Chain of Thorns - Book Review

I finished Chain of Thorns a while ago, but I was procrastinating on writing a book review for it because I just had so much to say but no idea how to say it. So yep. I'm just gonna start writing. I'll warn you that this review will contain major spoilers!

Obviously the relationship between Matthew, James and Cordelia was pretty strained at the end of Chain of Iron and even more at the beginning of Chain of Thorns. That was really painful to read about because of how much it made them all suffer emotionally. But I think it was great that Cassandra Clare wrote about conflict within a parabatai relationship. I would say that Matthew and James have one of the most complicated relationships out of all the main pairs of parabatai in Clare's novels. So although I hate conflict, I think that this portrayal of conflict made the relationship a lot more realistic than some of the other relationships between parabatai.

However... the love triangle was not necessary -- there was already enough drama within the relationship between Cordelia, Matthew and James. We all knew who Cordelia was going to end up with in the end. A lot of this book was taken up by the drama that the love triangle caused, and it wasn't even good drama. If the characters had just communicated, then a huge chunk of the book could have been taken by something else. All that angst almost felt forced, because it relied on the fact that nobody could communicate. It's like Cassie tried to take a weak shortcut in order to create drama -- I don't know how else to describe it.

On a more positive note, I loved Alastair and Thomas so much in this book!! Alastair definitely went through a heap of character development throughout the trilogy. He and Thomas are definitely two of my favourite characters in The Last Hours!!

And Anna. Of course. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I wish I got to see more of her though. The name change scene with Ari was amazing, I was internally screaming with joy at that point. I love their relationship so much and I need to reread that novella about her that was a part of Ghosts of the Shadow Market now that I have read The Last Hours. I read it like three years ago so I don't really remember it.

I still don't know how to feel about Grace. I definitely definitely like her more than I did at the start of the book, but I'm still a bit skeptical. She went through so much character development in Chain of Thorns though. One of her best moments was when she told Christopher about the Gracelet and then she said that he had to tell Cordelia. She earned so much of my respect then. But yeah, she is a very complicated character, and I'm not sure I could still say I dislike her but I don't think I like her either. Her relationship with Kit, though. Ahhhhhhhhhh. That made me happy.

I absolutely loved seeing Kit go through his character arc in this book. But... I feel like it should have began sooner. He went through almost no character development in the first two books and wasn't really that important within the plot. But then suddenly he was actually important. It's like Cassie tried to fit his whole character arc into one book. And then she killed him. He deserved way better!!! I feel like Kit's character was only developed so that Cassie could have someone to kill off and make us sad. I was really really disappointed with that. And even after Kit died, he was still kinda ignored by the majority of the characters. Sure, there was the scene in which his ghost told Grace about the fire messages (oh my goodness that was the saddest part of the book... the Orpheus/Eurydice thing destroyed me) and perhaps grief manifested in Anna. But even Anna's grief wasn't well-written. In the past, Cassandra Clare has written grief -- especially sibling grief -- really well. But this just felt two-dimensional. Kit deserved so much better than being forgotten by his best friends and family. 

I was so emotional when I realised that Kit was the creator of fire messages though. He did leave a legacy -- one that is really important to Shadowhunters in the future. That depth and detail in the Shadowhunter books makes me so happy!!

Another one of my favourite parts of the book was when Lucie (and Cordelia) summoned all of the ghosts from the graveyard, who wanted to help them. That moment of solidarity was really powerful. 

I also really appreciated how Matthew began to heal at the end of the book. He was suffering so much for ages, and it was amazing to see that he was eventually able to reconcile with his family and stuff. Charlotte and Henry are amazing people. :)

Oh, also Charles is... interesting. He's a bit like Grace in the way that he did horrible things but only because he was manipulated. I guess I'm glad he's doing alright, but I still don't like him that much.

So yeah! That's all I really have to say about the book for now. Although I keep criticising it, Chain of Thorns was still enjoyable to read. I think that when I look back on it, I can see its flaws more than I could while I was reading it. The Shadowhunter books still hold a special place in my heart. Cassandra Clare builds the world so well, and the plots always have many many many layers so it's very easy to get invested in the story. I am both excited and terrified for TWP to come out. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA. The end.

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare, 14+* ★★★★

*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 medium to high-level violence and gore, sexual references and themes, death of loved ones, murder, alcoholism and the severe effects of alcohol withdrawal, emotional abuse from parents, homophobic blackmail and abduction of a child.