My letter “C” pick for my A to Z book list was the much-anticipated finale to Cassandra Clare’s Last Hours trilogy, Chain of Thorns. Set in the Shadowhunter universe, it picks up from where book two left off, and we follow James and Lucy Herondale (children of Will and Tessa from the Clockwork trilogy), Anna and Christopher Lightwood (Gabriel and Cecily’s children), Thomas Fairchild (Gideon and Sophie’s child), and Matthew Fairchild (Henry and Charlotte’s child), all now in their late teens and early twenties, collectively known as the bad of Merry Thieves – mostly for their mischievous antics. Add into the equation one Cordelia Carstairs (around whom the book revolves), her prig of a brother, a resurrected ghost, Brother Zachariah (a.k.a. Jem Carstairs) two greater demons at war, and an inquisitor who’s out to discredit those troublesome Herondales and Lightwoods, and you’ve got a non-stop adventure sprinkled with humor, heated scenes, and a few sob-inducing gut punches along the way.

I’m not going to go into too many detail here, as they would be spoilers for the earlier books in the series, but suffice it to say that Cassandra Clare remains a literary goddess. She’s created a universe that’s rich and diverse with an adventure around every corner. I am in awe of the seamless way she drops back 100 years to weave us a new tale (without any continuity breaches, I might add), then springs forward with something entirely different in that same universe, each time introducing us to vivid and compelling new characters and richly painted details of Shadowhunter lore. Her books remain favorite re-reads, and this one will add to that list. Five stars.