Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Review: The Penultimate Hours (The Last Hours #0.5) by Cassandra Clare


Title: The Penultimate Hours

Series: The Last Hours #0.5

Other series in the Shadowhunter Chronicles: The Infernal Devices | The Mortal Instruments | The Dark Artifices

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: January 2021

Published by: Cassandra Clare

Source: Author's newsletter

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Synopsis: Welcome to The Penultimate Hours! A collection of short stories covering the various characters in The Last Hours, originally released monthly in the leadup to Chain of Gold. The Penultimate Hours also contains two special extras: a letter from Lucie to Cordelia and a letter from Ragnor to Magnus. All collected here for your reading delight!

My rating: ★★★★★

We start off this fun novella with a letter to Magnus from Ragnor! I love that grumpy warlock. Lol. He’s telling Magnus about how Wills' children are running wild around London and how the city is overly blessed with Lightwoods.

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But this entire novella was just a lot of fun! It was a good introduction to the characters of The Last Hours. I loved this!


A Lightwood Christmas Carol - Part 1 and Part 2 (1889)

Little Thomas has been very sick, and Gideon is understandably worried about him. The fact that he fears it might be because his dad did dark magic (you know, that one that turned into a worm in The Infernal Devices 😆) and it’s somehow now affecting Thomas, really tugged at my heart. He and Will head over to his old house, the house that his sister Tatiana lives in, to go through his dad’s paperwork and hopefully find something that could help Thomas.

Tatiana, man. She is STILL mad that they killed their dad! I don’t get her! He was literally a worm! Anyway, in order for Gideon to be able to look through the paperwork, Tatiana asks for something in return, and it is MESSED up. It is crazy. We did get to briefly meet her son, Gideon’s nephew Jesse, so that was nice.

I really enjoyed this! I love Gideon and Will’s relationship and how Will seems to be more Gideon’s family than his own sister Tatiana. And to think they hated each other back in The Infernal Devices. Lol.


Lucie and Ghosts (1897)

Tessa and Will’s daughter Lucie can see dead people.


She runs into a pretty terrible ghost in this one, but she also meets Jesse for the very first time! I liked this! It was pretty fun! And it was nice to see Jessamine again.


Lucie and Cordelia (1897)

This was one of my favorite stories! Lucie finds herself in a predicament and Cordelia literally holds onto her for dear life and saves her. The way they care about one another is one of my favorite things! AND we also see how Cordelia got the nickname Daisy! This story was just very cute!


Cordelia and Alastair (1898)

This story is about Cordelia and her older brother Alastair, and basically why he is the way he is. Cordelia just wanted to spend time with her brother, but he was just so cold toward her. And then him getting bullied at the academy and having to make a tough decision in order to survive the school, that was awful. I liked the story though. It was heartfelt, but sad.


The Anniversary Party (1899)

Cordelia and her family are back in London for an anniversary party, so she gets to see her friends for a bit before she leaves again. Her dad is sick and they keep moving all over the place in hopes that these different places will have a positive effect on his health.

This was a fun one though! At one point Christopher says he’s going to teach them how to eat fire and I’m just like


Lol. And then Cordelia and James have a moment in the library, and that was cute!


The Devil Tavern (1900)

This short story is basically the origin of their club room thing. Lol. This was cute! I love the Merry Thieves!



The City of Bones (1900)

In this one we have the parabatai ceremony between Matthew and James! I loved this! And I loved how supportive Matthew is of James, despite his shadow trips.


London, Grosvenor Place (1901)

Wtf was this story about? That was awful 😨 Who did it happen to? A metaphor for something? Something about losing innocence. Idk, this one was bizarre!


Christopher (1901)

I loved this one too! Christopher is great! He wants to find a way to fight demons without weapons, but more importantly, he wants to find a solution to get rid of demons for good. I love that he loves science, and I love that Henry took him under his wing. This was cute!


Lucie's letter to Cordelia

We also got a letter that Lucie wrote to Cordelia, a letter that was sent shortly before Cordelia made her permanent move to London in Chain of Gold. It was basically just Lucie catching her up on things and saying he she wants her to come to London so they can train together, especially because they’re going to be parabatai. I just love them and their friendship.


Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊

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