January 13, 2020
When Cordelia Carstairs’s father is arrested in 1903, her mother attempts to salvage the family’s reputation by moving them to London and encouraging 16-year-old Cordelia to find an influential suitor. Cordelia, however, prefers to focus her efforts on helping fellow Shadowhunters James and Lucie Herondale slay the vicious, seemingly unstoppable demons that recently began killing their Nephilim brethren. If, while saving the day, Cordelia can woo James—on whom she’s had a crush since childhood—all the better. Although Cordelia and James have chemistry, and James’s friends and family all adore Cordelia, he is strangely infatuated with Grace Blackthorn, who just arrived in town and whose mother despises the Herondales. Spun off from her Infernal Devices trilogy, book one of Clare’s Last Hours trilogy uses a large cast of deftly drawn characters of varying ethnicities, sexual orientations, and species (vampires, warlocks, etc.) to explore the intricacies of friendship and love. Although setup and backstory mire the tale’s start, Clare delivers a richly imagined fantasy rife with action, intrigue, and smoldering romance. A chilling cliffhanger sets up the sequel. Ages 14–up. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary.