Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices) by Cassandra Clare (Epub)

Description

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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⭐ I read all three books in this series so far, and I enjoy the characters, the worlds built, and the interesting plot. I like the author, and especially enjoyed her previous writing. However, I was troubled by the idea that children would be reading this series, because it felt like a middle grades fantasy fiction meets harlequin romance book. And it was just too much. I want to make a distinction here between sexuality and sexual acts.Sexuality- I actually really appreciated that so many characters had different sexual identities and how much that was accepted by their peers. One of the major sets of characters (Warlock Magnus Bane and Shadowhunter Alec Lightwood) are a gay couple who adopt two children, and wind up getting married on the beach in this beautiful ceremony with all of their friends and close family. The children’s tutor Diana Wrayburn is a transgender shadowhunter. She is an exceptional adult in the series who ultimately finds true love and deep acceptance. I think these examples of love and acceptance are beautiful and powerfully important in children’s literature today.Sexual Acts- I felt like about 25% of the three books in this series were “making out.” I’m an adult and a mother of three, and I got to the point that I just had to skip it because it was so distracting from the actual plot in the books. To me, it felt like when you’re watching an interesting show on Netflix, and suddenly people are having sex. Not implied sex. The interesting show you were watching is suddenly porn. That is these books. In book one, the two main characters lose their virginity to each other in great detail on the beach. And they make out in detail, a lot. Two kids are about to have sex, and decide heavy petting would work out better – enter a “how to” manual for kids. Then one girl and two boys decide they are all in love with each other. After fantasizing about it for a long time, the three of them have a threesome, and then decide to build a life together all three of them.All of this is totally justified by spells and undying love, and of course there are no parents or intact families. I would not let my kids read these books because I think they cheapen love and sex. I also think that the pages and pages of sexual acts diminish what is otherwise a really interesting storyline.

⭐ I do not discuss any plot points in my review, so you will not be spoiled.While the Dark Artifices may not be my favourite Shadowhunter series, I believe it is the most well written thus far. It is difficult to accurately judge, as this is only the first book in a trilogy but the more that Cassandra Clare writes – the better a writer she becomes. Her books have always been fantastic but Lady Midnight just felt like another step up. Cassie has clearly grown as a writer and storyteller over the years, which gives me so much hope for all her future Shadowhunter novels.While it is possible to come into the Shadowhunter Chronicles with Lady Midnight as your first book, I would not suggest it. The Mortal Instruments is fantastic for that, as we follow Clary a girl who discovers that there is more to the world than the mundane life she thought she knew. The world building in that first series really lays the groundwork for Cassie’s entire Shadow World. Even in the Infernal Devices, we mainly experience the Shadow World through the eyes of Tessa who has also not grown up with the knowledge of who she is. That is the first aspect that makes Lady Midnight so different from the previous two series – our two main characters Emma and Julian have grown up as Shadowhunters.I felt that there was less world-building overall for the Shadow World, but that’s not to say that the world building in this novel wasn’t fantastic as can be expected from Cassandra Clare. The politics of the Clave and the Downworld, the role of the Shadowhunter and the world that they live in have been brilliantly described over the course of the novels that Cassie has written. It is for this reason that I feel that while it is not necessary to read the Infernal Devices or the Mortal Instruments before reading the Dark Artifices, I would highly recommend it. You won’t necessarily understand the history or the events that led up to Lady Midnight as well as you could. There are also spoilers from the previous series and character cameos that you won’t appreciate as much unless you read the previous series.The world building the Los Angeles itself and the new aspects that Cassie writes about the Shadow World, like the Shadow Market, are absolutely fantastic in this book. With each book she writes in the Shadowhunter World, she continues to build and develop this immersive experience that is like no other. Her words are vividly descriptive and paint the image of the world in your mind. It is what makes her such an incredible writer and one of the reasons that I love her books so much.Lady Midnight takes place in Los Angeles, the Institute that has been the home of the Blackthorn children for their whole lives. Our main characters, Emma and Julian are parabatai which makes for a nice change to the point of view that we have experienced before. You learn a lot more about the parabatai bond and its potential in this book.With Helen exiled to Wrangel Island and Mark taken by the Hunt, Julian has had to raise his brothers and sisters for the last five years. This forced him to grow up a lot faster than he would have otherwise and changed him in various ways. He loves his family more than anything else in the world and would do anything for them, even if it meant crossing a line. That ruthless heart, willingness to betray, and capacity to lie was learned after the Dark War. Those were not traits that he had prior but were forced upon him when everything changed and the Clave tore his family apart.Emma has made it her life’s mission to discover who killed her parents at the end of the Dark War and why. That mystery has defined her every day, pushing her to train for hours at a time, run along the beach to get faster and turn her into an incredible Shadowhunter. She is also very sassy, quippy in conversations and the midst of a battle, which reminds me a lot of Jace.The other characters we spend time with throughout the book are Julian’s siblings: Ty, Livvy, Dru, and Tavvy; Cristina; Diana and Malcolm. Diana has a lot of secrets, which I’m sure we’ll discover over time, but she’s the character we end up knowing the least about. Beyond being their tutor, not wanting to take over the Institute and supposedly taking her travel year in Thailand, I can’t tell you anything about her.It was nice to see the Blackthorn children grow and develop from how we knew them in the Mortal Instruments to this series. Their familial relationship and interactions were authentic and heartwarming. You fall in love with them, just like you do with Cassie’s other characters and understand Julian’s plight.Cristina is a Shadowhunter from the Mexico City Institute who decided to spend her travel year in Los Angeles. It was nice to get to know her because we don’t always get to experience or hear from Shadowhunters from other Institutes. I really enjoyed her addition to the Blackthorn family (plus one) and the dimension she added. Plus, her backstory created a connection to the Scholomance and the Centurions which are going to add even more world building to the Shadow World we know – and I can’t wait to see more of it.Malcolm is the High Warlock of Los Angeles and although his personality is very different, you immediately like him. He’s more playful and childlike at times than Magnus but seems to really care for the family. After falling in love with Magnus in the Mortal Instruments, and Catarina Loss to a lesser degree in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, I wanted Malcolm to be the next warlock character I loved.There is so much betrayal in this book that I could never anticipate what was going to happen next. It doesn’t just come from those you would consider “bad guys” but Shadowhunters, crooks and those with broken hearts alike. Cassandra Clare is the Queen of plot twists, fantastic character development and astounding, emotional rollercoasters in her books – and this was no exception.Lady Midnight was a fantastic read that made me fall in love with the Shadowhunter World all over again or more than I was before? It’s unclear. Either way, I adore this book and I actually think that I enjoyed it more the second time through. I would also highly recommend a re-read prior to Lord of Shadows because the novel is so packed full of incredible character development, world building and plot that you will appreciate its sequel more if the story is still fresh in your mind.

⭐ In the past, with the other series books, I was kind of torn between Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices. I loved the action and pace in the Mortal Instruments series. Infernal Devices did not have as much action, but for me, I thought the love story was better. This new series has the best of both worlds: both the great action and pace, and a really good “forbidden love” story, which may just be the best kind. I literally could not put this book down.We are introduced to a new location and a delightful and compelling set of characters, with a very modest sprinkling of favorite characters from some of her other books. I was completely captivated by Emma’s strong female character lead and Julian was a wonderful intelligent, gentle character with vulnerability, who was also very strong, determined, and a little ruthless when anyone tried to hurt anyone in his family or someone he loves. There were a lot of interesting characters: Christine, “Perfect Diego,” Mark with his free spirit, and Ty, to name a few.As with Mortal Instruments, there was a dangerous mystery or quest the Shadowhunters had to complete to save the day, but the overwhelming theme of this book was love and the ties of family, and it was very well done. The end of the book really sets things up for the continuation of the series, and it’s going to be so hard to wait until that next book is out!!!

⭐ Lady Midnight. You know, I like the shadow hunters universe, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say that it is getting OLD. I mean, the shadow hunters was a genius idea on Cassie Clare’s part, and I’m sure she can create another world, another universe, if she just tried. Eventually, the shadow hunters is going to get too boring. I already feel like I know everything, and that everything that can happen in the universe HAS happened. I’ll finish this series, but after that I think I’m done. Cassandra Clare is a wonderful author and I want her to create something NEW! The book Lady midnight itself is very long. I just feel like it could’ve been shorter because it got tedious at times. On top of that, when I was carrying it around and reading it in school, it was sooo heavy. It could’ve been shorter. Also, the characters are just Jace and Clary, but the genders are switched. I mean, Julian is literally an ARTIST! He is literally the male version of Clary, he could’ve at least had a skill that was original. Emma is a good character though, I liked her, but she was the girl version of Jace. It was just too easy to make the connection. As soon as I started reading I knew it was going to be tough reading the SAME characters for seven hundred pages. You know, Emma was the only character I cared about at all because she was funny and witty (like jace *sigh*) but when it came to the rest of the characters, I couldn’t care less what happened to them. I actually laughed a few times over the dumb-ness of preventable injuries. It’s entertaiing, but tough to get through at times.

⭐ Fair warning, the paperback version I got has spine art that is completed by the rest of the books in the series but amazon only has the reprint edition of Lord of Shadows that doesn’t have the spine art so it won’t match with this one. And I can’t find the edition that will match anywhere online. I know it’s not super important but if you like having your books displayed and they don’t match, it’s a bit annoying.

⭐ —I recommend reading Lady Midnight after The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices—YA Urban Fantasy13+”He sounded casual, calm, as if nothing had happened. But everything had happened.”I’ve read Lady Midnight twice. Once last year as a new release and now again at the release of its second installment to refresh my memory before I dive into Lord of Shadows.I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lady Midnight again. Honestly it felt as if I were reading it for the first time. And I usually struggle with rereads. But Cassandra Clare is my favourite author.I love my Shadowhunters. And I love how the stories keep going from the epic beginning with The Mortal Instruments, to the movie City of Bones (which I am obsessed with—shame they were cancelled!!), to the lovely Victorian England setting of The Infernal Devices (Jem my precious love!!), to the tv adaptation (which I finally just shut up & accepted and learned to enjoy the fandom) and then to the beauty of The Dark Artifices.After TMI, Lady Midnight is my favourite. The characters were positively exceptional here (as all Clare’s character are). Relatable, diverse, layered and entertaining. I’ve fallen in love with them all.I adore how the plot seems to have been built upon one of my absolute favourite poems by my favourite poet, Edgar Allan Poe! And reading all the little excerpts and quotes and chapter titles from Poe’s “Annabel Lee” spoke to my soul. How brilliant! Like you don’t even know how that calls to me.Lady Midnight gave me everything I seek in a book. Especially in this genre, which is where my obsession lies (ya Fantasy/Urban Fantasy). I need a bit of dark magic, a creepy villain (most times a hot one *ahem* Sebastian, because I’m twisted like that), some smut, a bit of romance, and even better–a lot of romance, betrayal, emotionally messed up boys, love triangles, more smut, some foul language, faeries, forbidden love, controversial issues *ahem again* Sebastian and Clary interactions, & teen drama all wrapped up in a lovely fantasy plot.**NOT saying ALL of those things are found in Lady Midnight! Nope, no spoiling here. But enough to where I’m satisfied. That’s why Cassandra Clare is my favourite author. Because she satisfies my bookish hunger and always gives me what I want.Don’t be frightened by the size of this book!! But honestly if you’re a die hard fantasy fan, giant books don’t scare you but excite you.Although, I must admit, that I have sustained a bookish injury whilst reading this beast—my wrists are bloody hurting, mate! I’ve been reading it everyday for about two weeks. And it’s heavy.I must gloat now. I brought Lady Midnight on summer holiday to the beach with me!! And guess what?? I read the infamous Chapter 18 whilst on the beach, sitting in the sand, with the crashing waves at my feet and the salty ocean air caressing my skin and the sun glittering off the deep blue waters…..*blissful sigh*I was *there*. I was with Julian and Emma. I *was* Emma.Reading Lady Midnight on the beach, in the same setting as in the book gave me life right there. It was everything.This book was everything to me. And that ending has had its hooks in me for an entire year!!

⭐ I have been a huge fan of the Shadowhunter world for years now, so I really don’t know why I didn’t pick this one up immediately. I think I fell behind with the novellas and then didn’t want to read anything out of order. But whatever the reason, I am so glad I finally read this one. It was better than I could have ever hoped.I absolutely loved the cast of characters. They all wormed their way into my heart very quickly. Emma is such a wonderful heroine. She is strong and feisty and sarcastic and a kickass Shadowhunter. Julian absolutely broke me. He gives so much and does so much for others and he deserves the world. He and Emma know one another inside and out and their chemistry is insane. Nobody does angst like Cassandra Clare. Cristina is also fantastic and such a good friend. And oh man how I loved the Blackthorns. Ty stole my heart. And Livvy and Dru are wonderful too. And then Tavvy is just adorable. And I’ve loved Mark for a while now and his story and history breaks me. I love this family and love how strong their bonds are.Nobody keeps me engaged like Cassandra Clare. It was such a good story and it kept me guessing. There were so many twists along the way and I was caught off guard so many times. I loved the heavier fae aspect. Clare’s fae are so beautiful and so deadly. They may not be able to lie, but they can manipulate and play the game so well. And I am just so intrigued by them. There was one fae who I kinda loved but also hated a bit and GAHHH so many complicated emotions. And that twist at the end. BANANAS.And I said I’ve been a fan of this world for a while and I absolutely loved going back. I love this world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders and I love learning more and more about it. I also loved checking in with some of my favorite characters again. I pretty much lost it when I got to see Jem and Tessa. And Jace and Clary and Magnus and a bunch of others. I love how Clare is really expanding on the Clave now and showing it has its flaws and can be exceptionally cruel. That is definitely going to be an interesting thread to explore.Lady Midnight was a fantastic book and it had a killer ending. The book delivered the angst and nobody does angst like Clare. My heart has been ripped to shreds and I can’t wait to read more.

⭐ Totally love this new series! I am a huge fan of YA books, and really enjoying reading them with my teen age daughters. I absolutely adored the Clockwork series and the Mortal Instruments, I was hoping the Dark Artifices was going to hold up, and it totally surpassed my expectation.If you loved the other series, I think you will not be disappointed. If you are new to this author and world of Shadowhunters & Downworlders, I would highly suggested reading the Clockwork and Mortal Instruments series first and then returning to this book. Although C.Clare does give enough background information to make the reader understand enough that this book could be considered a stand alone series. It make the reading experience that much richer and more meaningful if you read her other books in this “universe” first.Excellent story, can not wait for book two to come out and continue on the Carstairs/Blackthorn journey.Thank you for Cassandra Clare for creating such complex and human characters. Even your “villains” are sprinkled with human frailty, and therefore as readers, we can relate to how they have become misguided. Your heroes are written with even flaws and complexity that we can see their struggles to “to the right thing”. Both of these elements together combine for a reading adventure full of highs and lows. Ms. Clare you make reading a pleasure for all generations. Thank you.*Parent note- as a parent I would advise that some subjects (although tastefully written) are not quite suitable for all ages. I would say 15+ is a good age, and of course it totally depends on the teen in question. No graphic scenes at all, just there is some adultish themes in this novel that some parents might want to consider when purchasing for your child. As a lover of books (and a nosey mom) I try to always read the books before I pass them down to my kids to read. Both of my girls are 16+ now, and we started reading the book series when they were 14 and 16. It made for some interesting conversation openers with my girls.

⭐ Anything and everything Shadowhunters- that’s the policy I live by. It’s one of my go-to series of books for a number of reasons, mostly because I grew up reading them (City of Bones was one of the first YA books I ever picked up) and they have managed to continuously entertain me, no matter how many times I reread them. The older I get, the harder it is to enjoy some books I read years ago. Shadowhunter books, too, are beautifully written and always make me and my heart cry, so, even though that may not sound like it, it’s always a pleasure to pick one up.Lady Midnight takes place several years after the events in the Mortal Instrument’s series. It follows Emma Carstairs, her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, his family, and her new friend Cristina Rosales, as they illegally investigate some faerie murders that are taking place.I was worried about picking this one up. I had such high hopes, but it’s been two years since a new Shadowhunter book, so I had no idea whether it would be any good, if the story would still hold up, if I could still connect to the characters in such a manner as I had before. If the story would be good at all, or if the amount of characters would end up hurting it more than helping. Well, I shouldn’t have been worried- it was amazing. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a super fan, I’m saying that because, were this the only book by her that I had read, I would have loved it as much as I do now.For one, the characters. Like I said, I was worried the sheer number might throw the book off course. No problem here. Clare managed to balance them all out nicely, made each unique and important to the story, and also got me to care about every single one of them. Once in a while there would be blink-and-you-miss-it scenes where a character would be dismissed and I would lose track of them and have to turn back a page and see what happened, but even while I lost track on these rare occasions, Clare didn’t, and she managed to juggle them all nicely. My favorite character had to be Mark (for many reasons, many of them spoilery). He’s a great character, and one we haven’t really seen before, at least in her writing. Closely following him in list of favorites is Emma, our heroine, and a capable one at that. She’s very different from Clary and Tessa, and I love her for it. It’s hard to pin her down with just a few word description, but she falls on the list of characters who are kick-ass first, take names later. Were I to mention and describe every character here that would be a long review- but leave it at, I loved them all. There wasn’t any character that I found myself disliking for any reason (unless they’re, you know, the villain, in which case I’m not supposed to like them).The story itself was very good and rather interesting, though I found the ending to be not what I expected. I mean, yes, there are some wicked (and awesome) twists that caught me off guard and had me half-grinning, half-completely in shock, but the way the novel is concluded was not what I would expect. I can’t say much more here because Spoilers and what-not, but don’t let me make you think it was a bad ending. Just a surprising way to wrap things up as they were. I liked it a lot more upon reflection, though at the time it felt out of the ordinary and strange.One little theory I have before I close this review, and it’s not a spoilery theory, I promise: I have guesses for who might be on the next two covers. I think, and I’m not sure the order, that it will be Mark and Julian. They’re both major characters and seem the most likely, due to the plot of the series (so far).So, yes, I strongly recommend picking this one up. You can read it without reading the other Shadowhunter books- it won’t be confusing, you just won’t get certain things out of it. And if you’re a fan of Shadowhunters in general, then, yes, this is a must-read for you. You won’t be let down. It’s completely unnerving to see the names Jem, Tessa, Clary, and Jace all appear on one page, but it’s worth it.

⭐ I love every single Blackthorn and I love Cristina and Emma so much. But for me, Julian is by far my favorite character. Perhaps my favorite of ALL of Cassandra’s books. Cassandra Clare is such an amazing writer, she has this way of completely captivating you in even the must mundane scenes.I have my favorite ships of course and the pairings I’m not really fans of but overall this book was (like all of Cassandra Clare’s book) freaking amazing.Oh and that short story in the end from Clary’s POV was AH-MAZING! I’m so happy we got to see all our faves again, especially Maia and Bat. I feel like they are so underrated and people just forget about them but they are one of my favorite ships in the Shadowhunter world and I really wish we could see more of them together. But also, that ending!!! Clary and Jace…my heart!

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