“That's everyone's dream, isn't it, really? Instead of many who give you little pieces of themselves-one who gives you everything.”

Third time read, first time review. I absolutely adore this book so sit back and get ready for a longer-than-normal review that will be 95% me talking about how much I love these characters and 5% me actually analyzing the quality of this novel.

⇢Cordelia Carstairs
Cordelia has to be my favourite Cassandra Clare protagonist to date aside from Emma, but I guarantee that by the end of this series she will have passed her. I absolutely love Daisy, and she was such a refreshing protagonist. In Chain of Gold, she was so strong and determined, and I can’t wait to see how she handles her fake marriage situation in Chain of Iron.

“They need a muse," said Anna. "Someone to be inspired by. Someone to know their secrets. Would you like to be a muse?"
"No," said Cordelia. "I would like to be a hero.”

⇢James Herondale
My opinions on James are a bit complicated because there are so many sides to his personality. I don’t think that I can say that I love his character because I absolutely despise some of his actions while wearing the bracelet, but I also can’t say I hate him because I adore him when he’s not under Grace’s influence. Ultimately, I think that he’s a really underrated character; so many people find him boring just because he’s more introverted than some of the other Herondales. I can’t wait for him to take off the bracelet in Chain of Iron and realize what it was doing to him. UGH I can’t think about Grace and the bracelet without getting angry.

“I am a Herondale. We love but once."
"That is only a story."
"Haven't you heard?" James said bitterly. "All the stories are true.”

⇢Lucie Herondale
Lucie is so so underrated. SHE NEEDS MORE FANS. But I can forgive the lack of Lucie appreciation for now because we all know that Chain of Gold will be her time to shine. I’m so excited to see how she goes about saving Jesse in book two! Also, I'm not going to write a section for Jesse so I just want to say that I love him too and he deserves the world.

“If it actually cared that James was related to an ‘important’ demon, it should have said something to me, too,” said Lucie. “I am his sister. I do not appreciate being overlooked.”

⇢Alastair Carstairs
FINALLY. I was holding back writing about him first. Alastair was such an amazing character. He was so complex, with the bullying and his love for his family and his relationship struggles etc. I know a lot of people can’t tolerate how he treated the Merry Thieves when they were at the academy, and for sure that shouldn’t just be forgiven. But remember, he was a gay and Persian man living in the early 1900s, and as he said in the Chain of Gold, it was bully or be bullied. I hope we see him repair his relationship with Thomas and finally get over Charles in Chain of Iron.

“We're all of us alone," he said. "In the end.”

⇢Matthew Fairchild
Matthew Fairchild was an absolute mess in Chain of Gold and I am terrified for him. He went through so much, from his unrequited love situation with Lucie to Grace doing her siren thing on him and making him fall in love with Cordelia and his drinking issues and oh my god, he just needs a break. At the end of this book, we saw Magnus deciding to stay in London a bit longer so I can only hope that he takes Matthew under his wing. I really do not want to see Matthew get his runes stripped :(

“That’s right.” It was Matthew Fairchild. Fair hair, spicy cologne, a blur of a smile. His hands were gentle as he swept her back into the waltz. “Just—try to smile, and no one will notice anything happened. James and I are practically interchangeable in the public consciousness anyway.”

⇢Thomas Lightwood
I loved Thomas, and he is definitely underrated just like Lucie. I know he’s considered the “kind” one, but he’s definitely so much more than that. I hope we get lots of Thomas content in Chain of Iron! I particularly want to see him with his parents because of what happened to Barbara, and of course him and Alastair.

“We don’t always love people who deserve it.”

⇢Christopher Lightwood
I honestly don’t have much to say about Christopher as of right now because he didn’t appear as much as some of these other characters in Chain of Gold, but I couldn’t talk about the rest of the Merry Thieves and not him. According to the family tree (yes, I know it's not 100% accurate), he ends up with Grace. So I expect that if that’s true we’ll get some scenes with them together in Chain of Iron? I’m not sure how feel about it but since Grace gets an arc I’m not totally opposed.

“The last time I saw you shocked was when that Iblis demon was sending Christopher love letters.”
“I have a dark charm,” said Christopher sadly.”

⇢Anna Lightwood and Ariadne Bridgestock
I’m going to group these two together just because we don’t know all that much about either of them yet. I’m super excited to see more of Anna because she’s an incredible character, and I can’t wait to see what Ariadne does to convince Anna to risk loving her. I just hope that Cassandra Clare will finally provide us with that sapphic content we’ve all been waiting for since Helen and Aline, the only other sapphic couple were SENTENCED TO AN ISLAND FAR AWAY. PLEASE JUST LET ANNA AND ARIADNE BE HAPPY.

“I know you are strong-willed, Anna Lightwood, but I am just as strong-willed. I will change your mind. I will win you back.”

⇢The Plot
Wow, it only took me a billion paragraphs to finally actually talk about the book. I mean, you can’t blame me because we all know that the reason we all love the Shadowhunters books is the characters and not the plot. I do have to say though, that I actually really liked the Chain of Gold storyline. It dragged at certain points, but ultimately it was really enjoyable.

I mean, there were some pretty iconic scenes in this book. THE WHISPERING ROOM SCENE? AND CORDELIA'S PERFORMACE? UNMATCHED. Also, I loved that flashback scene where Cortana chose Cordelia to be its owner. That scene deserves more praise.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ❦ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

My Chain of Gold Playlist:
champagne problems by Taylor Swift
Comfort Crowd by Conan Grey
feelings are fatal by mxmtoon
my matthew fairchild playlist
my alastair carstairs playlist

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