Today I have my last book review Monday post before my exams. For more information as to why I am stopping blogging from April to June, click here. Today I am reviewing the ever so popular Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. This is the first installment in the Dark Artifices series. It was released on March 8th and I finished it a week later. Without further a do, here is my review of Lady Midnight!
Warning! This review contains spoilers, it also contains some spoilers for The Mortal Instrument series and The Infernal Devices series also by Cassandra Clare.
Cover
This cover is so gorgeous! I really hope they release The Dark Artifices in the same cover designs as TID and TMI. I love that the cover doesn't give too much away about the book.
Plot
OMG! This plot, it may have been the best thing I have ever read. Lady Midnight takes place 5 years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire (Book 6 in TMI) but in Los Angeles. It follows Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorns. Emma lost her parents in the Dark War and is trying to solve their murders after the Clave ruled that they were killed by Sebastian. Julian Blackthorn lost his Father, elder brother and sister in Dark War and now has to look after his 5 younger siblings by himself. Emma and Julian became parabati after the Dark War. After a series of murders begin happening across LA, Emma becomes suspicious that it is something to do with her parents murders. When the faeries arrive and ask them to solve the murders, Mark Blackthorn is returned to the Blackthorns. While trying to solve the murders and getting used to having Mark back, Emma and Julian realize they have feelings for each other even though it is against the law. Slowly they begin to unravel the murders, with the help of Christina Rosales (a Mexican Shadowhunter), they realize that the murder is a lot closer to home. Suddenly it dawns on them that the killer is Malcolm Fade, High Warlock of LA. Malcolm has been killing people in an attempt to bring back his long lost love who was killed by the shadowhunters. They battle Malcolm and Malcolm dies. When Emma runs into Jem he informs her that there is a parabati curse. If parabati fall in love they become so powerful they kill all those around them. Emma decides to break things of with Julian and to make things worse, she asks Mark to pretend to be her Boyfriend. Mark asks her "Why lie?"
Characters
The first character I want to talk about is Emma Carstairs. I adore Emma. Cassandra Clare has created another fierce and independent women to add to her list of brilliant females. Emma is like Clary and Tessa but at the same time she's unique. She's very loyal to the Blackthorn family and cares for those around her. You sense a very close bond between Emma and Julian, that isn't romantic or a friendship.You can tell they belong together. She's also very determined and won't let anything get in her way. You can tell that her parents deaths have had huge impact on her and also that the events of the Dark War have affected her. She has become one of my favourite characters that Cassandra Clare has created.
The next character I want to talk about is Julian Blackthorn. I may be in love with Jules. He's stepped up to the job of looking after his siblings and never complains. You can tell that he has had to grow up quite quickly. He's very mature for his age. He's also very caring, he extends his love to everyone around him. You can tell he has feelings for Emma quite early on and that he has had to hide his feelings. He's definitely like Will, in that he has had something massive happen to him which has made him quite secretive. It is hinted that he has a secret that even Emma doesn't know. He is definitely a father figure to his siblings. The ending of this book made me feel so bad for Julian, and I just wanted to give him a huge hug.
Finally I want to talk about Mark Blackthorn, who I also love. Mark is definitely the comedic character in Lady Midnight, this is mainly because he spent so long with the Wild Hunt. He just makes me laugh so much. He's like a child in an adults body. You can tell he cares for his family but sometimes his anger gets the better of him. Even though his time with the Wild Hunt was not a happy one, he managed to find love in the form of Keiran.
Opinions
It is safe to say that I love this book, I actually posted a mini review of my Goodreads because I loved it that much. It was so nice having another insight to the shadowhunter world and meeting new characters. They were all so lovable and after a few chapters it felt as though you knew them as well as any other character. The plot was just so good that it is impossible to put into words. It had me all over the place and my emotions were ruined after reading this book. I cannot wait for the next book and I plan on reading TID, TMI and then Lady Midnight after my exams. It is impossible to rate this book as it is just so good, you have to read it.
So that was my review of Lady Midnight, let me know if you have read this. This is my final post before my exams and my once a month posts will start in April. They will be posted on April 29th, May 27th and June 24th. My twitter and Instagram are @itscarenzab and my business email is itscarenzab@gmail.com.
Carenza x
