Cecilie
It's easy to forget how grand this book is. I know it's a big one, but it's also a bit old by now. I first read it five years ago, and much has happened in the Shadow World since. But this one just kind of knocks all other Shadowhunter books (so far) out of the park with its grandeur, the overall epicness of the story. Whether it's the best conclusion is up for discussion, but it is undoubtedly the most epic of the conclusions so far. I suspect that The Wicked Powers will be even grander, since QOAAD is already in its own VERY GRAND but has a few aspects to it where it falls short next to CoHF (mainly being that it feels more like a middle book rather than a conclusion - because it isn't.)
The first half of this book is the best half. It sets up the end incredibly well and gives a lot of needed character moments (all though many more important ones happen in the second half) and overall the first half of the book is just so incredibly good. And the only reason why I find it better than the second half of the book, is because in the second half, the setting has changed, which can sometimes distract the reader, who is now trying to familiarize themselves with new surrounding. But that is also it, the only reason why I personally find the first half better. Although, when I say better, we're talking very minor things anyway, like it's really not something that matters that much.
The book is fantastic overall, an incredible conclusion to this six book story. I know it is sort of its own trilogy, but I think this also counts as a conclusion for all of them, just like I believe the conclusion of The Wicked Powers will feel like the conclusion of The Dark Artifices too.
There is so much of Emma and the Blackthorns in this book, so much more than I remembered there would be, and so much more context for me to absorb, context I hadn't picked up on as much the first time I read it. It's of course easier to spot because I've already read TDA, but it still gave me so much joy as well as despair to see Emma and the Blackthorns as such small children, setting them up so well for TDA, as well as setting up the rest of the books to come.
The epilogue was just wonderful. We finally got that goddamn wedding we've been waiting for, and I'm so incredibly excited to go into Shadowhunter Academy so soon after this. I have so much love and fondness for this world and its characters, and I applaud Clare endlessly for continuing to write them simply because she wanted to, and ignoring the people who told her to stop.
I loved it, loved it, loved it. So, so, so good.
With hope.
Overall, a lovely look into Magnus's life through the years. It was nice seeing how his view of things changed, particularly in regards to relationships, as he got older. I really liked the vivid decriptions of his outfits and his love for fashion ever steady. It is particularly fun in serious situations, where Magnus explains the shock in people's faces as not of him in particularly but his hot pink outfit. That situation alone is enough to make me love Magnus.
My individual ratings are:
What Really Happened in Peru - 2 stars
Was missing the entire point of why I wanted to read it. It started off very slow, then became a little more interesting, but in the end there was no climax and I was left feeling very disappointed.
The Runaway Queen - 3 stars
I found the Paris vampire clan really interesting, and even though I thought the Marie Antoinette/Axel plot-line would go somewhere else, it was still enjoyable.
Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale - 5 stars
Meeting Will's parents. Honestly, it just made me understand very easily why Will turned out the way he did. Loved it. It was really fucking sad.
The Midnight Heir - 5 stars
Meeting James Herondale. Seriously, it absolutely frightened me and I now think The Last Hours will be scary as hell. Loved it. It was really fucking scary AND sad.
The Rise of the Hotel Dumort - 2.5 stars
Idk, it was just kinda boring. The New York setting was nice but... yeah.
Saving Raphael Santiage - 4 Stars
I enjoyed this one so much! Raphael is a whiny little shit and I adore him to pieces. The way he is with Magnus, and what he actually thinks of their relationship with each other, really makes me feel for him when in CoLS Simon was yelling at Raphael being like “FRIENDS??? You think we're FRIENDS???” A scene, in which I originally was very understanding of Simon's reaction (and still am, but now I get Raphael).
The Fall of the Hotel Dumort - 3.5 stars
Much more interesting than the rise, definitely, but I found myself unable to really get into it, so. You get no more.
What To Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You're Not Officially Dating Anyway) - 4 stars
Magnus being cute and in love. That's literally it.
The Last Stand of the New York Institute - 5 stars
TESSA. TES-SA! I mean, shortly, but still. I really like seeing the real tragedy of what The Circle did, and how even as a young adult, Valentine was a psychotic bastard. And seeing Magnus's faith in shadowhunters rise just a tiny little bit from nothing was great.
The Course of True Love (And First Dates) - 4.5 stars
Malec being adorable. That's literally it. Loved it.
The voicemail of Magnus Bane - 3.5 stars
A bit too on the nose after having JUST read City of Lost Souls, which has to be read in order to understand the gravity of this one. It's not exactly a story, but still interesting although unkind to the heart, which is already hurting.
I always find the stories, where characters we know have a prominent role, are more interesting than the ones where they don't, particularly if it's characters I'm fond of. Generally though, I seemed to like the stories with Sarah Rees Brennan more than the ones with Maureen Johnson.
I've also learned by now that when I begin a collection of short stories set in shadowhunter world, it is simply impossible to really get a feel for it until you're several stories in. That's been my experiene every single time, and it is often much easier to know your own thoughts once everything has been read. This one is probably on the lower side of 4 stars but I don't really want to knock it down to a 3.5. Overall, I really enjoyed it. These novella collections always add so much context, which I love.
I sit here at 3 am trying to gather my thoughts on this. It's been, I think, six years since I read this book. I was honestly unsure what I was going to think of it, especially when I finally remembered what the entire plot was about.
But it was better than I remembered it actually. The absolute grandness of the story is insane considering where we started, and in this one we truly get a sense of just how crazy the villain really is. It's messed up and insane and I honestly love that he's just absolutely batshit crazy because there's just something so fucking unnerving about that.
I think the progression of Magnus and Alec's storyline is both heartbreaking and very interesting to follow, and this book really settles how deep Alec's insecurities lie in him as well as proving how in love with each other they are. I had forgotten the book ended with them like it did.
Before reading I was predicting that Isabelle would again be my favorite of the book, but was pleasantly very surprised that Simon crawled out of the shit hole of the last book and went right up there to the top with her.
The entire book is a battle for Clary and Jace, so the fact that they ended up sitting serenely next to each other in the epilogue was almost ironic, 1) because THE PLOT, and 2) because when have we ever seen a TMI book with Clary and Jace feeling serene at the end of it????
Genuinely could not put the book down after about page 200 which is why I'm here writing this when it's almost 4am. Just loved it. It was addicting, haunting at times, there was so much plot progression, like I just loved it.
I LOVED THIS! Magnus and Alec are just the best people to follow because of how they are such opposites in many ways but so damn good together! The story was a bit slow in the beginning, but kicks off rather well when we get out of Paris. Overall, the story feels smaller than what we're used to seeing from Cassandra Clare, which simultaneously makes it more intimate but also a little less engrossing. Don't get me wrong, I loved it!
There was SO MUCH name dropping and call-backs to other books in this. Like, A LOT. And it becomes especially apparent when you've read all the Shadowhunter books because we meet characters in this that, chronologically in the books that came out before this, you wouldn't know until much later. So it's like a call-back to the future? Idk, it's kind of a mind-cluster if you try to go too deep in to it. But as someone who HAS read all the books, I loved the mentions and call-backs. But I do wonder if the end of this books would ruin a spoiler (albeit not humongous but still pretty big) in a much later (time-wise) book. Idk, it's hard for me to say since I've only ever read these in one kind of way and that is publication order. Anyway, I'm rambling at this point.
I loved it. I love Magnus. I love Aline. I love Helen. I love Raphael. I loved it.
I had forgotten how infuriating this ending was. How I had to go through illegal means to get a hold of CoLS when I first read the series. And then proceeded to not finish CoLS for more than a year after I read like the first chapter.
Anyway, I actually remembered a lot of this book. Like, not everything, but enough for me to be pretty certain of what I was going into. Simon was more annoying than I remembered but I think that has to do with the fact that he continues to just make dumb decisions about girls. Otherwise he's fun as always. His humor is welcome any day of the week.
My love for Isabelle has solidified even more during this book. Like, Isabelle was not someone I focused on much when I first read these books because the boys had my attention. I know better now. Girls are way more awesome. And Isabelle just has my heart in everything she does, she's so awesome I wanna get her name written on my heart, like girl can fucking get it that's for sure.
Jace's self-loathing continues to drag him into stupid situations because he doesn't tell people shit and then he thinks no one notices he's not eating or sleeping and looks like he's on the brink of death, and when someone asks him what's wrong he's like “I'm fine we're fine everything's fine”, BRO. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND CONSIDER THE FACT THAT YOU WERE CONDITIONED TO HATE YOURSELF FROM THE DAY YOU WERE BORN AND REALIZE THAT YOU MIGHT NOT BE FUCKING OKAY AND SHOULD PROBABLY TALK TO SOMEONE. Can't believe it took Clary the entire book to finally be like “hey dude, can you please just like, talk to me” and then when he doesn't, she yells at him, like yes please tell him what a douche he is being.
On the bright side, because Jace spent this entire book avoiding Clary at all times, this is how we finally get a Jace and Simon buddy relationship. For the first time their conversations aren't rooted in who's more jealous of who, which is very nice for a change. And friendly banter is much more fun than jealous banter, and I had forgotten that this was the reason they even started to kind of sort of hang out together (neither will admit but it is true).
The indecisiveness and recklessness of stupid teenagers knocks off a star and leaves it at four, but as always this was a great adventure with great amounts of fun and heart. Always a pleasure to visit these characters, and Isabelle being the only level-headed person ever definitely leaves her as my favorite of the entire book. She takes the cake in this one and I kind of have a feeling she will in the next as well. But we'll see. I remember like next to nothing but the opening chapter of CoLS because I did read that chapter twice before.
This was SO GOOD. It was so good that I legit barely have the words to express it. Like I am in awe. I guess it was like exactly what I was craving to read right now, it fit my mood so fucking perfectly I don't even know what to do.
I love some good ass romance shit and this was some of the best goddamn romance shit I ever read, I was hooked after the first fucking chapter to the point where I literally knew there was no fucking chance I wasn't going to like this book. And I LOVED IT.
And the best part of it is!!!!! That the ending was so fucking perfect for this to not get “boring romantic” as we get to the finish line. This book is set very heavily in the world of politics, but even though politics are very present and influence the decisions of the characters, it is for a good amount still just background noise while we focus on getting the couple together. But then we get to the end and the climax of the political campaign and it is so exciting and scary and wonderful hoping along with these fantastic characters for America to make the better choice. And it's just such a rush again that gives that extra splash to the story of an otherwise great romance on its own. Like I literally don't have anything bad to say about this, it was exactly what I needed right now and I absolutely fucking LOVED IT.
This is my third re-read of the series, so I feel like at this point, I should know when to expect the worm. AND YET, I continue to expect it in the wrong book. Like continuously thinking it would be in the first book. Wasn't. Then thinking it would be in the second. Wasn't. Literally, at this point I'm convinced I only skim books instead of actually reading because my memory just sucks ASSSSSSSS.
Anyway, in regards to the quality of this book, I loved it, obviously. It is soul-crushingly heart-breaking when certain events happen after page 400 but I powered through yet again and here we are.
Immense amounts of love for Sophie, who is just wonderful in all ways, and Gideon too, who kinda just reminds me of a really big Golden Retriever.
Charlotte is just the most wonderful woman ever and I love her and like omg mom i love you??????
Magnus is just so soft in this book????? very unexpected honestly????? like can he not???? soft boy stan in the house right here???
Also, I had completely blocked Woolsey Scott from my memory, what a ride that was (literally).
Will not comment on Will, Jem, and Tessa because IT HURTS.
The squeal that just came out of me. The movement my body just made. Idfk. But that was cute as hell, that was SO CUTE I DON'T EVEN WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY. IT WAS SO HEARTWARMING AND AUDREY WAS GREAT AND THERE WAS A CUTE BOY AND REALLY NICE FAMILY DYNAMICS AND I JUST- THAT WAS SO CUTE OMG I LEGIT SQUEALED WHEN I FINISHED BECAUSE THE HAPPINESS IT GIVES IS SO PURE
I did it. Somehow, I did it. I got through this gigantic monster of a book.
It was such an emotional experience reading this, knowing the story has now ended. The story of an assassin named Celaena Sardothien, which started in one place and ended somewhere none of us expected when we read the first Throne of Glass book, I'm sure. It is a really tough book to read, this one. It's war through and through, and it's hard and awful and emotional and sad and horrifying. It is the kind of book where you can't exactly gather your feelings for it until it's over, until you have debated with yourself if the ending was worth all the horror.
This book is grueling, yet powerful and vital. It is the end of an era - a very long end, but it is the right end.
Dude... oh my god.
I technically started this book in November and read ten pages and put it down. Not because those ten pages bored me or anything. But because this book is so daunting. Going away from well-known lands to new lands, from well-known characters to new - or at least some we haven't seen in a while, from a novella to a nearly 700 paged book, there's nothing about this book that is not daunting. It is the SIXTH installment in a series, that alone is frightening when you know it's not the last book you're reading.
So I finally picked up the book again three or four days ago, I can't remember, and I was scared to begin because it's so long and I knew that I would go straight to Kingdom of Ash afterwards (which I am, most definitely), but I did begin again and look at me now I'm done.
It was a crazy ride. Like there were ships sinking and sailing, birds flying and spiders trapping, demons possessing, trauma healing, like what did I not encounter in this book? Seriously, what.
I was blown away. Forgot how much I love Sarah's writing, it's been years since I read a book from her, the last either being ACOMAF or Empire of Storms, again, I can't remember, but it's so easy! And as you sit there reading the sixth book in a series, it's hard to remember all the details, but this book brought me back to the first three so smoothly in Chaol's flashbacks. So many things I most definitely would have not connected as an overall arc thing if I had not been reminded in this book, and I'm sure I'll be glad to know it for the next one.
Anyway, there's nothing to say without spoiling, so just know that, yes this book is intimdating as hell but that, yes it is also completely and totally worth it. Such character developement. I honestly thought Sarah had left Chaol for the dead in this series, I'm very glad she didn't put him on the bench for the rest of the story and we got this book from it. I think we were all worried he was becoming less than even a side character in this huge story arc, so to see him with so much purpose again was truly wonderful.
Loved it. 10/10. Or, well, you know what I mean.
So fucking adorable, and a really great ending to the trilogy. Still don't really like Margot. Maybe it's because I'm a middle child like Lara Jean, who knows. Margot just annoys me. Peter is just so 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻, you don't really notice the difference between book Peter and movie Peter until you're back in the book universe, but it's there, and book Peter is just so wonderful, and Lara Jean is so wonderful and their love story is the cutest thing in the entire world and I will totally miss them.
Also I ADORE the dynamic Trina brings to the family, she's so wonderful.
HOLY SHIT. BEST BOOK I'VE READ ALL YEAR, HANDS DOWN. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved this book, but looking through my progress comments might help you out in that department. I just- Shit. Wow. I'm so speechless, like I don't have the words, I'm just- I am- this is- wha-
Amazing. Just absolutely amazing. Just so fucking incredibly amazing. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.
And yes, I did read this in one sitting in the middle of the night. I think I started at midnight or 1am and then finished just before 7am so... safe to say, I'm gonna die tomorrow because no sleep. Totally worth it. Wow wow wow.
I would like to thank Kindle and $2.49 for this wonderful holiday experience.
So so so so so so so so good. Like, so good. It's so beyond TMI even though I love TMI. But this is just so good. So so so so good. I cannot stress this enough. It's such a good book, such a fantastic introduction to the characters, the world, the setting. It's just all done so well, I can give nothing but praise to this book, I love it so much.
I forgot how old fashioned Tessa was during almost all of this book, like I was shocked, sometimes she sounded like Jessamine! And oh my god, I love Jessamine so much! It's hard to describe why exactly because most of the time she's such an ass to all of them, but she's good when it matters. She knows when to do shit when it matters and that's what's important about her character. I just- MMGHGMHGFDHMGDM THIS WAS SO GOOOOOOOD i absolutely adored this reread.
This is honestly such a fantastic end to a trilogy. Like it was great even when it was only three books, and then it just got better. It has such great character building in this one, we really start to see our supporting characters shine much brighter. It was already miles better in Ashes, but I loved seeing them all in this book and becoming the characters I actually remember them as from later books. Really just a wonderful conclusion to this storyline.
For some reason, this book has always been the one that I remembered least of. I don't know why, but that was always how it was. I could only remember a character death and the fact that there was a battle. But then when I started this book, it was like everything just rushed in and I found out that I remembered a lot more than I realized. And that was a weird and awesome experience!
This book is incredible, and definitely the best of these first three books (although all three are great). There's so much at stake, and things are settled so well, yet given the right clues to fuel the next three books. I can't wait to get to them, although I think I will read The Infernal Devices after this trilogy, and then pick up the second half after I finish TID. That seems about right. Also I miss Will Herondale! I'll be going into it with so many clues this time. I've reread TID before, but never with these books so fresh in my mind. Can't wait for all that fun stuff.
5 stars
Was confused throughout the beginning and part of the end of this book, yet I can't help but give it five stars because whenever it began to make sense, it left me speechless. So fucking good. Takes a while to get used to the new characters but when you do, it's just amazing. Absolutely loved it. I was literally fooled around fifty million times in this book, like I can't believe it just kept happening and I just kept believing it every single time. Highly recommend this series. If you're in doubt about reading it, just do it, man! Just do it! It will be worth it.
WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL ENDING.
Like, don't get me wrong, this isn't the best book in the series imo. But if you've read any series of books published within like the past eight years or so, then you know damn well that the ending is often a hassle and sometimes disappointing too.
THIS WAS NOT THAT.
It did not beat House of Hades for me, but I think I can honestly say that it's probably only because of the lack of Percy and Annabeth chapters.
Don't get me wrong, Jason and Piper are GREAT characters, BUT their chaptors just aren't as good as any of the other characters. Like don't even get me started on Reyna and Nico who absolutely delivered the best chapters of them all in this book, like they had me hooked from the first word every single time a new chapter with them started. Their plotline was just the greatest, and I really finally started to appreciate Coach's presence during those chapters. And Leo did his part well too, like Leo is just such a good character to come from these books, and everybody knows it. But the absence of Percy and Annabeth chapters, like idk they're just more fun to read from than Jason and Piper.
BUT THE BOOK WAS SUPER DUPER WUPER LUPER GOOD, OKAY, PLEASE GO READ THIS SERIES, IT'S LITERALLY SO GOOD