Book Review :: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
ISBN: 1534496394
Series: The Last Hours #2
Also in this series: Chain of Gold
Published by Walker Books
on 2021-03-02
Genres: Supernatural, Young Adult
Pages: 688
Source: HarperCollins NZ, Walker Books AUS
Find at Walker Books AUS
Goodreads

Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood.

She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets.

All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

Last updated on 23 January 2026

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My thoughts on Chain of Iron

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: The Last Hours series is much more enjoyable than Cassandra Clare‘s previous series, The Dark Artifices. Chain of Iron is the second in the series, and somehow it was even better than the first.

We’re swept away once again into demon hunting, ghost resurrecting and tangled romances as the characters in Chain of Iron battle their way through life in Edwardian England. Cordelia, our main heroine, is married to James Herondale but only to save her reputation and James’ prison time. While the marriage is false, her feelings are not. But James’ heart lies with another (oh the drama!).

Meanwhile, Lucie Herondale and Grace Blackthorn are still trying to raise Grace’s brother Jesse from the dead, Matthew Fairchild is all over the place with his alcohol addiction and self-loathing. Anna Lightwood is trying not to fall head over heels in love, and Thomas Lightwood’s hatred of Alistair Carstairs starts to soften. All of that in amongst Christopher Lightwood blowing things up in labs, Grace hooking her claws into unsuspecting people, Tatiana Blackthorn up to no good (as per usual), Magnus Bane and Jem Carstairs making a guest appearance (my faves!), and to top it all off there’s a murder on the loose.

“Love is not always a lightning bolt. Sometimes it is a creeping vine. It grows slowly until suddenly it is all that there is in the world.”

There’s a lot going on, but I enjoyed every single moment. The plot is a great mix of the overall storyline (that murderer I just mentioned), mini-stories throughout that each character is going through, and character development in an individual sense and relationally.

If you’ve read Chain of Gold then hopefully Chain of Iron is already on your list or you’ve already read it. If you’ve read Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices series (which comes before these in time), then you need to pick up this series.

Have you read Chain of Iron yet? What about the other Shadowhunter books? What did you think?

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Thank you to HarperCollins NZ and Walker Book Aus for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This does not influence my review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.