Lady Midnight (Cassandra Clare)

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? 

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

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First things first, I read this book as a buddy read with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Kat @Life and Other Disasters (click in their names to go to their reviews). It was the first time that we buddy read a book, the three of us, though I buddy read all the time with Cátia, and I had a few already with Kat. It was fun!!! 😀 But hey, we always have fun talking to each other. It took us a long time to finish the book, but this is a monster and coordinating 3 different reading schedules wasn’t easy.

Kat gave us Reasons Why She Enjoyed Lady Midnight – Why Lady Midnight Shattered My Heart!, and Cátia went for 10 Reasons Why Lady Midnight is Freaking Amazing. I will try to not be repetitive, because I want our reviews to complement each other.

So, I will start by saying that I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! Loved it. Despite being in the same amazing Shadowhunters’ Universe, it does feel totally different, and I absolutely loved that. I was a bit worried about this, because a 5 year gap is not that big, but with a totally different setting and family dynamics, The Dark Artifices separates itself super nicely from The Mortal Instruments.

Little things like the fact that Emma and Julian drive, she runs outside, the use of technology, the institute feels like an actual home… PERFECT! And all the pop culture references?! AMAZING!

The central group of characters is huge and diverse and it’s brilliant! First of all, let me say how happy I am that Emma and Jules are both 17 – in the now, because that makes them the most adult couple of protagonists so far (because Clary was 15 when TMI starts… too young!). Despite being young, they are adults, and that opens the door to a lot of things, and I think that is fantastic.

I loved all the main characters. The Blackthorne have already become my favorite set of siblings, and love them all. I think it’s amazing that Cassandra Clare brought diversity into this book, in several forms: we have Cristina and Perfect Diego for one hand, Mark Blackthorn for another, and then there’s Ty. OMG TY!!! Ty is perfect, and this book has the most amazing message in regards to autism. It’s fantastic the way Julian shows how nothing is wrong with his little brother, and gives him time and space to process things his way. *well done Cassie*

Also worth noting is the complexity of each character, even little Tavvy. The more the book advances, the more we know, and still, it is not enough. Secrets still exist, things will collapse, people are broken, and I need more.

I thought the conflict and the “bad guy” and its motivations were pretty well done, how everything was woven together throughout the book. I’m curious to see where it will go on the next book, and how the other 2 elements of the story will intertwine with this.

Lastly, this book broke my heart. I love Julian and I love Emma, and I’m not seeing a way out of their situation, and that is heart-breaking. I was glad that the parabatai thing was explained, I was not happy about it though…

It was awesome to see the characters from the previous two series make some cameos – I love older Jace, I hadn’t even realized how much I had missed him! And also… JESSA!!!! ❤

This is so far my favorite book in the Shadowhunters‘ Universe. Julian as dethroned Jem as my favorite guy. And Emma is my favorite leading lady… 😉