Book Review | Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Title: Lady Midnight

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Dark Artifices #1

Age: Young Adult

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal

Publication Date: March 8, 2016

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Source: eBook

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Play Store | iBooks 

Synopsis: 
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.

My Rating: 

Quote(s) I Like:
"The blond girl -- Emma -- winced, barely perceptibly. Cameron Ashdown might be her boyfriend now, Kit thought, but he wouldn't lay bets on him staying that way." - Kit

"This is about me, not you. I am sick of you. So maybe we could go back to being friends." - Emma

"I wasn't planning on dumping Cameron. We were here, and he called, and his face came up on my phone -- well, actually a llama came up on my phone because I didn't have a picture of him so I just used a llama -- and the llama made me so angry I just couldn't help myself." - Emma

"When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breather and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dream because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don't frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don't want perfect. You want them." - Julian

"Because when someone -- shoots you with an arrow -- your immediate response is not -- thanks for the arrow, I think I'll keep it for a while." - Julian

My Thoughts:
I am so shocked by this book. I remember I started reading it when it first came out and I only to chapter four and stopped reading it. This time reading it a second time all the way through I'm blown away. I enjoyed this book, not as much TMI of course, but it was such a great follow up with the Shadowhunter world. Cassandra Clare's writing is just phenomenal!

I loved the all the characters and I adored that the New York Institute made it's appearance. I enjoyed even more that Jace, Clary and the others had such a great life going for them. I also loved Jem and Tessa -- such a great way of intertwining The Infernal Devices and TMI characters in the new series. Magnus will ALWAYS be a favorite character for me in the Shadowhunter world.

Lady Midnight was pretty awesome. I loved Emma Carstairs. She was witty, sarcastic, bold and just all around she reminded me of Jace in which she didn't care much for the rules. She found a way to find out the truth about her parents whether the Clave approved or not. I loved Julian and how strong he is. I admired all that he took on in various roles, but at the same time I felt bad that he had so much responsibility because he couldn't afford to have fun or make any mistakes.

Mark was amazing. Despite coming back and feeling out of place he finally allowed himself to learn and be with his family in all. I felt bad for everything that went down between him and Kieran. Especially everything that happened at the end with Cristina. I hope he stays strong in the upcoming novels. The Blackthorne children are all so strong. I can't wait to see them grow as Shadowhunters.

Malcolm and Diana both shocked me in different ways. I really want to know more about Diana and what she is hiding. Malcolm just seemed so amazing with kids, but learning about him and what he was doing made me completely angry.

The Clave has always irritated me, especially in TMI, but even more so now. Their laws piss me off and I hope the Blackthorne's and Emma don't get hurt by their dumb laws.

That ending -- OMG -- Annabel wakes up -- wth! I need the second book to find out what happens next. What's Kit going to do now? I didn't expect that about him or his father. This thing with Emma and Julian cannot be over! She better not really develop feelings for Mark either. Ugh, so much -- can I have the sequel, Lord of Shadows, now please?!

Have you read this book?