Review: Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours #3) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Thorns

Series: The Last Hours #3

Previous books in this series: Chain of Gold (#1) | Chain of Iron (#2)

Prequel short stories: The Penultimate Hours

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 31st 2023

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: James and Cordelia must save London—and their marriage—in this conclusion to the Last Hours series from author Cassandra Clare.

Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.

After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.

Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.

For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.

My rating: ★★★★★

We all carry a light inside ourselves. It burns with the flame of our souls. But there are other people in our lives who add their own flames to ours, creating a brighter conflagration.

This did not give me the book hangover I was expecting. I was expecting it would be like when I read Clockwork Princess all those years ago, kinda like this:

But nope. That's not to say I didn't like the book or the ending, because I did, but this is definitely not my favorite series in the Shadowhunter Chronicles. I mean, I loved the characters—Cassie always writes great, lovable characters—but I don't think I was as attached to these characters as others from the other various series. There was this tragic moment where I should've cried, but I didn't because I felt like it wasn't as impactful as it was meant to be (for me, at least).

I knew someone was going to die in this book. I felt it in my bones. There’s this intermission in the book called ‘Grief,’ and I noticed it when Cassie posted a table of contents before the book was released and I was like, “Yep, someone is going to die. For sure.” I was actually worried it was going to be Matthew. I love Matthew and have been worried about him since we met him in the first book... I thought his story was going to end in tragedy, honestly. But he didn’t die! Which I was happy about, but another character did die: Christopher.

The thing with his death, it was mostly off page. There was this big fight, he gets a knife thrown at him, he seems to be okay for the most part. The fight continues, but then cut back to him and he is just dead. Like, what?? Thomas’s reaction to his death was the thing that was heartbreaking because they were just so close. That is what almost made me cry.

Oh, and then, I had it in my head that Grace and Christphoer were going to end up together because the family tree on the reverse side of the Clockwork Princess dust jacket said so! But the family tree IS A LIE! Because by the end of the book Christopher was still SUPER dead. Anyway, I was surprised.

And speaking of Grace, after Christopher dies, Grace continues to work on getting Fire messages to work. My problem with this is that I honestly don't know where this whole thing of Grace having a scientific mind came from, because I just didn’t see it! I don’t get it! Especially not with Tatiana as her mother.

And yeah, I didn’t like Grace because of what she did to James, but I think we were supposed to not like her. But I’ll give her this, Grace finally standing up to her mother right before Cordelia killed Tatiana... it was great.

"You made me cold and hard," Grace said. "You taught me there was no love in this world, only power and selfishness. You closed my heart. You made me what I am, Mother, your blade. Do not now complain if that blade is turned on you."

No joke, I was cheering her on during this! Lol. Cordelia was the one who ended up killing Tatiana, but Grace did try, and I’m glad she finally did.

But like I said, Cassie always writes great characters, and they were definitely one of my favorite things about the series (even though I wasn't as attached to them). I love action in a book, but the action in this one didn't start till late in the book. But, honestly, I didn’t even mind. The characters had a lot of drama going on and I was surprisingly very into it! I mean, we had Cordelia running away with Matthew to freaking Paris, right as James broke the bracelet's spell!

I hate love triangles so much! And the reason why, in this book in particular, is because I love all the characters involved. I love Cordelia and Matthew..... individually, not together. But Cordelia and James together?

But, my god, that miscommunication at the end of Chain of Thorns? Not a fan! Miscommunication, and then not communicating at all... not a trope I like. It’s so annoying! But I get it. We gotta create conflict somehow.

And the conflict that ensued between James and his parabatai was just heartbreaking, especially because despite all of it, they still love each other. (Though I suppose that is the whole point of a love triangle... but still!)

And speaking of Matthew...

I felt so bad for everything he was going through... the unrequited love, the guilt regarding the death of his unborn sibling, the drinking. He hides the pain with an armor of sass and self-confidence, but under all of that he’s thoughtful and cares so much for his friends and family. I just want him to be happy! 😭

Other characters I loved were Alastair and Thomas! I loved every single scene they were in together!

Alastair in particular I found to be a very interesting and complex character. So Matthew’s mother, Charlotte, lost the baby because Matthew had slipped her a “truth potion” he bought from the Shadow Market. And the reason why he even slipped her the so-called “truth potion” is because Alastair spread a nasty rumor about Charlotte, and Matthew just wanted to know the truth. It was terrible! Throughout the series, as you get to know Alastair, you find out why he did the things he did and why he acted so terribly towards the boys. And while it doesn't make his actions okay, you get it. But what I loved about him is that he turned things around and he tried to become a better person, and Thomas saw that in him. I just loved their relationship so much!

I also loved his evolving relationship with Cordelia. At the end of the book, they’re talking, and Alastair tells his sister that when Cortana picked Cordelia over him, he wasn't mad because he was jealous of her, but because that would mean that she would always be in danger 😭 I love them 😭 Not to mention the super cute moment at the end with his new baby brother 😭

And another thing (yes, I know, I can’t shut up about Alastair lol), Alastair watching out for Matthew... I loved it! At one point, Matthew is going through withdrawals and just trying to quit drinking, and Alastair and Thomas show up at Matthew’s place, worrying over him. And Alastair saying how he has experience with looking after drunks because of his dad... and basically taking care of Matthew... Ugh! My heart! 😭 And before that, he spent an entire night outside of Matthew’s place, just worrying, but not coming up to see him because he feared he would not be welcome because of their history at Shadowhunter Academy with the rumors and Charlotte losing the baby, and all that. But no! Like Thomas, the boys also saw the change in Alastair and basically gave him a second chance, and not only because he’s Cordelia’s brother.

On the other hand, I don’t know what it was about the Jesse/Lucie relationship, but that’s one I cared very little about 😬 I don’t know why. I enjoyed Anna and Ari’s complicated relationship though, and Ari’s character arc as she accepted who she truly was. And Anna is just badass and amazing and I love everything about her! But Jesse and Lucie... Idk why I wasn’t as into them. Although I did enjoy the short story at the end of the book, Aught But Death, that featured Cordelia and Lucie.

I always have trouble writing reviews for books I love because I want to talk about every single little thing I liked (or didn’t) about them. But this book was 778 pages long, so I’m not going to do that. Lol. But I really enjoyed it! I liked the story, and I obviously loved the characters and their fun banter...

"Is he always this reckless?" Jesse said to Thomas.
"You get used to it," said Thomas.
"I've always thought of it," Christopher said loyally, "as admirably heroic."
James nodded. If he was only going to get support from someone who regularly blew himself up, he would take it. "Thank you, Christopher."

But this series didn’t have enough Magnus, tbh. And where the heck was Church?! Lol.

And even after all these books, I love the fact that there are still some new things we learned about the Shadow World. But good god was this book freaking long! Queen of Air and Darkness was way longer but it somehow didn’t feel as long as this one! I don't know what it was about this one. I liked it, but I'm honestly glad to be done with it 😅 And I will somehow miss the characters at the same time. Lol.

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! 😊