Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours #3)

I don’t know what to say about Chain of Thorns, the Last Hours trilogy, or Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter books that I haven’t already said. At this point, I’ve written a multitude of reviews for her books, ranging from the main series, spin-off trilogies, and side novels. 

The Shadowhunter universe is now so huge and overwhelming that if I stop, I know I’ll never be able to catch up again (or want to, most likely). So I just keep…chugging along.

Chain of Thorns is the third installment of the sequel series to the prequel series (yes, you read that right) and is average on a banal level. I’ve said this for the previous two reviews of the first and second books of the Last Hours trilogy respectively, but this is Cassandra Clare’s worst trilogy by far. 

I’m not going to review aspects of world building, history, background, or even explain very much because at this point, people reading this review have either kept up with Cassandra Clare’s books like I have, or are just reading this review out of curiosity and accepting that they won’t understand any of the details or intricacies I mention, seeing as this book is freaking number twenty in the overall series. 

That being said, Chain of Thorns is a predictable ending to an already hackneyed series. The plot of this book is beyond boring. Belial, one of the princes of Hell, takes over London and makes it his own little slice of Edom on earth. This turns all the humans and downworlders into lifeless puppets. Why is he doing this you might ask? Just…cause. 

I genuinely don’t know. Belial as a villain is atrocious. I get that he’s a demon, but he is comically evil. The way he speaks, his motivations, and his actions are so ridiculous and trite that I could hardly stomach reading scenes with him. Good thing the scenes with him were not until the last 200 pages of the book. 

For a book that’s almost 800 pages, you might be wondering what the first 600 pages are about if they don’t contain Belial, the main adversary. The answer is: character relations. No, really, that’s it. 

The first 600 pages contain Cassandra Clare’s millions of characters interacting, keeping secrets from each other, and generally making themselves miserable for lame, noble reasons that lack finesse or intrigue. 

This character is in love with this character, this character is sad, this character feels guilty, this character feels shame, rinse and repeat. Normally, I’d say that Cassandra Clare’s main strengths are her characters and how she characterizes them. 

However, in Chain of Thorns she spends soooooo much time fleshing out the main characters that the plot is squeezed lifeless. The same events are repeated over and over again so they can be seen from different perspectives, which makes the book a slog to get through, forgoing any kind of significant advancement story-wise. 

Additionally, her characters aren’t interesting. All of the main characters in this series—Cordelia, James, Lucie, Jesse, Ari, Anna, Christopher, Grace, Thomas, Alistair, Matthew, and more, if you can believe it—have been done more thoughtfully in other installments Clare has written. 

Take Christopher for example. I know almost nothing about him except that he’s the inventor-type guy. Clare has already written one of these with Henry from The Infernal Devices and was done better. Emma was a better Cordelia, Will was a better James, Cecily was a better Lucie, Jem was a better Matthew, and on and on it goes. 

None, and I mean none of the characters from this series stood out in any new or notable way. Even the couples from this series are overshadowed by other couples in Clare’s universe. A large reason for this, in my opinion, is because everyone in this goddamn trilogy is too good. 

They’re mind numbingly altruistic. Everyone is selfless, trusting, brave, kind, and inherently accepting. There’s no spice, no nuance, no complexity. The only tension this book has for the first 600 pages are the characters keeping secrets from each other. 

Not because of some malicious reason, oh no, that would be too gripping, but instead because they don’t want to burden the others. Bleh. 

The epic final fight, if you could call it that, lacked any emotional depth, was glaringly obvious in terms of how it would end, and no character of magnitude died, leaving this book without emotional weight or consequences. 

Clare’s writing itself was fine, as usual, as was her world building, but she did have several scenes that seemed to go on and on forever without purpose or reason. 

For example, there are several chapters describing Belial’s London and how horrific it is. We need one of these scenes to get the picture. Two, max, if Clare really wants to drive it home. 

Clare has at least eight scenes describing this hellish London, which is really just the same descriptions repeated multiple times throughout way-too long chapters stretching out barely present and miniscule tension. 

Overall, this is not Cassandra Clare’s best work. The plot and its villains had much to be desired. Her characters, usually her greatest strength, were carbon copies of other characters from her previous series who outshined these characters drastically.

 The novel tried to present too many POV’s, which watered down every protagonist exponentially and their magnanimous personalities made it difficult for me as a reader to connect to them on any kind of human level. 

Recommendation: You don’t need to read this trilogy. Unless you’re a hardcore Cassandra Clare fanatic, this series will offer you nothing that her previous series haven’t given you already. Steer clear unless you’re a completionist and have already spent way too much time reading the Shadowhunter series as a whole and feel obligated to continue. 

Score: 5/10