Lady Midnight

The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.

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?

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First of all, I was so darn happy to have my hands on a new Cassandra Clare book after waiting for forever. It is so pretty and loveable that I could barely contain my feels and my heart exploded the second I touched it. The cover is already something amazing. I love the creepy setting of Emma floating in the water with her hand reaching for Cortana.

Before reading this, I tried to keep myself from reading too many snippets or the sneak peek chapters that were released. I wanted to know as little as possible about this new series because we became familiar with the characters when City of Heavenly Fire was released. Although I knew most of the characters and gotten to know them even better when I read Tales From Shadowhunter Academy I had the feeling that I learned so much new stuff about them in Lady Midnight.

Lady Midnight is the sequel to The Mortal Instruments. The story picks up 5 years after the Dark War and focuses on Emma, whom we have met in City of Heavenly Fire. Back then we came to learn that she and her best friend Julian Blackthorn were going to be Parabatai and in Lady Midnight they are bonded to each other as brothers in arms. During the Dark War in CoHF, Julian and his siblings lost their father to Sebastian and their oldest siblings Helen and Mark to the distrust of Faeries. It resulted into Julian having to take care of his 2 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers.
Emma, whom he couldn’t be parted with, becomes part of his family as well. This setting makes Julian a very interesting character. He’s complex, he’s got his own demons to deal with and to top it all off, he’s in love with his Parabatai which is strictly forbidden by The Clave (the shadowhunter government) and punishable by banishment.

Emma is the protagonist of the story. Lady Midnight is told by a Third Person Narritive and follows several POVs but the story focuses on her above anyone else.
Burdened by her parents’ death, Emma is set to get her revenge on the one who killed them. She’s convinced that her parents weren’t victims of the Dark War but of something else. Something much more dark. In order to find the culprit, Emma goes deep into Downworld and takes dangerous risks. She’s prepared to do anything to satifsy her vengeful spirit and to stop the nightmares. She even lies to her Parabatai in order to get things done.
Throughout Emma’s journey we find out more and more about her as a character. She’s not as complex as Julian is but the more layers we peel off, the more you come to understand her as a person. She’s badass, fierce and does what she wants but she’s also loyal. Especially to Julian.

Emma’s quest to find her parents’ murderer transforms into a group thing when more bodies turn up dead covered in the same markings the bodies of her parents wore. After two Seelies come to the Institute to call for aid in return for something the Blackthorns want above all else, the family goes against The Clave and its Cold Peace (in which Shadowhunters are forbidden to help Faeries) and Emma’s small scale investigation grows. Emma is no longer alone in this but is suddenly backed by Julian, Tiberius, Livvy, Dru and Mark. Also, Cristina -a Mexican Shadowhunter- who came to the Institute a year ago, is prepared to help Emma get to what she wants.

This book is so packed full with turns and twists that you’re heart will blow to pieces without time enough to heal to get ready for the next explosion. These characters are so damn loveable that they’ll leave you breathless and crying in a corner time and time again. It’s near impossible for me to pick a favorite -which is weird since I always have a fave- because I love them all to death. Even Tavvy, the cutie-pie.
There’s really no room to breathe. I know some people have said that it’s hard to get into but I did not have that problem. I had troubles putting it down. I had to force myself to put it down at times because I didn’t want it to end. I don’t want to have to wait another YEAR for part two but….. I finished Lady Midnight *cries*

Also, this book gives us so much insight on the Parabatai bond. We got a good whiff of it in The Mortal Instruments and dug a little deeper in The Infernal Devices but this.. THIS!!! This is what we’ve all been waiting for ever since they first mentioned Parabatai in the Shadowhunter Books. There is so much to learn about the bond. It’s origin, it’s workings and why they are forbidden to share a romantic bond. There is soooooooo much more to it than meets the eye and I can’t wait to get to the core of it. Especially now, after reading Lady Midnight. It’s pure torture at the moment. So yeah… I need book two.

LIKE REALLY BAD!!

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I give this book 5 stars. It’s truly a masterpiece. I cannot believe how much I’ve missed Cassandra’s writing. I nearly cried when I read the first few chapters, that’s how much I’ve missed it. There’s a reason why she’s my favorite author of all time and this is it. It’s her writing. Her books. Her characters. They’re amazing and I love them all to death.

With love,
Leanne