Review:

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Format (That I Read It):

Book

Challenge Completed:

A book with a beautiful cover

Summary:

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.

Initial Thoughts:

Cassandra Clare is an auto-buy author for me. The Shadowhunter books are one of my favorite series of all time. Once I finished City Heavenly Fire I couldn’t wait to get Lady Midnight. It’s been two years that I’ve waited for this book and I finally got to read it.

Review:

★★★★★
I have a lot of feelings about this novel. I first want to say reading this book was like coming back to your hometown and seeing that things have changed but it’s still the same town you know. This book was different than the other novels in this series but it still had the same feels as the Mortal Instruments. When we were first introduced to these characters in City of Heavenly Fire I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I didn’t know why it was important to have them in that series until now. I really appreciate Cassandra Clare doing that because it allowed Lady Midnight to start straight away with the action. I love this book! It might even be my favorite. I had a lot of expectations for this book but at the same time, I had faith that it would be good. I didn’t expect to whole heartily fall in love with all the characters and their personalities. They were similar to other previous Cassandra Clare characters but they had their own added flair. Overall I thought the elements of the novel were very interesting and refreshing.

↓ MAJOR SPOILERS ↓

Mark Blackthorn came back. He broke my heart. To see how broken by the Faeries was so sad! He actually reminded me of Jamie from Outlander. He turned out to be my favorite character in the story. He was a lot of the comic relief that Cassandra Clare likes to write in (like the fur coat scene).

Art by Cassandra JP

My favorite thing about Cassandra Clare’s writing is that she adds diversity (sexuality, ethnicity). Mark being bisexual makes me really happy because I haven’t read another book about that has bisexuality represented (that isn’t part of the Shadowhunter world). Speaking of Mark, the dynamic between him and his siblings was really strong. Family was a MAJOR part of this novel. Of course, there were romantic storylines with the characters but at the core, the story was about family. It was easy to relate to Julian and his struggle to protect his family I loved that about him. The love stories in this book were crazier than the rest of the series. There are so many possible outcomes that could take place. I am really excited to see how they all play out.

We got to see some of both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. It was really bitter sweet. I loved seeing them but it also made me miss them more. Cassandra Clare is, in my opinion, one of the best at weaving together her series and I’m guessing The Dark Artifices will tie in The Last Hours series. A really cool element Cassandra Clare used was the way she wove one of my favorite works of Edgar Allen Poe; “Annabel Lee”. I noticed it early one with the chapter titles. That was great. Overall it’s was a really amazing read and I already need the next in the series. The ending left my jaw on the floor.