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A review by chaoticbookgremlin_
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
5.0
Chain of Iron: 5/5 stars
"Someone who broke your heart is often not the person who can mend it."
***SPOILERS FOR CHAIN OF GOLD IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT!!!
Synopsis
Chain of Iron starts off four months after Chain of Gold left off, with Cordelia set to marry James the next day. What follows next is her attempting to navigate married life with James while trying to hide just how much in love with him she is. As well, something is wrong with Cortana - it feel wrong in Cordelia's hand, and the hilt burns into her palm as though the sword is beginning to reject her, possibly seeking a new wielder.
However, while the past four months have been peaceful after the defeat of Belial, things quickly take a turn for the worse. For a shadowed figure is haunting the streets of London after dark, murdering Shadowhunters and stealing their runes - and James is seemingly connected to it, having seen these murders occur in his dreams.
Heavy restrictions are quickly put over the London Enclave once it becomes clear that this killer is only targeting lone Shadowhunters. Children eighteen and under have a curfew. Nobody is to patrol alone. And, of course, Cordelia, Lucie, Anna, and the Merry Thieves do everything but follow these orders.
In the meantime, Lucie and Grace are desperately trying to resurrect the (half-dead?) Jesse Blackthorn before he fades out of existence entirely, which leads to Lucie realizing that her powers to control the dead might just be stronger than she realized...
Writing and Plot
I loved this book even more than Chain of Gold, with stakes climbing higher and higher as tensions rise and romances build and crumble. While it had a bit of a calm start, it escalated throughout the series before exploding into a "whodunnit" scenario, with everybody under suspicion. Having read this book last two years ago, I forgot nearly everything about it, and it was almost as though I was reading it for the first time. I had no idea who was actually the killer until it was revealed.
There were a bunch of subplots in this book, some of them continued on from Chain of Gold and others that weren't quite resolved and likely will be tied together nicely in Chain of Thorns. However, a few of them did meet up at the climax of this book, meeting up nicely.
Trope-wise... we have the mutual pining between James and Cordelia, as well as between Jesse and Lucie (and some one-sided pining from Matthew). There's also the found family trope, continued on from the previous book, with Cordelia having found her family with Lucie, Anna, and the Merry Thieves.
Characters
Once again, all of the characters in this book were so well written, none of them one-sided, even the background characters having small roles and mini-arcs. As there are many, many prominent characters in this series, I will only depict my thoughts on the most relevant ones.
James Herondale - I do remember being pretty annoyed with him the first time I read this book, but this time around, I was able to better understand that he is under Grace's spell, with the chain of iron around his wrist. Instead, I am very proud of him for breaking free of that chain regardless of how impossible it should have been - a Herondale trait, I imagine, as their ability to love is rivalled by no other. And I am very impressed with his familial loyalty, how he will put his the safety of his parents and sister above no else: if you know, you know.
Cordelia Carstairs - Her internal torment throughout this series nearly rivalled that of Matthew, though perhaps her reactions weren't quite as extreme (well, except for that final one). Her "unrequited" love for James haunted nearly every page of this story, the knowledge that whatever happiness she has gotten from their marriage will be gone within a year. As well, she is on the brink of losing everything. Her marriage with James is false, as he is supposedly in love with Grace. Cortana is acting up, and might be rejecting her. The only thing she has left is being parabatai with Lucie - but Lucie is keeping secrets. Still, despite everything, Cordelia remains strong throughout the book, always putting others before herself.
Lucie Herondale - Again, the ambition and love of a Herondale is very prominent in her, showing that it's not just the Herondale men who are stubborn, emotional empaths. She really grows into her abilities in this book, and, like Cordelia and James, will do anything to protect those she cares about.
Matthew Fairchild - Yeah, he's my favourite. I would die for Matthew. Though I already knew his backstory, hearing him recount it was heartbreaking - you can feel his pain emanating off the page. I am so, so scared that something bad will happen to him in the next book, and I really, really hope I'm just being paranoid, since my favourite character almost always dies.
Grace Blackthorn - I don't hate her. I know a lot of people do, and they have every right to, but look at it this way: she didn't have much choice in the matter. Every bad thing she ever did was at her mother's bidding, against her will. She chose to let James go in Chain of Gold, and only put him back under her control when Tatiana threatened Jesse. I don't particularly like her, but I don't hate her, and I kind of hope she gets a redemption arc in Chain of Thorns.
Also, let it be mentioned that Anna Lightwood is basically the character who made me gay.
Conclusion
This book was even better than Chain of Gold. If you were unsure whether to continue on with the series, I urge you to do so! Mutual pining and found family, with a high-stakes whodunnit - what's not to love?
"Someone who broke your heart is often not the person who can mend it."
***SPOILERS FOR CHAIN OF GOLD IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT!!!
Synopsis
Chain of Iron starts off four months after Chain of Gold left off, with Cordelia set to marry James the next day. What follows next is her attempting to navigate married life with James while trying to hide just how much in love with him she is. As well, something is wrong with Cortana - it feel wrong in Cordelia's hand, and the hilt burns into her palm as though the sword is beginning to reject her, possibly seeking a new wielder.
However, while the past four months have been peaceful after the defeat of Belial, things quickly take a turn for the worse. For a shadowed figure is haunting the streets of London after dark, murdering Shadowhunters and stealing their runes - and James is seemingly connected to it, having seen these murders occur in his dreams.
Heavy restrictions are quickly put over the London Enclave once it becomes clear that this killer is only targeting lone Shadowhunters. Children eighteen and under have a curfew. Nobody is to patrol alone. And, of course, Cordelia, Lucie, Anna, and the Merry Thieves do everything but follow these orders.
In the meantime, Lucie and Grace are desperately trying to resurrect the (half-dead?) Jesse Blackthorn before he fades out of existence entirely, which leads to Lucie realizing that her powers to control the dead might just be stronger than she realized...
Writing and Plot
I loved this book even more than Chain of Gold, with stakes climbing higher and higher as tensions rise and romances build and crumble. While it had a bit of a calm start, it escalated throughout the series before exploding into a "whodunnit" scenario, with everybody under suspicion. Having read this book last two years ago, I forgot nearly everything about it, and it was almost as though I was reading it for the first time. I had no idea who was actually the killer until it was revealed.
There were a bunch of subplots in this book, some of them continued on from Chain of Gold and others that weren't quite resolved and likely will be tied together nicely in Chain of Thorns. However, a few of them did meet up at the climax of this book, meeting up nicely.
Trope-wise... we have the mutual pining between James and Cordelia, as well as between Jesse and Lucie (and some one-sided pining from Matthew). There's also the found family trope, continued on from the previous book, with Cordelia having found her family with Lucie, Anna, and the Merry Thieves.
Characters
Once again, all of the characters in this book were so well written, none of them one-sided, even the background characters having small roles and mini-arcs. As there are many, many prominent characters in this series, I will only depict my thoughts on the most relevant ones.
James Herondale - I do remember being pretty annoyed with him the first time I read this book, but this time around, I was able to better understand that he is under Grace's spell, with the chain of iron around his wrist. Instead, I am very proud of him for breaking free of that chain regardless of how impossible it should have been - a Herondale trait, I imagine, as their ability to love is rivalled by no other. And I am very impressed with his familial loyalty, how he will put his the safety of his parents and sister above no else: if you know, you know.
Cordelia Carstairs - Her internal torment throughout this series nearly rivalled that of Matthew, though perhaps her reactions weren't quite as extreme (well, except for that final one). Her "unrequited" love for James haunted nearly every page of this story, the knowledge that whatever happiness she has gotten from their marriage will be gone within a year. As well, she is on the brink of losing everything. Her marriage with James is false, as he is supposedly in love with Grace. Cortana is acting up, and might be rejecting her. The only thing she has left is being parabatai with Lucie - but Lucie is keeping secrets. Still, despite everything, Cordelia remains strong throughout the book, always putting others before herself.
Lucie Herondale - Again, the ambition and love of a Herondale is very prominent in her, showing that it's not just the Herondale men who are stubborn, emotional empaths. She really grows into her abilities in this book, and, like Cordelia and James, will do anything to protect those she cares about.
Matthew Fairchild - Yeah, he's my favourite. I would die for Matthew. Though I already knew his backstory, hearing him recount it was heartbreaking - you can feel his pain emanating off the page. I am so, so scared that something bad will happen to him in the next book, and I really, really hope I'm just being paranoid, since my favourite character almost always dies.
Grace Blackthorn - I don't hate her. I know a lot of people do, and they have every right to, but look at it this way: she didn't have much choice in the matter. Every bad thing she ever did was at her mother's bidding, against her will. She chose to let James go in Chain of Gold, and only put him back under her control when Tatiana threatened Jesse. I don't particularly like her, but I don't hate her, and I kind of hope she gets a redemption arc in Chain of Thorns.
Also, let it be mentioned that Anna Lightwood is basically the character who made me gay.
Conclusion
This book was even better than Chain of Gold. If you were unsure whether to continue on with the series, I urge you to do so! Mutual pining and found family, with a high-stakes whodunnit - what's not to love?