The only good thing about this bool is the LGBTQ+ representation. I was send a sample of this book to review. The book contains Cassandra Clare’s usual brilliant writing but I will not be buying the full book. I get world and story building but this book moved at a glacial pace. The world building was confusing as well so it’s not clear and there is a lot of place names thrown about with no clear way in which they sit geographically.
The story direction is unclear as well, I have no idea what the ‘big issue’ is going to be, is it Connors debts, the Ashkar? Is Lin going to be the goddess reborn? The switching between first and last names for the secondary characters is unneeded and confusing. The only character that interested me and I wish the book had focused more on him is the Ragpicker king. The main character have good background stories but other than that I found it boring and hard to read as a book directed at adults. There needs to be more fast paced action and an actual storyline to hold interest. I will not be buying the full book.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for granting me an arc.

This is the new novel by Cassandra Clare and I was privileged to be able to read the first 277 pages.

I read the sample in one day and will definitely be buying the book once it comes out to find out what happens with Kel, Conor and Lin.

Note: I received an e-arc of a sample of Sword Catcher in exchange for an honest review.

I love Cassandra Clare and have read 99% of her books. Sword Catcher unfortunately fell a bit flat for me - I just expected more from her. I started reading the first few pages and I could not get as immersed into it as I usually do with her books - like The Mortal Instruments series or the City of Bones series. The writing is as always, great, the premise interesting, but the way the story weaved just was not fantastic. I would like to try and read it again at some point to see if I have a change of view, but at this stage I don't LOVE this book. It's just ok!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for providing me with the digital sampler for this book!

It’s excited and somewhat daunting to see Cassandra Clare dip her toes into the non-shadowhunters waters, the whole time you’re curious as to how she is going to tackle this story, will it feel original and refreshing or just a similar kind of story, told differently?

‘When a prince turns ten years old, he is given a sort of- bodyguard. Királar, they call him. Sword Catcher’

This book is a great foray into the world of adult fantasy. It’s rich in description and character, which is something Clare is known for, and she doesn’t disappoint here. You can see yourself walking the streets of Castellane, smelling the food and spices, gazing at all of the fabrics and people that congregate in the harbour city. It’s fantastical and whimsy and everything that Clare excels at.

My one qualm would be the amount of information that is dumped on the reader pretty immediately, it does feel as though I needed to have read a brief history on Castellane and the kingdom and it’s families. This is recovered by having intriguing characters that make you want to know them more, so you are draw into the plot and the history and the people the more that you read and you soon find yourself catching up. It would probably benefit from a re-read once you understand who is who and what they do.

It will be incredibly intriguing to see where Clare takes this story, it’s so vastly different from the Shadowhunters universe and it’s excited to see her flex her writing skills and delivery something that is entertaining, enchanting and enriching. I’m excited for the other instalments in the series and hopefully people can see past the Shadowhunters and see Clare’s skill and fantasy storytelling.

This was a sample of the book. I enjoyed Cassandra Clare’s writing style (always have) but this to me in this sample did not have a lot of action going on? I don’t know if it progresses as the book goes on but this part of the book felt based more on politics and getting to know characters from different walks of life and how taking different paths could change their life (literally).

It’s quite a different type of world compared to the shadow hunter series which I did enjoy diving into a new world. I just hope there’s a bit more action further along in the book.

I absolutely loved Cassandra Clare’s shadow hunters series so was super excited to try this sampler! I need the rest of this book now please :) what a great start.

Cassandra Clare’s writing is fenomenal, she truly has a gift with words! This first eleven chapters are filled with world build up and character development to let the reader be immersed into this new high fantasy where we don’t know anything about! The chapters felt a little bit long, but there were moments where the narrative would grab all your attention and you would start plotting and imagining what ifs and create theories that you must see through!

I must confess, Prince Conor is possibly the most curious character for me; I feel that there’s so much potential coming out of him and I do want to read more of him! Kel is very loyal to the royals (in specific to Conor) so I think there’s also room for a very interesting development if the reality is not exactly what it seems! Lin has only one goal and althrought a little quiet to the story so far, I think she does have the opportunity to shake things up!

I am starting to get a handle of the world, the background history of it and the city dynamic itself and I do want to keep reading after finishing the sample! My rating is for the sample only and does not qualify to the rest of the book as I’ve not read it all!

Keep an eye out on my bookstagram (@maria_bookshelf) to check my full review after the release!

Having read the sampler eagerly I cannot wait to read the full version when it is published! A fabulous start to this new series by the brilliant Cassandra Clare. Shadowhunters fans will not be disappointed with this new magical tale set in a world inspired by the cultures of our own. There's a flavour of the Prince and the Pauper in the central relationship of Connor the Prince and Kel his double and bodyguard and a slight hint of Cinderella in the odd relationship with Lin, the outcast healer who becomes drawn into palace secrets. There's so much to love and explore in this new series and rich cast of new characters. I can't wait to read the rest of the story and more!

AHHH! I cant wait to read the whole this book, this sample was such a tease. October can’t come quick enough!

I didn't realise this was a sampler until I finished it and thought "that's it? what a terrible ending."

But then I came and read reviews and saw people mention sampler (I should read the descriptions more carefully!) and okay, I understand - my bad!

It's quite difficult to review a sampler because I felt like the story wasn't really getting going on. It always felt like it was on the edge of breaking out into something amazing but never quite got there. I now understand why!

If I read this as a whole, though, and it continued with the same level of quality, then this would be a 4 or 5 star read. Really enjoyed what I've read so far but hope the story picks up the pace a little - though the time dedicated to world building is well-balanced, to be fair!

Takes 300 pages to really get going (it’s 600 pages long) but those final 300 pages are epic and really great and I read them all in 4 hours today. The first half of the book is slow as hell, she does a lot of world building and name dropping and sets things up really slowly but I think as it’s going to be a series it’s not the worst thing.

The main character Kel is cool, the other main character Lin is meh and sadly I only really cared about her when she started getting ✨feelings✨ for the guy she hates. But Kel is great and made me laugh quite a few times. It’s a nice easy read with lots of Big Tropes if that’s your thing (enemies to lovers, found family, chosen one etc) but yeah I enjoyed it and will read the rest of the series which I didn’t think I would do at the start of the book. So yay!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this sampler in exchange for an honest review.

Even though it was only a sampler I could read I was drawn into this new world created by Cassandra Clare. A small part of me still expected Magnus Bane to turn up and produce some kind of multiverse plot as I am not willing to let go of my love of the Shadowhunter series. However it is refreshing to get something new and to see what other magic and fantasy Cassie can bring us in the future!

I'm looking forward to getting the whole book as I have it pre-ordered for what feels like a lifetime, especially now I have had this little sampler I'm excited about how the rest of the story unfolds.

This was such a good read however, it reminded me a lot of other fantasy novels out there. However, the characters were captivating and really interesting to read!

I am so excited for this book to come out!

Whilst it was tricky getting used to the new fantasy terms, I was able to pick it up quickly and get completely immersed in the new world Clare has created.

This is going to be massive.

Firstly I would like to say thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with this advanced read.

This was a really good step into adult fantasy for Cassandra Clare. She did a beautiful job of building the world of Castllane in detail, allowing the reader to envision the world in vibrant manner.

The story follows Kel, who at the age of 10 is taken from an orphanage and given the chance to be the Sword Catcher for the heir to the throne, Prince Conor. Whilst they become as close as brothers Kel is always aware that his role is to give his life for the Prince.

We also follow Lin, a physician, who is Ashkar, an ostracised race, the only ones left with magic.

The story brings Kel and Lin together. With vigilante and their groups, political drama and forbidden love I feel this was a good introduction to the world and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

I didn't expect to receive such a lengthy sampler, thank you! It's so weird to read something not Shadowhunters from Cassandra and I very much look forward to reading the rest when the time comes!

*Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an Earc in exchange for an honest review.*

OK so Cassandra Clare is one of my absolute favourite authors of all time so I was mega excited when I saw I could acces the EARC and let me tell you Cassie DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

✧ Plot ✧
We start off slightly typical fantasy. It's your usual fantasy world, although Clare's is a diverse melting city state where all nationalities meet- think New York, but with a tad more antisemitism (although actually... nevermind).
There's the classic fantasy oppressed minority- except Clare has based hers of the historical oppression of Jews. She's clearly done her research (I know Cassandra Clare is Jewish however she has described herself as not practising before hence this comment don't come at me). The Ashkar faith is clearly based off Judaism, although changed slightly for instance having a female God and different worship rituals. To me, though, there was clear representation down from mentioning our sages, historical figures, and names (shout out to Judah Macabi and Ibn Sena). I absolutely adored this- many of you will know how much I love seeing my culture and traditions in fantasy literature as Jewish people are so often unrepresented. It made me really happy.
On the other hand, I can't say the rest of the world was all too fresh and the world building really really confused me for a while, it was a lot of info to take in in one go.
Other than that I found it extremely fast paced and addictive to read, I completely flew through the excerpt!


✧ Characters ✧
Perfect. Nothing more to be said.

✧ Thoughts ✧
I read a roughly 200 page extract. I believe the finished work will be 500+ pages and it better be because I'm absolutely furious that the publisher cut it off there because everything started happening and the characters all met and I was fully in love with them all and then BAM. End of book. I feel angry, annoyed but actually impressed at the marketing team because there's no way I'm not going to buy this when it's released.

It wouldn't be a Cassandra Clare book without queer rep and honestly the casual nature of it made me really happy. In Castellane sexuality is no issue for anyone and Clare actively built that into her worldbuilding which, I think, was brilliant and well written.

It's not my favourite Cassie Clare book yet- but by the end of the series it will certainly rank highly. It's very different from the Shadowhunters novels, not in a bad way but not in a great way either. Clare is getting to grips with a new audience (this was more adult) and a new writing style and it does show in places. The two series are very different and I think comparing them is useless.

I really, really enjoyed reading Sword Catcher and I can't wait to read the full book!

Even though this was just a sampler, i'm super excited to get into the full book! Cassandra Clare knows how to write!!!

I would read anything this woman put out. Just inject it into my veins. Beautifully written, I need the next part of the story immediately. My special edition has been preordered.

I've been a fan of CC since my teen years so I'm so thrilled about this new release
The Sampler just proved to me how much of a great writer she is, I've just preordered the whole book ready for release date!
Thankyou for the Sampler ARC