariadne can be together. I'm not sure what's exactly going on with their relationship at the moment, but I'm really hoping that I get to read about them more in Chain of Thorns. The same goes for Thomas and Alastair. 

ALSO LILITH. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. WHAT IS CORDELIA GOING TO DO??!!

Ok so I think that's it. Sadly I have to finish reading a book for school before I can start Chain of Thorns but I am very excited for it. Yay.

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare, 15+* ★★★★.5

*This age recommendation is only my opinion. Some younger people might feel comfortable reading this book, and some older people might not. That's fine, either way. Warning for bullying, medium to high-level violence and gore, sexual references and themes, death, murder, alcoholism, parental abuse and grief.