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A review by zitaknowshowtoread
Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare
5.0
Original note 2023/02/05: Might come back to write a proper review later when I’ve had time to digest. Who knows.
Four days later here we are:
✿ "He understood now why poets damned their hearts, their capacity for desolation and want. Nothing in the false enchantment of love he had felt for Grace had come near to this" ✿
Look, here's the thing no matter what I write, no one will be deterred from reading this book, because if you've got this far in the series you're going to keep going even if all the reviewers are telling you to run in the opposite direction, trust me I know the feeling. So instead of actually reviewing this, I'm just going to throw feelings at my phone and hope something sticks. Originally I gave this book five stars. How could I not? I'd been waiting tirelessly for two years for it to come out. As I read it, the excitement of finally holding it in my hands (I read it on my Kobo, but let's imagine for the sake of this review, I had my physical copy), outweighed any rational thought surrounding whether I objectively thought the book was well written. In a delirious 3 am state, when I finished, I was so drained that I slapped five stars on it and called it a night. It wasn't until someone in the comments of one of my TikToks commented on the rushed nature of the story that I realised I should look back on my reading notes.
How can a nearly 700-page-long book be rushed? Well, here's your answer:
Set up far too many issues than can feasibly be resolved within one book and don't start the main conflict until well over halfway through.
✿ First, let me say I loved this reading experience. I've been reading Shadowhunters books for years, and at over 20 books, you know Cassie's doing something right. Part of the reason her books work so well is the perfect balance of characters and fantasy. But thorough character development in fantasy takes time, and Cassie's dedication to interweaving complex interpersonal relationships creates an enjoyable read but also a style that cannot, by nature be rushed.
✿ Since The Mortal Instruments, she hasn't written a series over three books, and overall it's been working relatively well. After all, Lord knows how slow-burn The Dark Artifices were. But something different happened in The Last Hours because for the first-time readers were faced with the direct descendants of beloved characters. It was likely a daunting task, having to live up to the expectations of readers who fell in love with HeronGreyStairs the way they did.
✿ Don't get me wrong, other than the pacing and a disappointing handling of The Big Tragedy (I won't say any more for the sake of remaining spoiler-free, but be honest you knew this series was overdue for some major heartbreak), I found no other glaring issues. At this point in my life, these characters mean so much to me that to write a completely objective anything about them would be near impossible.
✿ So, in summary: I would die for literally any of these characters no matter how questionable their decisions, and despite my issues with the pacing, I will not be rescinding my five-star rating.
✿ My feelings toward what I will call the extended Merry Thieves can be summed up better by the words of Thomas Lightwood, better than they ever could be by me: "why are you so stupid and so frustrating, and why do I think about you all the time?" ✿
Four days later here we are:
✿ "He understood now why poets damned their hearts, their capacity for desolation and want. Nothing in the false enchantment of love he had felt for Grace had come near to this" ✿
Look, here's the thing no matter what I write, no one will be deterred from reading this book, because if you've got this far in the series you're going to keep going even if all the reviewers are telling you to run in the opposite direction, trust me I know the feeling. So instead of actually reviewing this, I'm just going to throw feelings at my phone and hope something sticks. Originally I gave this book five stars. How could I not? I'd been waiting tirelessly for two years for it to come out. As I read it, the excitement of finally holding it in my hands (I read it on my Kobo, but let's imagine for the sake of this review, I had my physical copy), outweighed any rational thought surrounding whether I objectively thought the book was well written. In a delirious 3 am state, when I finished, I was so drained that I slapped five stars on it and called it a night. It wasn't until someone in the comments of one of my TikToks commented on the rushed nature of the story that I realised I should look back on my reading notes.
How can a nearly 700-page-long book be rushed? Well, here's your answer:
Set up far too many issues than can feasibly be resolved within one book and don't start the main conflict until well over halfway through.
✿ First, let me say I loved this reading experience. I've been reading Shadowhunters books for years, and at over 20 books, you know Cassie's doing something right. Part of the reason her books work so well is the perfect balance of characters and fantasy. But thorough character development in fantasy takes time, and Cassie's dedication to interweaving complex interpersonal relationships creates an enjoyable read but also a style that cannot, by nature be rushed.
✿ Since The Mortal Instruments, she hasn't written a series over three books, and overall it's been working relatively well. After all, Lord knows how slow-burn The Dark Artifices were. But something different happened in The Last Hours because for the first-time readers were faced with the direct descendants of beloved characters. It was likely a daunting task, having to live up to the expectations of readers who fell in love with HeronGreyStairs the way they did.
✿ Don't get me wrong, other than the pacing and a disappointing handling of The Big Tragedy (I won't say any more for the sake of remaining spoiler-free, but be honest you knew this series was overdue for some major heartbreak), I found no other glaring issues. At this point in my life, these characters mean so much to me that to write a completely objective anything about them would be near impossible.
✿ So, in summary: I would die for literally any of these characters no matter how questionable their decisions, and despite my issues with the pacing, I will not be rescinding my five-star rating.
✿ My feelings toward what I will call the extended Merry Thieves can be summed up better by the words of Thomas Lightwood, better than they ever could be by me: "why are you so stupid and so frustrating, and why do I think about you all the time?" ✿