Zäher Anfang wo erst ab der Mitte Spannung aufkommt - für mich leider bis jetzt die schwächste Reihe.. 🫨 Und James nervt mich auch ein bisschen.. 🫣

Cassandra Clare zählt definitiv zu den besten Autoren, die ich je gelesen habe. Das Schattenjäger-Universum ist so weitläufig und doch sind die einzelnen Reihen durch unglaublich viele Details miteinander verwoben. Ich weiß gar nicht, welche ich am meisten mag. Auch ,,die letzten Stunden'' ist mal wieder ein Meisterwerk. James und Daisy sind einfach ein Traumpaar, es gibt einige interessante Neben- und Hintergrundgeschichten und man begegnet den Charakteren aus Chroniken der Schattenjäger wieder😊.

Ich liebe die Welt der Schattenjäger und freue mich jedes Mal auf neue wieder ein Buch der Autorin zu lesen. Auch auf dieses war ich sehr gespannt, vor allem da es bei Chain of Gold um die nächste Generation der Charaktere aus der Clockwork-Reihe geht. Und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht. Der Anfang war trotzdem ein bisschen schwierig für mich. Die vielen Charaktere, Namen, Familien und Orte musste ich erstmal wieder zuordnen. Auch die verschiedenen Perspektiven waren am Anfang etwas verwirrend. Aber das hat sich schnell wieder gelegt. Hauptsächlich begleitet man die Freundesgruppe der Tollkühnen Gesellen rund um James Herondale, sowie seine Schwester Lucie und Cordelia. Besonders die Mischung aus neuen interessanten Figuren und dem Wiedersehen mit bekannten Charakteren wie: Magnus Bane, Jem, Will und Tessa, haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Generell fand ich fast alle Figuren interessant und vielschichtig. Besonders ins Herz geschlossen habe ich dabei Lucie, Cordelia & Anna. Drei sehr unterschiedliche aber unheimlich mutige und starke Protagonistinnen. Nachdem sich dann die anfängliche Verwirrung gelegt hatte und ich richtig in die Geschichte einsteigen konnte, war es durchgehen spannend. An manchen Stellen hat sich die Handlung ein wenig in die Länge gezogen, trotzdem wollte ich das Buch nicht aus der Hand legen. Es waren einige unvorhersehbare Plottwists eingebaut bei denen ich richtig mitgefiebert habe. Und ich staue immer wieder über die unfassbare Welt die Cassandra Clare da erschaffen hat, ihr Schreibstil ist unheimlich detailliert, bildgewaltig, emotional und actiongeladen. Ich freue mich schon sehr auf die Fortsetzung!

6 - solid book but not thrilled Second series from Cassandra Clare that I'm reading (chronological order). Tbh the book is quite fine but compared to the infernal devices? It doesn't hold up. The book is fine but it suffers from being way too long (the first and last 100 pages could have been greatly reduced). The cast of characters is also wayyyy too big. You can't form meaningful connections with them because there is too many and not all of them are fleshed out the way they should be. Also too many references to the infernal devices. Pls ship off will/tessa/james to America for the next one. I love them but I'm not reading their book. Also, not a critique: I still don't care about the quotes lol. <spoiler> Characters The book definitely struggled from having a way too large cast. I know that Cassandra Clare wants to fill up the family tree but it's just too much. And I'm not talking about side characters that don't matter, these people actually play a role. Aside from the important people there simply are too many characters!!! There are already TEN children the infernal gang has gotten and that doesn't include themselves and all the other recurring characters and new characters. I also just couldn't keep up with the family tree. I wrote it down and all but someone would say "your cousin" and I would be so confused whose child they were again and who they were related to then. Usually I'm good with names but this was too much for me. I also didn't like how much focus was on Will/Tessa/Jem. It's not like they are super involved or anything, but they're some of the more noticeable side characters and I don't know how to feel about that. Hell, Tessa even got her own pov chapter!!! Personally I just want to let the series be done and let my grief be over. Whenever jem was mentioned in relation to the two or the parabatai shtick I got tears in the eyes and one time I even fully cried. To appreciate it: Cassie is definitely leaning into the poly thing. Tessa and will think about jem while making out!!! After seeing the series end with Will DYING and Tessa and Jem being together after 100 years it felt off to see them alive and happy again. Couldn't they have been locked in Idris with Charlotte and Henry? I can't do this anymore. Even the wording was weird because of that. The characters were named by name so often when "mom" or "dad" would have been much more natural just to remind us of the nostalgia. Now that this is out of the way, let's get to the actual characters. Cordelia was cool. It took me some time to get used to her but I like how direct she can be. James is okay. Lucie, idk. I kind of don't like her. Sorryyyy. Sometimes she'd just ignore what her friends were saying. And then she'd be so deep in her daydreams, idk. She felt more like 13 than 16. I really want to like her because I like the concept and her powers but uhhh. Matthew is definitely my favorite of the main cast. His alcoholism isn't downplayed at all and I'm interested what's going to come in the future. It's also extra interesting because he has alcoholism just like cordelias father... let's see. I think the "you won't be able to help james because you're drunk" thing will become true at some point. I was really excited to find out about his alcoholism reason... I was... until I read a review that very kindly not only told me that this is reviewed in a spin off but also what the reason is. Thank you very much and fuck you because there is no reason to spoil a spin off book in the FIRST entry of the main series. I was really unhappy by the development in the end that he liked Cordelia. As someone who initially thought Cordelia and Matthew hat potential and was actually looking for moments I was completely flabbergasted. And not in a positive way. My favorite character as a whole would be Alastair. He sucks. He's a bully, no excuses to be made. But I still like him somehow? He has this endearing touch to him. Tsundere vibes. I'm also very intrigued regarding grace. I never thought her to be evil so I am really looking forward to her plans and what her actual motivations are. I hope she gets more development in the next books. I always love the kinda shitty blondes (hello Jessamine my love) so I hope she'll become part of that. I'm so sure she is not evil but in some difficult situation. Is she not human? If not, what is she then? Because mind manipulation??? Not only of James. The thorns??? I like Thomas but I have zero thoughts on Christopher. Anna seems cool but idk her yet properly. But yay!!! Sapphic love. Sadly that relationship is really irrelevant. But tbh i think it's awesome that we got a playgirl lesbian. I don't like those characters but tbh it's time for me to dislike the sapphic character for once!! Jk I like Anna. Too many characters!!! I am too tired to say more about the others so rest assured, they aren't notable. Relationships I actually enjoyed Cordelia and James romance quite a bit. I was very reluctant in the beginning but I enjoyed that despite Cordelia already liking him in the beginning we also got to see why she liked him. Their tension was really nice and the kiss sooo unexpected. Made me feel hot all over my body, really nice. And the awkward "oh yeah it was just pretend" afterwards had me laughing so hard. I also enjoyed how they did actually communicate afterwards and james didn't shy away from speaking up about his confusion and attraction towards Cordelia. I have high hopes!!!! The dynamic they are in now!!! Pain i expect you. Married but that damn bracelet. Sorry!!!! But I absolutely don't care about Lucie and cordelia's friendship!! They seem much more like "friends by acquaintance" than actual friends. Why do they like each other? Ugh, how come that the one time I get why the love interests like each other I am disappointed with the friendship .... I couldn't care less for Jesse and Lucie. Literally. I don't have anything to say. Plot I loved the little mysteries like slowly uncovering what was going on with grace. Other than that the plot like in infernal devices is much more about the interpersonal drama. How James is trapped by grace, God oh God. I was so happy when he was freed only for him to be trapped RIGHT when he and Cordelia were moving forward. That was a time full of gasps for me. How Cordelia lied about james being with her. Gasp. Him proposing. Gasp. The action and all was fine. Pacing Tbh the book took way too long to get interesting. Only at 40 % it finally picked up. Especially the first 150 pages were quite tedious to get through. The middle part is actually interesting and well done. But for some reason the last 100 pages after the final showdown are so slow??? Like I was previously so hyped about reading the book but at that point I was just wondering why the book wasn't just ending because in my eyes everything was already cleared up and yeah... I was right. It was just the ending fizzling out and it was quite unsatisfying. Imo the wedding should have taken place in the next book... The epilogue did NOT catch my interest. Questions: What did Alastair say to Matthew about Cordelia? What did Matthew do (or not, bc I was spoiled)? Will Jesse come back? What is the deal with grace? </spoiler>

Es war erst mein zweites Cassie Clare Buch, aber dennoch konnte ich mich gut in der Welt einfinden. Am Anfang wurde ich von einer Flut von Namen überschwemmt, es hat eine Weile gedauert, bis ich wusste, wer wohin gehört und wie zusammen, aber danach ging es. Die Story selbst ging ziemlich langsam voran, dafür erfährt man mehr über die Charaktere selbst. Jeder hat irgendwie sein Geheimnis. Ich freue mich sehr auf band zwei!