Review:

This book brings the reader back to Edwardian London and its Shadowhunters. Characters from previous instalments in the Shadowhunter world - The Infernal Devices - whose adventures of love and life we accompanied before, are now respectable adults with their own children. Children that are every bit as adventurous and brave (and a little too fearless for their own good) as them.
For the past 10 years, demons have been keeping away from London. The reason? No one knows. But this has made it so that the newest generation of Shadowhunters have grown up without the constant gruelling battles their parents had to deal with. Lucie and James Herondale grew up in a loving home, enjoying a sense of peace and calm lifestyle that is very uncharacteristic for the typical Shadowhunter. They were trained but rarely ever saw any demons.
When the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come back to London things start to happen. Secrets are unfolded, secrets are created and demons come back. In a most unexpected moment, the demons have started to prey on Shadowhunters all around London. With their parents too involved in politics to be able to be of any use to them Lucie, James and their friends embark on a journey to save London and the world.
Where should I start when talking about this book? It is a difficult thing to have any sort of critical perspective when talking about a series that has accompanied me through more than 10 years. So, please do consider this my bias warning: I have many many feelings associated with many characters in this book and have had them for quite some years now (*caughs* Will Herondale).
Chain of Gold is the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Last Hours trilogy. As it relies very heavily on previous knowledge about the Shadowhunter World I do not advise newcomers to start with this book: you should, at the least, read The Infernal Devices trilogy before embarking on this adventure. It is certainly a book that, having its own characters and plotlines, expounds on previous plot and relies on previous world-building. I gather that a new Shadowhunter reader would feel very confused if starting with this book.
This new London that we find ourselves now is much more modern than that of Will and Tessa's youth. Their children are all grown up and have their own little groups and hobbies, which are both diverse and also relatable to their bringing up (we all know their parents love books). We are also introduced to a vast set of characters, highlighting Cordelia and Alastair Carstairs, Grace Blackthorn, Christopher, Thomas and Anna Lightwood and Matthew Fairchild. The story relies on a very long cast of characters, and it is not my aim here to tell you all about them, however, I really want to talk about a few things that I appreciated.
I will begin with the amazing representation in this book. Edwardian London was not as "white" as people like to imagine it and we must also take into account that Shadowhunters are spread all around the world and are of all sizes, colours, nationalities, cultures and sexualities. Yes, sexuality in Edwardian London was sort of taboo, but that does not imply that people just conformed to the "norm" (I really do not like this word). I found that Chain of Gold is a great representation of the evolving and dynamic world the Shadowhunters interact with. Seeing Anna Lightwood in all her gentleman attire and Cordelia Carstairs being proud of her Persian origins makes my heart flutter. I found two new favourite characters in this universe.
Cassandra Clare has honed her craft of producing period novels with a romantic and, at the same time, ominous ambience. This is a novel that truly showcases how much the Shadowhunter universe has evolved throughout the years. Of course, there are some points that are almost expected at this point, we now Cassandra loves them, but there is no denying the innovation and intricacy that it took to build this new story. I anxiously await the next instalment!