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vishaka's review against another edition
4.0
i was so bored for most of the book and then it became interesting and i love my tmi gang + grandmother maryse moments and that epilogue tho damn
rheasoni's review against another edition
3.0
I gave this book 3 stars on goodreads but my actually rating is 2.5
As much as I enjoy Cassandra Clare’s books, and as much as I love these characters, this particular story wasn’t as gripping until the ending... I had the same opinion about the first book so I fully expect the next few to be the same.
Overall, I was happy to catch up with these characters, and meet the new ones, and I can’t wait to read their next adventures
As much as I enjoy Cassandra Clare’s books, and as much as I love these characters, this particular story wasn’t as gripping until the ending... I had the same opinion about the first book so I fully expect the next few to be the same.
Overall, I was happy to catch up with these characters, and meet the new ones, and I can’t wait to read their next adventures
mialouise22's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
blurrypetals's review against another edition
5.0
And so The Eldest Curses continues to feel like the strangest auxiliary material in The Shadowhunter Chronicles!
I felt the same way about this as I did with The Red Scrolls of Magic, which is to say that it was fun, I had no issue with it, but it definitely never felt like this big, necessary thing. I knew Magnus would get out of this fine because he's in The Dark Artifices, and so is Alec, so is Max, and so is their other son, Rafael. Any tension that could have been felt for me was cut short by the fact that their whole family makes it fine to the Bane-Lightwood wedding at the end of Queen of Air and Darkness, so I was never worried for even a second about any of our main characters, even though Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu tried valiantly to get me there.
Unlike its brethren in the rest of the Chronicles, I just don't have a ton to say about this one. It was really fun, and it was fantastic to catch up with the whole gang, especially Jace in his post-Heavenly Fire puppydog stage and seeing how the end of Shadowhunter Academy affected Simon between then and when we see him again in Lady Midnight, but because this story is about Alec and Magnus, the characters I've been waiting to hear from don't get so much page time, which is fine, as Alec and Magnus are fantastic, entertaining characters, but I would always love to have more Simon Lovelace and Jace Herondale in my life.
I will admit, I am genuinely excited for The Black Volume of the Dead in a way I was not particularly excited for this book, but I do think much of that is to do with the fact that that book will take place after the end of Queen of Air and Darkness and whatever the first book of The Wicked Powers ends up being, so I'm really looking forward to the future of The Shadowhunter Chronicles, as always.
I felt the same way about this as I did with The Red Scrolls of Magic, which is to say that it was fun, I had no issue with it, but it definitely never felt like this big, necessary thing. I knew Magnus would get out of this fine because he's in The Dark Artifices, and so is Alec, so is Max, and so is their other son, Rafael. Any tension that could have been felt for me was cut short by the fact that their whole family makes it fine to the Bane-Lightwood wedding at the end of Queen of Air and Darkness, so I was never worried for even a second about any of our main characters, even though Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu tried valiantly to get me there.
Unlike its brethren in the rest of the Chronicles, I just don't have a ton to say about this one. It was really fun, and it was fantastic to catch up with the whole gang, especially Jace in his post-Heavenly Fire puppydog stage and seeing how the end of Shadowhunter Academy affected Simon between then and when we see him again in Lady Midnight, but because this story is about Alec and Magnus, the characters I've been waiting to hear from don't get so much page time, which is fine, as Alec and Magnus are fantastic, entertaining characters, but I would always love to have more Simon Lovelace and Jace Herondale in my life.
I will admit, I am genuinely excited for The Black Volume of the Dead in a way I was not particularly excited for this book, but I do think much of that is to do with the fact that that book will take place after the end of Queen of Air and Darkness and whatever the first book of The Wicked Powers ends up being, so I'm really looking forward to the future of The Shadowhunter Chronicles, as always.
cheryllee314's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hsecen's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't my favorite installment in the Shadowhunter world. I'll start by saying I love seeing more of Magnus and Alec because they're adorable together. I did enjoy watching them strengthen their relationship through the trials they went through in this book, so I can appreciate the story for that.
However the plot just didn't really hold my attention, and I found myself forcing myself to keep reading instead of moving on to something more compelling. Because each book in the series takes place on it's own, there's quite a bit of background that is revealed in this book and sometimes it just felt like too much of an info dump for my tastes. Also I felt like there was a lot of description and less of the plot moving forward.
The other thing that throws me off with this series is the humor. Don"t get me wrong, if this was a totally standalone series, I would totally love all the humor and wit, it's right up my alley and it did make me laugh quite a bit. But when you consider that this series still ties in with the others the vibe didn't quite mesh. The first series were too serious for this book to be so silly sometimes. We've met several princes of hell at this point and the one introduced in this book did not seem the least bit terrifying because there were too many jokes for me to really take him seriously.
I did like being able to also see Clary and Jace and Simon and Isabelle and how they're all getting along after the events of the last several books. And it was truly so great to see so much of Alec and Magnus - Alec especially for me. He has grown so much as a character since we were first introduced to him and I love to see it.
The epilogue was intriguing to me and I'm interested to see how the last book in the series is going to play out and how it will tie in to future books so I'm excited for that bit.
However the plot just didn't really hold my attention, and I found myself forcing myself to keep reading instead of moving on to something more compelling. Because each book in the series takes place on it's own, there's quite a bit of background that is revealed in this book and sometimes it just felt like too much of an info dump for my tastes. Also I felt like there was a lot of description and less of the plot moving forward.
The other thing that throws me off with this series is the humor. Don"t get me wrong, if this was a totally standalone series, I would totally love all the humor and wit, it's right up my alley and it did make me laugh quite a bit. But when you consider that this series still ties in with the others the vibe didn't quite mesh. The first series were too serious for this book to be so silly sometimes. We've met several princes of hell at this point and the one introduced in this book did not seem the least bit terrifying because there were too many jokes for me to really take him seriously.
I did like being able to also see Clary and Jace and Simon and Isabelle and how they're all getting along after the events of the last several books. And it was truly so great to see so much of Alec and Magnus - Alec especially for me. He has grown so much as a character since we were first introduced to him and I love to see it.
The epilogue was intriguing to me and I'm interested to see how the last book in the series is going to play out and how it will tie in to future books so I'm excited for that bit.
lou_b03's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
shhhleebag's review
3.5
I love Magnus and Alec too much to rate this badly, but it really was just mehhh.
kiki6k's review against another edition
4.0
While I adore Malec, these two books didn't quite deliver what I craved. This one was specifically advertised as a glimpse into their adult lives, but they leaned more heavily on action than the everyday couple moments I was hoping for. I yearned to see how they tackle challenges together, navigate parenthood with Max, and experience the sweetness of their established relationship. The tone felt even more YA than the recent Shadowhunter books.