A review by lawbooks600
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Representation: Asian characters 
Score: Five out of ten.

What a massive disappointment.

I wanted to read Sword Catcher to give Cassandra Clare another chance after City of Bones underwhelmed me, and City of Ashes was slightly unnerving. I saw it at a library and decided to pick it up, but not before glancing at the blurb, making it seem intriguing. However, when I closed the final page, I didn't want to reread it.

It starts with the first person I see, Kel, plucked from his poor neighbourhood in Castellane to act as Prince Conor's body double, aka, Sword Catcher. Meanwhile, Lin lives in Ashkari as one of the Ashkar, one of the few remaining people who still use magic. It's a low form, but it's magic nonetheless because after a certain event, all forms of high magic are gone. I liked that before each chapter begins, there's a story within the story, but it felt like a forced info-dump that doesn't flow naturally into the central plot--it's more shoehorned in. The writing style didn't capture my attention since it waffles sometimes with filler words that the author could've removed during the editing process. The pacing is tedious, with the narrative spanning more than 600 pages, but it could easily be much shorter if there weren't any writing blunders. Even the characters failed to capture my attention as I couldn't connect or relate to any of them. The worldbuilding is overambitious but leaves behind plot holes as I couldn't keep up with all the intricacies. There were deities. Different countries. Magic systems. Backstories. Cultures. You get the idea. According to the map, Castellane is on a world different from this one, but some of the settings look like Asian countries like China, India and Korea. That may be a sign of cultural appropriation. Make up your mind, author! Do you want to set Sword Catcher in an alternate world based on this one or create a new one? Nothing happens for the first 550 pages, then some action occurs during the last 50, concluding Sword Catcher on a cliffhanger. I'm not interested in the next part, The Ragpicker King.
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