The Last Hours: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare (recap/review)

My heart still hurts from reading Chain of Iron. It was just that good. That is one of the reasons why I love reading so much. I think it is beautiful how words in a book can make me feel so many things. Especially works of fiction. Cassandra Clare is one of my all-time favorite authors. Her books can always get me out of a reading slump. She has an amazing way of writing and creating worlds and characters that you grow to care and love. I've been reading about the Shadowhunter-universe since I was in middle school. I'm in university now and I still feel the same love and excitement for the universe. Cassandra Clare's books will always have a very special place in my heart!

Chain of Gold picks up where we left off in the first book of the Last Hours-trilogy. James and Cordelia are preparing for their wedding. It is supposed to be a joyful day, however, the only reason why they are getting married is to save the reputation of Cordelia who protected James when he was accused of burning down Blackthorn Manor. Cordelia secretly loves James, and James loves Cordelia too, but he doesn't know that because Grace Blackthorn has given him a bracelet with the words "loyalty binds me". This means that Grace can make James do and feel whatever she wants - and she has controlled him to believe that he is in love with Grace. So the deal between Cordelia and James is to be married for a year and then divorce so that James can be with Grace, and Cordelia's reputation will still be saved. Yeah, it's a big mess. Lucie and Grace are also working together to raise Jesse Blackthorn from the dead. Jesse is Grace's brother and the only person who she really cares about while Lucie is in love with Jesse and has been since she was a child. Lucie discovers that she has the ability to command ghosts and make them appear before her. James is still able to see into other demonic realms and he starts having nightmares about the murders that are taking place in London. Several Shadowhunters have been brutally murdered - it turns out that Belial, James and Lucie's grandfather, is the one behind all of them. He has been using Jesse Blackthorn's body to do the killings and gain power. When Jesse was born, his mother Tatiana Blackthorn loathed Shadowhunters so much that she didn't trust the Silent Brothers to put protection spells on Jesse. Instead she asked the warlock, Emmauel Gast to do it. He placed an anchor in Jesse which is what Belial later used to gain control of his body. Matthew Fairchild is Jame's parabatai and he is also in love with Cordelia. He has a serious drinking problem and seems unhappy most of the time. In the very end of the novel, there is a big clash/fight/war between James, Cordelia, Belial, Lillith, and Lucie. Yeah, it turns out that Lillith has been walking around earth disguised as other warlocks and Shadowhunters. She tricked Cordelia into being her paladin which means that every time Cordelia has cortana or any other weapon in her hand, she summons Lillith and must fight for her. It is all very unfortunate. In the end, the silver bracelet that Grace gav James breaks because of the love between James and Cordelia (it breaks while they are kissing). This is when James realizes the truth and he confronts Grace when she shows up at Curzon Street where James and Cordelia live. However, a big misunderstanding occurs as Cordelia thinks that James and Grace are gonna get together so she leaves James and goes to see Matthew. James confronts Grace who tells him the truth; that her mother, Tatiana Blackthorn, made her do it because she wanted to hurt the Herondale family and other evil things. In the meantime, Matthew has confessed to Cordelia that he is in love with her, but he won't act on his feelings. Instead, they decide to go to Paris together to forget about their pain and to figure out the next steps. They leave a message for James who is frantically searching for Cordelia to tell her the truth, but he never gets to do that. When he finally reaches the train station and sees Matthew and Cordelia, his father, Will, approaches him to tell him that Lucie is missing. James goes with his father and Magnus Bane to search for Lucie who might be in Cornwall. Oh yeah, Lucie did end up raising Jesse Blackthorn. She commanded him to live and he finally did, however, this ended up knocking Lucie out and so Jesse and Malcolm Fade take Lucie away to help her get well. I think those are some of the major events in Chain of Iron.

Now this novel was magic. I couldn't put it down and it really got me into reading again. I love reading, always have, but because of uni it's been hard to find the time to really dig into a book. Chain of Iron had me turn page after page so fast because it was so intriguing and full of drama. I loved feeling the pain of Cordelia because of how much she loves James and tries not to let herself get too excited about their marriage since it will only last for a year. But how can one not love James? He does so much for Cordelia. He gets them an amazing house which is so personal and full of things that they both like. What Grace has done to James is awful. The bracelet fogs James' mind and there are memories he can't recall. He forgets his feelings for Cordelia and he can't help Matthew with his drinking problem. I think it is beautiful how the bracelet ends up breaking because of the strong love between James and Cordelia. It really shows that love can conquer all. Although we never get our resolution. Cordelia never learns the truth. This is so heartbreaking and it reminded me of the Dark Artifices with Will and Tessa. Will was in love with Tessa, but he had to hide it away because a demon had made him believe that anyone he loved would be killed. Again, evil stood in the way of love. The last instalment Chain of Thorns comes out at the end of the month, and I can't wait to read about James and Cordelia's happy ending. They truly deserve it!!!

A major theme in the novel was masks. Many of the characters were wearing masks and keeping secrets from their loved ones. Lucie never told anyone about what she was doing with Grace. Cordelia didn't tell James about her feelings for him. James had to hide his feelings for Grace in front of Cordelia. Matthew hid his secrets behind bottles. Alastair and Thomas had something going on which no one knew about. There are just so many secrets and everyone hides their pain away behind a mask. It's tragic and I think this novel shows us that secrets can drive people apart. It makes people unhappy. I think it's so sad how we think it's better to keep our pain to ourselves instead of sharing it with others. True love and friendship is about standing by each other through the good and bad which is why it is crucial to be open and honest!

A million stars to this beautiful piece of work! Cassandra Clare, I love and admire you!