Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight (Dark Artifices, #1)

by Cassandra Clare

The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in Lady Midnight, the first novel in Cassandra Clare's newest series, THE DARK ARTIFICES, a sequel to the internationally bestselling MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series.

It's been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Firethat 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.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

5 of 5 stars

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Oh, how wonderful it was to be back in the Shadowhunter world! Once I was back there, I realized how much I missed it. I fell in love with the Blackthorn family, and Julian was such a beautiful hero, who loved his family more than himself. It was fun having characters from TMI and TID being a part of this series, and seeing how their lives have changed over the 5 years since the war. What struck me the most in this book, compared to the other Shadowhunter books, was it was such an epic romance. The other books had romance, but I never felt the romance was as prominent or swoony as it is in this book. I loved some things in the last chapter, and other things, not so much, but I know Clare will not let me down, and I will eagerly await the next book.

Cassandra Clare put so many gorgeous words in this book. I can tell by my highlighting, that I was totally absorbed by the love aspects. I am going to leave you with some of them:

"Laws are meaningless, child," Malcolm said in a low voice that somehow still carried. "There is nothing more important than love. And no law higher."

that the idea of losing Jules wrenched out of her: that the sky would go dark forever, that there would never be solid ground again.

I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I'm yours and you're mine, you've always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!

I love you, Julian Blackthorn. I love you more than starlight.

No law can control our feelings.

everyone who lives under this roof, whether they are bound by blood or not, we are tied together by an invisible net of love and duty and loyalty and honor. That is what it means to be a Shadowhunter. Family

There was beauty in the idea of freedom, but it was an illusion. Every human heart was chained by love.


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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 July, 2016: Finished reading
  • 5 July, 2016: Reviewed