I’m finally trying Cassandra Clare’s books again. It’s been years since I’ve read anything of hers, but I’ve heard people talking about them all this time.
The Infernal Devices is one of my favorite series, but I fell off the Shadowhunter bandwagon somewhere around book 5 of The Mortal Instruments. I’m not sure if it was because I was waiting for the last book to come out or if it was because I thought that series should have ended after book 3. But either way, I lost interest.
Now, after seeing booklovers continue to rave about her new books, I figured why not give her books another shot, starting with Lady Midnight.
So without further ado, let’s get into my spoiler-free review of Lady Midnight.
Book: Lady Midnight
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Lady Midnight is the first book in The Dark Artifices trilogy, and it takes place in Clare’s world of Shadowhunters five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire.
When a series of murders appears to be connected to her parents’ deaths, Emma Carstairs can’t help but investigate, even though the law forbids it. But that’s not the only thing the law forbids. With her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, Emma must decide if she’s willing to break the law and risk everything for love and revenge.
“Being told that love is forbidden does not kill love. It strengthens it.”
Rating: 4 Stars
Lady Midnight – My Review
I was a little worried going into this book that I would be lost having not read the final Mortal Instruments book, but it was not a problem. Clare explains everything you need to know—in fact, it was a little too heavy on the backstory for my taste, and since I didn’t finish the last series and needed the explanations, that’s saying something.
Going along with that, while it was fun to have some cameos of the characters in the last series, in some instances it felt like Clare was namedropping or having them show up just for fan service. In most cases, they weren’t really necessary for the plot. I didn’t mind Magnus’ appearances, but it felt a bit forced with Clary and Jace. However, I am the type of reader who likes characters to be left alone after their series ends, so I’m sure not everyone would be bothered by this.
The characters in this book were great—particularly the Blackthorn family. It was refreshing to see a large, chaotic family. In so many books the characters don’t have siblings or only have one or two, so it was nice to see something different, and it reminded me of my own family. That said, I did get a couple of the siblings mixed up until about halfway through the book, and I think the way they were introduced could have contributed to that.
Julian shoulders so much for his family, even more than I realized. I love that he’s willing to move heaven and earth for them, but it also makes me sad that he was forced to grow up so fast. I’m excited to see where his character goes in future books.
The cultural differences between Mark and his family and the way he tries to navigate the Shadowhunter and faerie parts of himself were fascinating to watch. Kit is interesting as well; I’m curious to see his perspective in the next book. I like Emma. She’s a fun main character and fits with her personal stakes in the main plot, but she doesn’t really stand out to me among the cast.
It was fun returning to the Shadowhunter world. I do like Clare’s writing. She always has solid characters, world-building, and plots. It’s nice to explore Shadowhunters who don’t fit the Clave’s mold, particularly with Ty, Arthur, Mark, and even Emma and Julian in some ways.
I enjoyed the main plot, and the cult-like aspect of it was interesting. The book kept me guessing about who was behind the murders the whole time. I did guess the murderer a little before the reveal, but that’s how I like it because it means it was set up well.
I kind of ruined the impact of the ending a bit for myself because I knew what was going to happen at the very end, so I stopped reading, thinking I would just pick it back up and finish it the next day, but I ended up not reading it for like a week. Had I not done that, I think the end would have hit a lot harder.
Still, I’m excited for the next book—though there’s one aspect that I don’t know how I feel about. I’ll have to see how it’s handled in Lord of Shadows before I make any judgments though.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. If you like Clare’s books, I’d say it’s worth reading. I don’t think this trilogy will replace The Infernal Devices as my favorite of her books, but I’m going to keep reading the series, and who knows, maybe it’ll surprise me.
Thanks for reading my review of Lady Midnight. You can read more reviews here. Let me know in the comments if you’ve read this book or Cassandra Clare’s previous books and what you thought of them.
