By Cassandra Clare
This is the first in a brand new series, The Last Hours, from the juggernaut of YA Fantasy: Cassandra Clare. She weaves a wonderful blend of historical fiction and magical fantasy in this promising saga. It is set in the same universe as her classic series, The Mortal Instruments, but about a hundred years earlier, and on the other side of the pond.
It has everything one could want in a good escape: romance at an appropriate #socialdistance for that time period and our current one, love scorned, family rivalries, drunken friends, ascerbic wit, intrigue, and plenty of demon slaying for the greater good. There is also bonds of friendship that are truly worth dying for, women warriors who are equal to their male counterparts in a time when they historically were not, and a woman who is respected and supported by her family for her preference for well-tailored trousers and waistcoats to petticoats. Thus Clare is able to insert some of the ideal in a society that fell fall short of that for women as she weaves this tantalizing tale.
It’s a wonderful romp to escape the mundane and yet stressful times we find ourselves in, with the promise of future volumes to keep us sated.
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Bad-ass, dark-skinned heroine who wields a golden, blessed-by-the-Gods sword
- Misunderstood, brooding ghosts a la Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights
- Weird, plant-demon reminiscent of Little Shop of Horrors, and a Manticore for fans of myth
Cons
- I’ll say it yet again: I. Hate. Cliffhanger. Endings. In. Series. We get it – you want us to come back for more in the next book. Even if you wrap it up nicely, I will. I promise. I have an obvious problem – take my money! Just finish the dang story in the book!
- There are so many names thrown at you in the first few chapters it is impossible to keep up or distinguish characters for a bit.
- Part of the cliffhanger ending seems really obvious and it is frustrating none of the other characters, who are often times very smart and discerning, pick up on it or do anything about it.