I waited a year for Lord of Shadows after Lady Midnight left me hanging! Cassandra Clare is one of the few authors I will endure cliffhangers for. And the audio versions of these books are PERFECTION! Seriously, this one is voiced by James Marsters. SPIKE!!!! (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I have always loved him.
Now, you MUST read these books in order. So, if you haven't read Lady Midnight, stop reading this review and go read the book!
Lord of Shadows picks up right where Lady Midnight left off. Emma has learned about the parabati curse and turns to Mark for help. This book has a LOT going on. We are jumping from place to place and person to person as everyone has something happening. And it turns into a rubber band ball of relationships. Its not a triangle or even a square at this point. Its a giant, tangled mess! So, I am going to break this down by groups of people and what they were up to in Lord of Shadows:
Emma and Julian: These two are killing me. Julian doesn't know about the curse. He thinks Emma just doesn't want to be with him. Awkward. Eventually her ruse with Mark comes to an end (because he is involved in his own love mess!). Both of them dance around each other and never talk about anything important. I wanted to knock their heads together because they weren't acting like Emma and Julian. But, man, Julian is super swoon worthy. I love that Emma is the more powerful shadow hunter and Jules is more the thinker and artist of the two. Their time alone in Cornwall was awesome ;)
Mark, Cristina, Kieran: Oh Mark. So, Mark goes back to Farie for a trip to save Kieran with the help of Emma, Julian and Cristina. This leads to a bit of love entanglement between Mark and Cristina. Then you add in Kieran, who doesn't remember the horrible things he did to Mark and the gang, and it gets messy! However, after making a deal with the Seely Queen, they need Kieran's help, so Mark is put in an awkward position. I so flipping love Cristina!!! So, perfect Diego is back and when the centurions arrive, so does his fiancé!! Yep, he is engaged to Zara, who is probably one of the most unlikeable people on the planet. Cristina is crushed but then....Mark. But Mark still has feelings for Kieran. See what I mean about confusing rubber band ball of love?
Ty, Livvy, and Kit: These three really grew on me. Kit was so bitter and overwhelmed with his new reality that he was difficult to warm up to. But, seeing the bond form between him and Ty (who is one of my favorite characters) was so great. The three of them really complemented each other well and were truly a 3 musketeers kind of group. They are getting older now and starting to stretch their shadowhunter wings so to speak, so they get into some trouble (which leads to a savior in the form of Magnus Bane!). But, then tragedy befalls them that even Magnus can't save them from. I didn't expect it and it was more painful than I imagined.
Dru: So, prior to this, Dru has always just kind of 'been there' like Tavvy. But, we get to know her a bit more in Lord of Shadows and I think she is my spirit animal!! This girl is ME! She is insecure about her weight, people always make her feel bad, her siblings don't value her abilities beyond taking care of Tavvy, and she is kind of invisible. As she opens up and gets more involved I feel harder for her. I wanted to swoop in and hug this girl. She forms a secret friendship with Jaime when he appears at the institute in London.
Diana and Gwyn: Gwyn is the leader of the hunt and he seeks out Mark's help, then later, Mark seeks out Gwyn's. Gwyn is taken with Diana though and a weird kind of bond is formed. Diana is hiding some things in her past and for part of the story, she is in Alicante to get support for the plan Julian made with the Seelie Queen.
Vague enough? I don't want to spoil everything, but if you want spoilers, just message me! I know some people need to know before they read so they can prepare.
I cannot stress this enough: the audio is fabulous! James Marsters does a phenomenal job. The voices are exquisite and so engaging. The audio is over 24 hours long, but I loved every minute of listening to his voice. I was so sucked into this world because Marsters provides such a rich experience. Truly, he is performing the book. I don't know how Cassandra Clare picks her narrators, but she is 2 for 2 with the Dark Artifices series! Amazing!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: at the end, yes
- Series/Standalone: series (read in order)
- Cliffhanger: hell yes!
Books by Sarah J Maas, Victoria Aveyard, Veronica Roth, Jennifer L Armentrout...then you will probably like Lord of Shadows!!
See full review on The Book Disciple