Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices)

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 do recommend to get the most out of Lady Midnight that you read The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices series first as many of the characters from each show up or are talked about in Lady Midnight. THERE IS ONE OR TWO MINOR SPOILERS FROM BOTH SERIES IN THIS REVIEW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I would also like to say I am very sorry that this review isn't as in depth and thought out as some of my others as I did this by memory and I usually have around 4 pages of notes. Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs have been best friends as long as they can remember and after the Dark War where Emma lost her parents and Julian his father,sister,and brother,they have been each others only support system. They become parabatai which are partners in battle and best friends who promise to stay by each other side forever. But being a parabatai also means you can't fall in love with each other. It is forbidden and the punishment is harsh. Emma has never thought that her parents where killed in the Dark War but by someone else and has been looking for the killer and clues that she is right for years. When more and more people and faeries are killed, the faeries come to Julian and Emma and offer a deal. If they find the killer they can have back Julian's brother Mark who they took in the Dark War. Love, Loyalty, and Family all collide in the first book of the Dark Artifices series. I finished Lady Midnight last night after reading 200 plus pages in one sitting. I fell in love with Julian, Emma, Christina, Mark, and the rest of the characters. Clare's characters crawl under you skin and plant themselves in your heart. I loved how both Julian and Emma were both so different from Clare's other heroes and heroines. Emma is reckless, an amazing warrior, loves with everything she has and wants to hurt anyone who even looks at the people she loves sideways, and has a great wit. Julian is nothing like Clare's other heroes. He had to at a young age take on the raising of 4 siblings. He will do anything to save the people he loves no matter what the cost. He is more ruthless then you would think reading about him because he seems very gentle and he is with the people he loves but don't let that fool you into thinking he wouldn't gut anyone who is a danger to people he loves. I think he is the perfect counterpart to Emma and I Ship these two. I love Mark, Julian's half faerie brother and I have since I meet him in City of Heavenly Fire(The Mortal Instruments Book 6). He is so messed up from being in faerie and seeing him rejoin the human race is just as funny as it is heartbreaking. Christina was a really interesting character as she is running from something in her past(she is from Mexico City) and it was a surprise when I found out why had run away to the LA. Christina and Emma became good friends very fast and it is nice that unlike Clare's other heroines,Emma does have a girl friend to talk too. You also fall in love with all Juilan's siblings from the twins Livia(who loves the saber as a weapon) and Tiberius(who wants to be a detective),to Drusilla(who love all things horror),and the youngest Octavian(who really wants to help his older siblings in the investigation and help keep his older brother home). Malcolm the High Warlock of L.A. was a character that I was very interested in having meet him in City of Heavenly Fire and you find out what happened to him to make him so absent minded and unique in Lady Midnight. There is huge cast of characters and you just love them all. The plot was just amazing with so much action, twists, turns, twists again, love forbidden, love lost, love forgotten, loyalty tested, trust broken, family lost, family found, choices made that can never be undone,heartbreak, hearts healed, lies told and retold, magic, more magic,and finally that heartbreaking ending that will leave you yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't end it there! Lady Midnight had everything I look for it a book.It has great writing, a plot with twists and turns, characters that you fall in love with and don't leave you, and a world you want to be part of. If you want a book you can't put down, characters you miss the second you turn the last page,and writing that hits the ball out of the park then this is the book for you. Rating: 5 out of 5 Content:PG-13

Lady Midnight is an excellent first installment in Cassandra Clare's Dark Artifices trilogy. In many ways, her writing and characters have improved since The Mortal Instruments. I adored the friendship between Emma and Cristina. I loved Emma as the protagonist. I think that her having grown up in the Shadowhunter world gives her a unique bend from Clary and Tessa, and I adore her drive and humor. Julian and the other Blackthorns are all very dear characters. There are lots of players from TMI in this book, as well. There's a lot of characters in general, but it never felt claustrophobic or hard to keep track of who's who. The action was on point, the romance was well paced, and I enjoyed the change in scenery from New York to L.A. Overall, I highly enjoyed this book: it was funny and exciting, and a great start to the Dark Artifices.

I AM BLOWN AWAY. SPEECHLESS. & all that other good stuff lol. My expectations were through the roof for this book as Cassie's previous series' the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices are two of my favorite YA fantasy series' of all time still to this day. Let me just sat this book is a new favorite of mine and did not disappoint at all and was so worth the wait!! It was nearly impossible to review this book without spoilers because there is so much that I want to say about Lady Midnight! I watched and read some other book bloggers reviews and it was so interesting to hear different opinions and perspectives. Without further ado here's my two cents on Cassie's newest addition Lady Midnight. I will start off by saying that I am extremely disappointed in myself for reading this so early in the game. I mean honestly it just came out two seconds ago, and we all know the second installment won't be out anytime soon. Possibly another 1-2 years (which I understand why they take long to come out, if it was rushed the work won't be nearly as amazing). However it's too late to cry over the proverbial spilled milk. Anywho lets begin! Our story centers around Emma Carstairs trying to find who murdered her parents 5 years ago, as well as finding the person responsible for the many murders taking place in Los Angeles. I was very curious on how this mystery was going to start, and if you've read City of Heavenly Fire at the very end of the book you get a clue about how. Since it's been so long since I read COHF I honestly forgot about the little clue we got. However once the Shadowhunters of the Los Angeles Institute get help from some unlikely allies the race to solve the mystery of the multiple murders that are happening in LA. The theme of revenge is very much present in this novel and it definitely adds a tone of seriousness to the novel. We actually witnessed some of the aftermath of Emma's parents murder in COHF, and how much it affected Emma. I really appreciated being able to begin the novel without having to be retaught everything about the Shadowhunter world. Some authors will give a refresher in each novel, but more often than not this annoys me as I want to get to the meat of the story without preamble. Cassie smoothly transitioned into a new series with a fresh perspective and has managed to add more diverse and complexities to an already phenomenal world. She keeps you on your toes at all times and I can't wait to see what it will further develop into in the future. The characters in this novel were so well developed and felt so human to me, I really appreciated that we first met them when they were children and it's crazy cool to get to see how they've grown and developed in the 5 years since the Dark War happened. Emma, Julian, and the gang are much more mature than those of Clary, Jace & co. from the MI were so that alone is a big contributor to the tone of the novel. All the characters in this novel are so very well developed and I found myself completely smitten with them all very early in the book. There personalities are all so very different but they all manage to coexist as a family even with the tough past they all endured. I also must say that I loved loved seeing some of our favorite characters from the previous series like Clary, Jace, Magnus, & Tessa! I have my fingers crossed that we will see even more of them in this series as it progresses. Last thing I will touch on so that I don't accidentally slide into spoilers territory is the Emma and Julian romance. My goodness is it a roller coaster ride, their situation very much reminds me of Clary & Jace when they believed they were brother and sister early on in the Mortal Instruments. The forbidden romance element is there as they are parabatai, so expect to be shouting at your book, and there even may be a couple of tears ( that's if you're uber-sensitive like myself haha). When we learned the reason why parabtai are forbidden to fall in love I nearly fell out of my chair! It's so very hard to review complex books like these without spoilers because they literally are everywhere! I am contemplating the idea of doing a video review with spoilers because there are endless things I can say and would like to hear you guys' perspectives and opinions too! Cassie has flawlessly laid the groundwork for the remaining to novels in the series and I am already chomping at the bit for the release of the next book. I will be back tomorrow with a review of an audibook that I am just about finished up with. As always, until next time! Check out my blog for more fun reviews at obsessivecompulsivereads.com

---I recommend reading Lady Midnight after The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices--- YA Urban Fantasy 13+ "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!!

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare is the first in The Dark Artifices, a new Shadowhunters series set around the Shadowhunters Institute in LA. It focusses on Emma Carstairs and her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, characters introduced in City of Heavenly Fire, the final book in the Mortal Instruments series. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016 and I LOVED it. The setup for Lady Midnight was one of the things I enjoyed most about City of Heavenly Fire and it more than lived up to its promise. What I liked The characters. Although Emma is a smart, engaging kickass heroine, I found my sympathies being drawn more to Julian - his struggles and challenges spoke to me even more than Emma’s. I was also very interested that this time we meet some Shadowhunters who do not necessarily fit the mould of young teens, perfect in mind and body who embody the ideals of the Clave. Particularly interesting to me was Tiberius, who is clearly on the autism spectrum. I thought it was wonderful how he was shown to make a significant contribution to our protagonists’ quest even if it wasn’t always by going out and fighting demons. I am interested to see how the Clave tries to handle him in the future. We also have Mark Blackthorn, who, although technically a Shadowhunter has been strongly influenced by his time with the Fae. In both these cases we clearly see how Shadowhunter society in general is not very accepting of those who do not fit a specific mould. The Law. The Law is a major theme in this book, specifically how to handle a law that seems harsh or unfair. This is symbolised by two Latin phrases “Sed lex, dura lex” - the Law is hard, but it is the Law - and “lex malla, lex nulla” - a bad law is no law at all. This refers mainly to the law against helping the Fair Folk, and this is used to hinder our protagonists in their quest. We see attempts to get around this law both by diplomatic means and then by less open methods. Of course this theme also applies to the law against parabatai falling in love, which is also a major issue for our protagonists. All in all, it didn’t leave me feeling very positive towards the Clave and Council. I look forward to seeing how Julian and Emma and their friends change their world for the better. The world. I really don’t need to say much here. Clare’s world is absolutely phenomenal and fascinating. What was particularly interesting this time was seeing a post Dark War world. The struggle with Sebastian has left its mark and even five years later, the results can still be seen. We learn of new, elite Shadowhunters and processes that have been put in place as a result of the War - processes that aren’t necessarily for the best. I’m not sure if Clare was aiming to reflect our modern post 9/11 world in this, but that is certainly what it made me think of. What I didn’t like Bland, boring antagonist. I wasn’t especially engaged by the antagonist - however, I suspect that the real villain of the piece was intended to be the rigid, inflexible attitude of those in charge of the Shadowhunters and the climate of fear that seems pervasive. I would imagine we’ll see our heroes come into direct conflict with that later on in the series. I gave Lady Midnight five stars out of five - when is the next book due out?

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.

I have to say this was a great book! I loved it from the beginning to almost the end and then I became kind of disappointed. Let me explain. AND there is no way for me to explain without there being SPOILERS! So if you don't want to know anything please don't read this review. OK, now that has been said: I loved Emma and Julian. If you have read the Mortal Instruments you know these two. You know from the beginning Julian is in love with Emma. Emma takes a while to come to the conclusion that she loves Julian. I was a bit surprised at the love scenes in this book. It is not a romance novel and I thought those could have been left out. After all in the Mortal Instruments Cassandra hinted at them but did not go into detail. This was a surprise for me and one I thought was better left out. The runes gaining power from your Parabatai when you were in love with each other was actually very cool. The secrets being kept from Emma and Julian were not cool. And the fact that Emma, instead of telling Julian about the "curse" decides to latch onto Mark...well, I thought that was not the best option for her. And then there is Mark, who grows into his own in his family, fights beside them grows to love them and then what does he do...Cassandra has him lash out at Ty. That made absolutely no sense to me at all. It was out of character for the Mark she had developed thus far in the book. Another problem I had with what was done with Mark's character was at the very end. Emma asks him to essentially betray his brother Julian and he agrees without asking for any details. In fact he almost became evil in my eyes when he says "Why Lie?" That was NOT his character...faerie blood or no faerie blood. It was an awful turn for his character and one that made me loose much respect for him. Tavvy...he is seven years old but they constantly refer to him as the baby and her descriptions of him are those of a toddler..not a seven year old. He is treated like a toddler, carried like a toddler, and at one point have him sitting in a bag of sugar on the floor with it all over him. I am sorry, this is not the actions of a seven year old. Really all the children are somewhat portrayed as mush younger than they are. I simply did not like the ending of this book at all. And why not use Cortana, Emma's blade, to slice through their parabatai runes? Didn't her mother tell her Cortana could slice through anything? Ruin the rune and sever the parabatai tie between Emma and Julian. Or ask Jem and Tessa for help for crying out loud! Jem and Tessa: barely in the book. When they do show up they bring with them who they have been looking for over the last 5 years. They get him and bring him to the Institute, drop him off, and then vanish. What the heck! Then there is the short story at the end...if you have the hardback/paperback you will have read it. For those of us on e-readers...it was not included. I stumbled upon it as I was looking on the internet for the release date of the second book. Which by the way is in March of 2017. Anyway, Cassandra takes us back to just before when Magnus, Clary, Jace, and Robert show up at the institute after Emma has killed you know who. She takes us to the New York Institute where Simon and Isabel have gotten engaged and Clary and Jace are off by themselves in a private room. What is with Clary's response? Again, it did not make any sense to me at all. And what was with everyone coming up to her and unloading on her? Maia is a strong leader..she can take care of her pack and so is Lily with her clan. So why did they feel it was necessary to go to Clary to have her stop the fight? It felt very immature and contrived. However, all that happened at the very end of the book. Up until the last chapter..I was completely enthralled and couldn't stop reading. It is still a 4 star but I just wish she had not done some of the things she had in the last chapter. I guess the last chapter felt very rushed to me. Like she could have had another chapter or two and then ended it. And now we wait...one whole year. Maybe she will take pity on us and release it early?

É difícil eu dar cinco estrelas para um livro, porque há casos em que a escrita me agrada e a história nem tanto, ou vice-versa. Eu amo a escrita da Cassandra Clare. Ela é cheia de detalhes, nos dando imagens vívidas do que está acontecendo no livro, preenchendo o enredo (também maravilhoso) com suas descrições elaboradas, deixando tudo na medida certa. Talvez eu tenha sofrido um pouquinho para lê-lo, porque só ano passado comecei a me aventurar a ler livros em inglês e, definitivamente, eu não indicaria as obras da Cassandra Clare para iniciar esse tipo de processo, porque justamente pelas descrições serem tão "recheadas", é bom, no mínimo, estar familiarizado com alguns vocabulários em inglês para acompanhar a estória, pois os adjetivos podem ser uma parte, não exatamente difícil, mas mais complicada... Só que não é nada que o tempo e esforço não resolvam, afinal. Voltando ao livro: eu comecei a acompanhar as obras da autora por City of Bones, e gostei muito do universo apresentado no mesmo. Porém, a paixão só se enraizou quando eu li a trilogia The Infernal Devices, que é uma das minhas coleções favoritas. Quando terminei The Mortal Instruments e fiquei ciente de que a dona Clare pretendia continuar essa história - que ficou muito "aberta" para uma continuação no final de City of Heavenly Fire -, eu fiquei feliz, mas nunca criei expectativas tão grandes. Eu iria ler? Sim. Eu estava morrendo para ler? Nem tanto assim. Entretanto, cá estou. Morta por uma continuação de Lady Midnight, que simplesmente me fascinou e cativou de todas as maneiras possíveis, com personagens muito bem construídos a ponto de nos fazer pensar que, de fato, em algum lugar de Los Angeles, realmente existe um Instituto com eles habitado e que, infelizmente, nós somos mundanos demais para fazer parte dele. Contém uma dose de reviravoltas, poesias de Edgar Allan Poe, uma das minhas personagens favoritas de toda saga no que diz respeito aos shadowhunters, senhorita Cristina Rosales e, é claro, comédia, drama, romance e, pelo amor de Deus, as crianças Blackthorn são tão fofas que eu gostaria de adotá-las! E eu nem vou comentar o efeito que o epílogo fez em mim, tal como o capítulo extra. Se você tiver problemas de coração, se prepare, porque eu não tenho e mesmo assim passei mal. Quanto ao acabamento, o livro é divino. Uma das capas mais bonitas que já vi, e fiquei muitíssimo surpresa quando notei que mesmo tendo vindo de outro país, o livro chegou em condições excelentes (parabéns, Amazon!).

Les rebondissements, LES romances (parce qu’il y en a plusieurs) et cette fin... Il y a tout ce qu’on recherche dans un livre. C’est mon premier livre de Cassandra Clare (Je connaissais déjà l’histoire de Jace et Clary grâce à la série télévisée mais ça ne m’avais pas vraiment emballé. Cependant, on m’a assuré que les livres étaient meilleures et je confirme!) Alors ici, on se concentre sur le lien entre les parabatai (ce lien que j’adore). Ils ont droit d’être amis, meilleurs amis, être comme frères et sœurs NÉANMOINS, il n’ont pas le droit de tomber amoureux... MAGIQUES. J’ai adoré. On s’attache à tous les personnages du livre! Je recommande vraiment ! Ps : les livres de cette série sont vraiment gros (beaucoup de pages) je tiens à prévenir. Mais ne soyez pas découragé, qui dis beaucoup de pages, dis beaucoup d’aventure !

Loved it!! For anyone reading this review... First off, this book comes after The Mortal Instruments series, make sure you read those 6 books at least before attempting this one! Honestly, I'd also recommend reading the 3 books in the Infernal Devices series as well before this one. There are a lot of characters who show up in this book and the excitement of seeing them again and how their lives have progressed since last time, will be completely lost on you if you don't read all the other books first. Also, not just that, but Emma, the main character in Lady Midnight, is first introduced in City of Heavenly Fire (the last book in the Mortal Instruments series). So again, without Emma's backstory this book will probably not be as good as it could have been if you really knew and loved all the characters. Ok that out of the way... I LOVED this book! It was so good, everything I've come to know and love from Cassandra Clare, she doesn't disappoint! I don't want to say too much for fear of giving anything away. But I will say that I adored how she incorporated some of my all time favorite characters into this story! My only complaint is that we have to wait sooooooooo long for the next book! I'll go crazy by then lol!

Reading this novel series is like living in another world, watching a never ending web series. It's a masterpiece from Cassandra. Love it. Thanks.

Great book! And great mint condition