Review: Chain of Iron (#2) by Cassandra Clare

Goodreads rating: 4.42/5

My rating: 3.9/5

The Chain of Iron, being the 2nd installation in the 'The Last Hours' trilogy follows the young Shadowhunters set in Edwardian London. As most of the Shadowhunter books, this one is about accomplishing a mission by the young adults without any help from any authorities or governing bodies. Alongside the mysterious murders they have to solve comes affairs of the heart. No Shadowhunter story is complete without a love story and this has it's fair share of love triangles, LGBTQ, unreciprocated love, and of course, true love conquering all. Cordelia faces loss, betrayal, falsehood (basically lots of pain) but still comes out as the hero that she is.

369 years later and I was finally able to finish reading this book! I received this as a birthday gift around 3 years ago and I can't believe I put it off for this long. Nonetheless, I finally did it. Now, I'm not sure if I should blame the fact that I waited too long after reading the first book to read this one or if it really was just a slow start. I kid you not, the start of the book was all over the place and so slow, it only started to get interesting toward the last 10 chapters. That's when it became difficult to put down. That's mainly why this is probably the lowest rating I've ever given a Shadowhunter book, the fact that it started out so slow with so many events that seemed irrelevant. Yes, they were eventually relevant but the pace just made it so boring in the beginning. That's also partly why I took so long to read it.

Also, I have to ask, what is with all the little excerpts at the beginning of each chapter? I always want to just skip them but I don't in fear that I might miss something. I'm assuming CC puts them there to prime the mind for the chapter but I never understand them!

I was disappointed with the plot twist and villains in this, to be honest. It was too easy for the heroes to figure out and the way they battle and how it was won (don't act surprised that the good guys win) was anticlimactic. I just don't understand how they did what they did. If anyone wants to have a discussion on it, please hit me up.

And can we talk about the necromancy in this? I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, how has there been no consequences yet?

On another note, I completely adore the love stories in this though. It's all so bittersweet. A little predictable I must say but still so romantic. I just wish it didn't end with such a huge cliffhanger, I immediately started reading the next book online because I just couldn't wait. I have yet to get my hands on the next book. I have a feeling I will enjoy it more with this book's details still fresh in my mind. By the time I have a copy, I'd probably already be half way through it online. Haha!

Is it worth a read? If you're a Shadowhunter fan and you've already read the first book, then yes. Please journey on!