The third and final book in the Last Hours trilogy, released just last January (2024). While I enjoyed both books 1 and 2, I’m a little daunted by the thickness of this book (my copy has over 700 pages!).

Read: Jan 7 – ---, 2024

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Mystery
Audience: Young Adult
Book contains: monsters & demons, violence, murder, death, alcoholism, implied sexual content, mild gore

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

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The Closing of a Romantic Masterpiece

After a terrible misunderstanding, Cordelia, believing that James is still devotedly in love with Grace, flees to Paris with Matthew. James only just missed his chance to explain, and must set aside his personal troubles in order to find his sister Lucie, before she makes a terrible mistake.

The longest book by far; I liked the story but felt like the author took too long detailing everything. Some people like if an author builds up the world, but as with the previous two books, there were just so many moving parts, and I’m the type of reader who prefers fast-paced adventures.

This book does not stray from the others in terms of structure or POV. It is told in third person with a focus character. The book is split into chapters, which always have an epigraph (often an excerpt of poetry) as well as interchapter sections which tend to jump back in time to explain further backstory or details the reader must be privy to for a deeper understanding.

I made use of my delightful new reading chair to read this book, so it took quite a while as I often get distracted as my mind wanders. Still, I was determined to get through this book.

I love Cordelia as a character, and Will isn’t bad either, but I tend to dislike when characters are wracked with misplaced guilt and self-loathing. It’s tedious. This is because I’m a very logical person, so I’ll look through a problem’s points rather than be overcome with illogical conclusions. So many of the problems that the characters are going through could be solved if they just talked to each other (though hindsight is 20/20, so I can’t really judge). Nonetheless, I’m aggrieved.

Most of the relationships throughout the series so far have been tragic: unrequited love, friends who won’t accept help, etc. In this book, some things were a bit different, to my delight. As the final book in the trilogy, there’s always hope for a happy (enough) ending, with most things working out in the end. Not everything is solved, but the better part of the characters’ problems are resolved, for better or for worse.

Clare’s writing style continues to impress me. I want to be a writer like her, being able to weave in so many literary references and make it look easy. I love the flow and detail she adds to her stories. Unlike in the first book, the dialogue no longer feels cringy or anachronistic for a group of teens in 1903; it’s witty and well done.

I’ve mentioned this before, so I must sound like a broken record, but given the sheer number of side plots and the attention to detail, this is not a book for readers who prefer fast-paced books. It’s a hefty novel. If you don’t like taking time to explore every aspect of a world, this book is probably not for you.

A wonderful ending for this latest trilogy by Cassandra Clare! Highly recommended for fantasy lovers—especially those who enjoy intricately woven plots and immersive worldbuilding.

Related Reviews:

The Last Hours Book 1: Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
The Last Hours Book 2: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
The Last Hours Book 3: Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare
The Infernal Devices Book 1: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
The Mortal Instruments Book 1: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Dark Artifices Book 1: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
*The Other Side of Daylight by Nicole Chartier*