Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Gold

Series: The Last Hours #1

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: March 2020

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: An inheritance of shadows. A love in chains. An unconquerable foe.

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.

But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia's friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.

My rating: ★★★★★

I loved this book! But then again, going into it I knew I was going to love it, as I do all Shadowhunter books. But at this point we all know what a huge fan of the Shadowhunter Chronicles I am.

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.

Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess

Series: The Infernal Devices #3

Previous books in this series: Clockwork Angel #1 | Clockwork Prince #2

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: March 2013

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Own hardcover

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Synopsis:

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

My rating: ★★★★★
This book—it just broke my heart and soul... but I still loved it! Not the hurting... the book. Lol. It just broke my heart so many times, and yet, I still love it... and I also still feel like crying everytime I think about it 😢 If I had to describe this book with one gif this is literally it:

Review: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince

Series: The Infernal Devices #2

Previous book in this series: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: December 2011

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Own Hardcover

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Synopsis:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My rating: ★★★★★

Tessa’s brother, Nate, had once promised her everything in London—a new beginning, a wonderful place to live, a city of soaring buildings and gorgeous parks. What Tessa had found instead was horror and betrayal, and danger beyond anything she could have imagined.

The Shadowhunters of London are still out looking for Mortmain and stop him from achieving his plan with the Internal Devices. However, what they have found is even more betrayal.

I love this series, but the love triangle just hurts my soul so much! You all know how much I despise love triangles, they are messy, and the one in this one..

Review: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel

Series: The Infernal Devices #1

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: August 2010

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Own Hardcover

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Synopsis:

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

My rating: ★★★★★
So I put off this book for a loooong time. I love Cassandra Clare's work (The Mortal Instruments) so I bought Clockwork Angel the very day it was released. However, I've had this book for a few months now. I think the reason why I put it off is because I know Cassandra's books always leave me wanting for more, and Clockwork Prince (Book 2) comes out until the Fall of 2011! So I knew the wait after I read Clockwork Angel would be agonizing.