The Last Hours: Chain of Iron

Chain of Iron continues James and Cordelia's complicated relationship, but it's also about friendship, betrayal, deception and unrequited love. Filled with action and twists and turns, it will keep you turning the pages into the night. The cliff-hanger ending will have you ordering book two as fast as you can!

I just love every book I’ve read of hers they’re all amazing. Bring me so so much joy and an escape when needed.

Love the series, however, I ordered and made sure I got the collectors first edition, which the description stated, which as since been removed, that it was to have came with a map, reversible book jacket, black and white illustrations on the inside, as well as ten color photos, a character tree, and a short story...nope, it has just the black and white illustrations and the bonus story, the cover isn't reversible and there are no color photos, no character tree.

If you love Shadowhunter universe - you will love it!(will contain SPOILERS)For me it is my comfort world. Where you can more or less predict the events, more or less know that all that teenage drama will be OK at the end, that the main characters of the book is Misunderstanding, Secret and Interruption. And it's GOOD to have some safe (with all its demons LOL) place to travel, to read about passionate teenage drama and unconfessed love. I rushed trough this book within a day.(As English is not my native language, sorry for my grammar)As for Spoiler part.Things I LOVED - James at his 17 acts really mature. I mean he took his fathers advice to heart and actually TALKED to his wife. I loved that he had such a confidence in their partnership, such trust in Cordelia's strength that he was honest. He has grown up with an excellent parents as an example - strong devoted father, wise mother, loving family and trusted friends. I loved his confidence against all kinds of pressure.Cordelia (perhaps I must read it again to grasp her better) is created strong and capable but with so mush going on I didn't catch her inner motivations at all. Lucy is a little brat who is getting in deeper sh*t than she might manage. But as ALL Cassandras books are about crazy teens who who get neck deep in all kinds of sh*t - no surprises there.I LOVED those marriage scenes. This calm, peaceful couples life that I (as an adult) know is the key to a healthy relationships. Sure as a reader I was truly annoyed by their mutual blindness of love (LOL) but that's the point of the story, right?I LOVED how alcohol addiction was showed. Not only Mathews drinking but also his friends co-addiction. Cordelia and James both writing it off as it is not the same as Elias disastrous sickness. other friends seeing but ignoring to mention it. They textbook justify his behavior. Loved James and Elias scene together.I loved Christopher was shown a little more.Things I DIDN'T love :(Maybe I'm getting old, or have read too much from this world, but I couldn't really feel characters. Perhaps it was too many POVs and thou I understand that there are many things going on and different perspectives gives different feeling - this jumping from one to another was bothering me.I hated Cordelia and Mathew running off. Nope. Do not like it at all. Actually both timesI was annoyed by my own predictions of events. And the knowledge WHY some things were the way they were. Tessa and Will leaving, some demon fights, some visitations just to push the plot Probably that's on me, not Cassandra.Thou I know why they seem to be needed - I didn't like Graces POV. It felt like "telling" even if reader can see why she might be the way she is (Tatianas attitude, Jesses love, Bracelet, her powers). Those inputs were unnecessary.All in all - This was a good book, good story, wasn't a "middle book meh". Perhaps I must read it one more time, this time to focus on details rather than plot events. After I might come to different conclusions.

Chain of Iron picks up a few weeks after the ending of Chain of Gold. Now this being like the second in book in the current series but the like sixteenth book overall, excluding novella bind ups, it is going to incredibly painful to try and not spoil anything.Now I will start off by saying this, Cassandra Clare has never had like stand out plots in her books. There have been some, but she is more characters first before plot kind of story writer. I would say that is entirely true when it come to Chain of Iron. This was a purely character driven story, with plot completely secondary. Again as I said before Chain of Iron picks up with the big event that Chain of Gold set up. Some of you who have read know what said event is, some of you don't. We spend a good majority of the beginning of this book on this event and never really anything plot wise happening, which is okay but I do wish Clare didn't spend as much time as she did on the event. Once we finally got away from said event, the plot got started and the story really took off.I would say I am a reader who needs both plot and character focus in my stories. I can tolerate a story with a great plot and lackluster characters or even vice versa. But for me to really make the story shine I need both. With Chain of Iron it was definitely more character focused like I said, but the plot no matter how small it really was, compelled me. Sure at times it can be predictable, but if the author can still keep my interest, if they can keep me wanting to turn the pages for more, for me that is a win. That is exactly what Clare did with Chain of Iron. I adore these characters, I adore this world, I am so invested with the intricacies of this game board Clare has been weaving since City of Bones.I have to say though, I think this story would have benefited from Clare's initial release plan. Which if I remember correctly she wanted to release it like she did with The Mortal instruments final three books and The Infernal Devices. There are some major plot points and history markers that would have hit differently had she done it that way, in my opinion. I know we would have waited longer for books, but I remember reading The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices that way and truly appreciating how the stories weaved together harmoniously.Are the Shadowhunter books perfect absolutely not, no book is and I will die on that hill defending that argument. The Shadowhunter books however bring me so much joy and escapism and that is what truly makes this series shine for me. I am so looking forward to Chain of Thorns the final book in The Last Hours series. I will also continue to look forward to every Shadowhunter book that is yet to come!

Queen of Fantasy... is correct ❤ Finally the second installment of the The last hours has arrived!!!! Only been waiting almost a year for this!Beautiful display and the 10 artwork pages are STUNNING❤❤❤❤ I was hoping for the coloured character page as seen in the first, BUT I think the other art work speaks for its self.My absloute favourite series from Cassandra Clare is Infernal Devices as they are what drew me to Clare's work in the first place and The Last Hours have only added to that love ❤I will now have to Re-read Chain of Gold and then start on Chain of Iron!

I absolutely loved the second installment of the last hours series. I finished the book so quickly I was left wanting more. As with all of Cassandra Clare's books I was thoroughly immersed in all the characters. This book made me fall in love with the world of the Shadowhunters all over again. The depth and diversity of the characters is extremely refreshing. Cassandra is a genius. I cannot wait for the next installment of this series.

5/5 StarsSpoilers below.***CC is a sadist, bc this book was sweet, sweet torture from start to finish. Everything that made the first installment so thrilling and tender is amplified in CoI.Cordelia and James must go through with their "sham" marriage, which becomes increasingly intimate as the book progresses. A harsh juxtaposition to the brutal murders of Shadowhunters threaded throughout.James fears he is committing said murders, but we later find out that Belial is using Jesse Blackthorns body to commit them during daylight hours.Meanwhile, Grace and Lucie have been pooling their shrinking pool of resources to try and bring Jesse back to life. Tatiana's twisted machinations become even more depraved (think incest) and Lucie falls deeply in love with Jesse's tortured soul.Against the backdrop of all of this, Cordelia struggles in her new role as a wife, especially with Grace and that God awful bracelet! Cordelia swears fealty to someone who she thinks is Wayland, the legendary Smith to Shadowhunters, but it actually Lilith, the Mother of Demons, and a staunch enemy of Belial's. From now on, Cordelia can't so much as pick up a weapon without doing so in service of Lilith.She almost killed Lucie, which was one of several heartstopping moments for me. I cheered when the bracelet came off, and I still don't like Grace, although I do feel a little sorry for her...As the book hurtles towards its ending, with Leviathan attacking the Institute and James finally confronting Grace, Lucy spirits away to Cornwall to try to save Jesse one last time.And if that isn't enough, there's one last surprise.The love triangle between Cordelia, Grace and James becomes a love square, with Matthew admitting he has feelings for Cordelia at the end - possibly because he confided in her about Charlotte, and she didn't judge him?James goes after Lucie, whilst Math and Cordelia escape to Paris.Oh, and did I mention Tom finally admitted his feelings for Alistair?Whew, I need a nap!

This was EPIC! Honestly even better than the first. Though that ending very near killed me. I may despise you just as much as I adore you right now Cassandra, because honestly....HOW COULD YOU?! Now I have to wait an entire year in torment for the next instalment. Siiigh.Grace still suffers, but I still hate her. Her mother may be a monster, but somewhere along the line you must say enough is enough and certainly not when your world has already gone to ash around you.James and Cordelia are my new favourite couple! I hope they eventually get a happy ending. Hard to know. You're the only one partial to cliffhangers so devastating!Can't wait for book 3!! Happy writing xx

I have been eagerly awaiting the follow up to last years Chain of Gold, and couldn’t wait to read this. I finished it in 2 days and it didn’t disappoint! I absolutely love all the books in the Shadowhunter series, but my favourite was always The Infernal Devices and Will and Tessa my favourite characters, so I was so happy when this series came out. The characters are, as always, so well written and you really are invested in them and their lives. I don’t want to spoil anything so won’t say much about the story. If you are a fan of the first book, or indeed the shadowhunter series, this will not disappoint. The only downside is I now have to wait another year for the final instalment!