Review: Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare is the first in this trilogy set in her already established Shadowhunter world. Chronologically it follows The Infernal Devices, and within publication order, it follows Queen of Air and Darkness and Ghosts of the Shadow Market. I have stayed very up-to-date on The Shadowhunter Chronicles up until this book came out. It was the last book I bought before lockdown started, and I kind of associated it with me living alone in London in lockdown, which put me off reading it. I have gotten over that and am happy to have read it!

This book follows the generation after those in The Infernal Devices, including many of the children of the main cast of those books in Edwardian London. The book largely focuses on Cordelia Carstairs, and James, and Lucie Herondale, with time spent with Anna, Christopher, and Thomas Lightwood, Alastair Carstairs, and Matthew and Charles Fairchild. I will start by saying a small family tree at the front of this book would have helped with the beginning of the book, but by the end, I was able to connect who was related to who quite well. Though I did have a few times where I was sure some characters were related when they very much were not.

What really worked for me in this book was the character relationships. I really loved seeing the nuances of the long-standing relationships with the introduction of new folks in the dynamic. I loved the strong friend group at the core of the story. A friend group is by far one of my favorite things in fiction; I would have adored a little bit more of the whole gang together.

The core group is comprised of James, Matthew, Christopher, and Thomas; they are all clearly very familiar with Lucie, though she does explore being an outsider especially through the frame of her gender. Within the main group, I loved the dynamics on display. The comradery and genuine affection and admiration between the group was excellent. That dynamic, plus the secrecy and self-isolation that was in play throughout the book, was an excellent combination. I so wanted everyone to be open with each other, and I am deeply curious about the secrets still to be revealed.

I also really liked the way Cordelia, Alastair, Anna, Charles, and Grace explored the outsider dynamic in different ways. I was particularly invested in Anna and Alastair's stories. I really wanted to dislike Alastair due to his past actions, but I found him incredibly interesting and easy to have compassion for. The way he lashed out due to the incredible stress of his home life, plus the isolation of being singled out for his race, sexuality, and family, was an interesting storyline. I am normally not compelled by this character type, the redeemable bully, but I am very interested in his journey. And I hardcore want Alastair and Thomas to be end game. And Anna Lightwood is just a character I have been obsessed with since her first appearance in a short story.

I think my biggest issue with this book was that I was so interested in where the story is going and the macro plotline that I just kind of felt like this book was set up. That seems a tad unfair, but I felt like the plot of this book is really leading somewhere I am going to absolutely love, but the whole time reading, I just felt like I wanted to be on the next book more than I was really concerned with the resolution of this book.

I really think that an external mystery, like the one in Lady Midnight, would have made me more invested in the resolution of this book outside of the implications for the story overall. I guess my critique is that I wanted more of a single book storyline to keep my mind in the book and not on the series as a whole.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I am very excited to get to the next book in this series, I really think I am going to love this series as a whole. I cannot wait to see how the relationships in this story progress, and I am so invested in where the series and the world overall is going!