Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Chain of Iron

Life is pain. The Princess Bride was at least right when it comes to THIS BOOK. Goodness these characters were put through the wringer in this one! And that ending!? Basically I am not okay. I need a "Matthew Fairchild deserves better" support group please. And to have more of Thomas in the story. AND POOR CORDELIA I can't. Anyways. I will basically not be able to write a cohesive review so this is what you get. Officially converted to adoring the entire Merry Thieves group and outliers.

Content Warnings

oliviaangelixx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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cakrolik's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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foreverinastory's review

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just like Lord of Shadows this one ripped my heart out.

Rep: Biracial (Persian and white) heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual female MC, white half-Welsh heterosexual male MC, white bisexual male MC, biracial (Persian and white) gay male side character, two white gay male side characters, lesbian genderqueer side character, Malaysian bisexual male warlock, biracial (Chinese and white) male side character, adopted Indian lesbian female side character, Persian female side character.

CW: Alcohol consumption, alcoholism, blood, death, death of parent, emotional abuse/mind control, gun violence, infidelity, injury/injury detail, murder, violence. Moderate: Pregnancy of major side character.

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dru's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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alibader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow this was long. I quite literally take back everything I said in my review of Chain of Gold (except for the Matthew bit I still love him). The writing was as good as ever and the characters were really solid and were easily the best part of the book I also really liked learning more about Grace and her background; she deserved better.

However:
I take back everything I said about James Herondale , he is the most exceptionally boring and frustrating characters in the shadowhunter chronicles. Apart from that... literally nothing happened in this book. absolutely nothing. also it was SO slow.

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s been about a year since I read Chain of Gold , so I’ll be honest: I did have some trouble remembering who some of the characters were. This series and Clare’s The Dark Artifices trilogy have too many characters to keep track of, and sometimes I’d get halfway through a scene (or all the way through) and realize that it was about a different person than I’d originally thought. Other than that, though, I really do love most of the characters in this book, and they are definitely the reason I'm still reading the series, because it’s certainly not for the plot.

I love the Merry Thieves (even though—or actually probably because—they are basically a Marauders/Raven Boys dupe). What I don’t love is the love triangle. In general, it’s not a trope I like (with the rare exception of Tessa, Will, and Jem from Clare’s The Infernal Devices because it actually works out for everyone), and I especially don’t like it when a) it breaks up important friendships and b) will ultimately break the heart of a character I care about. I need James and Cordelia to end up together… but I also need Matthew to find a true love too! If Clare can manage that in the next book (and I’m pretty sure she will), I’ll be okay, but until then…

The other romantic relationships were frustrating as well;

Spoiler

Alistair and Thomas are great, but the back and forth and drama from their history together makes it hard to see a happy ending for them. As much as I liked Lucie and Jesse’s storyline in Chain of Gold, it definitely dropped off in this book, and I’m honestly way more interested in seeing her develop her powers than her relationship at this point.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Spoiler

This very much depends on which characters you like, but I wouldn’t call it happy. Definitely a bit of a cliffhanger, and now I have to wait another year or so for the next book. Ugh.

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