I finally finished a book again! I feel like it’s been ages since that happened. Reading has been hard for me basically since the beginning of March, and some events in my life didn’t make it better. Luckily I can always count on a good book to make me happy!
Chain of Gold was one of the first books I bought at my favorite Barnes & Noble as soon as I arrived in the United States. It’s my favorite Barnes & Noble because I used to work there:)
I didn’t start reading it until the end of March, though. And then… I really could not get into it. I kept reading maybe a chapter per day. And I was really upset about that, because I love Shadowhunter novels, and I feel like they get better with every new series.
As it turns out, the problem was me. I just couldn’t concentrate on reading for longer than 15 minutes. Until Saturday, that is. Where I should’ve been revising my thesis proposal, I actually decided to finish Chain of Gold in one sitting. I started at page 200, and ended at page 584.
What I liked
Overall I enjoyed the pacing of this book. It starts with plenty of action and the first few chapters immediately have an air of mystery to them. I really wanted to learn more about all the characters involved, though I could hardly keep the families straight. In the end, I had to use a Shadowhunter family tree…
“Who is related to who? Wait, are they brother and sister? Oh, no, they’re cousins.”
Honestly I’m impressed that Cassandra Clare can keep it all straight and make sure it all lines up with future books. My favorite thing about reading more and more Shadowhunter books is that you can truly see how family traits manifest. I noticed this especially in Cordelia Carstairs, who is basically Emma Carstairs. Well, technically it should be the other way around, but you know what I mean. James was basically a miniature Will. All the characters had real depth to them, and at the end of the book we still don’t know everything about them. Which is good, because that means we’ll hopefully get a great character arc in the next books.
I also always enjoy how Clare changes the language to fit the era. I loved reading about Edwardian era London, and once I was finally sucked into the world, it wouldn’t let me go. The ending of the book also set up the next one nicely. Though now I have to wait almost a whole year to read it:(
What I didn’t like
Honestly, I have a hard time finding things I didn’t necessarily like in this book. Although I believe this book could’ve been 100 pages shorter if anytime two characters had something important to say, they weren’t interrupted by the arrival of a third. I’m not complaining about the length, I am complaining about the communication. Just say what you mean and move on.
★★★★☆
Overall, Chain of Gold was a truly enjoyable book, and I hope everyone that likes Clare’s books will read it soon! It would be cool to eventually read all these books in chronological order.
Interested in more reviews? You can find them here!
Cover image by Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash
