Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1)

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 Cassies 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 thats not to say that the world building in this novel wasnt 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 wont 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 wont 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 lifes 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 Julians siblings: Ty, Livvy, Dru, and Tavvy; Cristina; Diana and Malcolm. Diana has a lot of secrets, which Im sure well discover over time, but shes 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 cant 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 Cassies other characters and understand Julians 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 dont 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 cant 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. Hes 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 doesnt 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? Its 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.

Lady Midnight. You know, I like the shadow hunters universe, but I dont think Im alone when I say that it is getting OLD. I mean, the shadow hunters was a genius idea on Cassie Clares part, and Im 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. Ill finish this series, but after that I think Im 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 couldve 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 couldve 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 couldve 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 couldnt care less what happened to them. I actually laughed a few times over the dumb-ness of preventable injuries. Its entertaiing, but tough to get through at times.

Read this review along with others on my blog @ libroliv.com

I’ve been waiting for this book for years. Years.

I was so worried that I wouldn’t like, that I’d be disappointed.

But how could I think that? Cassandra Clare has only ever impressed me, only ever made me fall in love with her world. How could I doubt that?

Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I sure don’t doubt Cassandra now…

Lady Midnight was stunning.

From the first chapter I was engrossed, and I knew that I had a wild ride ahead of me.

Firstly, I’d like to address the unique nature of this novel when compared to Cassandra Clare’s previous writings. Both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices began with a protagonist who was unfamiliar with the Shadowhunter world. Thus, both City of Bones and Clockwork Angel had lengthy beginnings, and took a while to get into the flow and pace of the story.

Lady Midnight – due to the protagonist, Emma, being familiar with the Shadowhunter world – was able to skip past this length introduction, and delve straight into the action.

And the action – there was so much of it! This book never stopped, never even slowed; it was a constant stream of events transpiring, and I loved that! There was never a dull moment!

Likewise, the pacing of this novel was very well done. It was consistently fast – but not too fast – and the transitions between scenes were seamless. This, in hand with the heightened levels of action, made for an engaging novel that I never wanted to put down.

However, I would complain that the chapters were a little lengthy. This isn’t the kind of book that you can read spots of here and there – if you feel like reading this book, you’re in it for the long haul. The combination of long chapters and an engaging story is deadly; I was reading for hours at a time when meaning to do other things!

Throughout this novel, there are consistent switches in point-of-view. This – I believe – was very beneficial from a reader’s perspective, as it allowed for a broader perception of the current events. Because this book was so complex with so many overlapping events, it was great to get a head start, and see little snippets from each perspective.

Without these switches in POV, it is definite that the book would have suffered. Such changes both enabled more of an in-depth insight to the characters, and an invaluable insight into the action.

It also made it so that the book had an even faster pace, because the chapters were split into sections for each POV.

Likewise, this book not only discusses current events from differing perspectives, but past events, too. The flashbacks that were incorporated were endlessly interesting, because many occurred during latter half of The Mortal Instruments series. Having read said series, it was interesting to get an insight into what was happening on the sidelines of Jace and Clary’s story.

Also, it was nice to gradually discover the important events that occurred during the 5-year gap between City of Heavenly Fire and Lady Midnight without going into the more mundane aspects (pun intended).

Frankly, through this novel, I have learned much of the Shadowhunter world, especially what it was like for Emma and Julian to grow up in it, and not just be thrown into it like Tessa and Clary were.

Cassandra Clare is renowned for her incorporation of both LGBTQ and differing ethnicities into her novels. Lady Midnight was no different, nationalities and sexuality being approached with an accepting demeanour.

It was so great to read a book wherein such things were the norm – as they should be – and no one was singled out for the things they couldn’t control.

It was like magical realism, but with nationality and sexual orientation.

(I loved it.)

Likewise, because the Blackthorn family motto being “lex malla, lex nulla” (or a “bad law, is no law”) demonstrates what this book is really about – change. The acceptance of Downworlder-Shadowhunter marriages, and the abolishment of the Cold Peace, alongside scrapping how falling in love with your parabatai is forbidden. I believe that Emma – despite not being a Blackthorn – will be the voice of change, and the next generation of Shadowhunters.

In our modern society, these issues are really relevant, and I’m sure will aid multiple readers around the globe.

In terms of characters, I believe this is the strongest group Clare has created. I would first, however, like to discuss the incorporation of other Shadowhunter characters from previous series: Jem is commonly mentioned, which I really liked, as it allowed for an insight into his life after The Infernal Devices, and also after City of Heavenly Fire; both Clary and Jace were spoken of as if they were famous, which was really amusing, but comforting all the same – it was so great to see that they were continuing with their life together; Magnus was as he always is – flamboyant…surely it would be a crime to neglect to include Magnus in a Shadowhunter novel; Simon and Isabelle…I won’t spoil it for you!

Now, in terms of the main characters in Lady Midnight, I would begin by stating how much I admire Emma Carstairs. She is definitely my favourite protagonist of all the Shadowhunter books in existence – she is strong and unwavering, and loves fiercely. She is a warrior, and not afraid of a battle or a head-on altercation. She is outrageously sarcastic and witty and always able to make jokes, even in difficult moments. But she’s vulnerable. Despite these powerful aspects of her personality, it is evident that her deep love can cause her pain. She is the image of a strong female protagonist – she is not perfect, and she doesn’t try to be.

I loved that about her.

Tarot Rings 5On the other hand, Julian was much more obviously sensitive, and I loved that he wasn’t afraid to show his siblings and Emma how much he cares. The development between City of Heavenly Fire and Lady Midnight is astounding, because Julian has grown into a man. It was so great to read about him.

The remainder of the Blackthorn family were equally as great. All were unique, so much so that it was easy to tell them apart even after a few chapters. (I usually find it hard to tell large families apart in books.) Also, there were subtle hints at how things will develop with the children in the future. I understand that the sequel series to The Dark Artifices – The Wicked Powers – follows the younger Blackthorn children, and so it will be interesting to see how they develop in the coming novels in preparation for The Wicked Powers.

.

Overall, I would not hesitate to proclaim that this is the best introduction to a series Cassandra Clare has ever written. It was jam-packed with action from start to finish, and consisted of the best cast of characters I have ever read about. I loved everything about it, and could not stop thinking about it throughout my entire reading journey. Thus, I awarded it 5/5 stars, and would award it more if I could.

Having read and loved The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, I was looking forward to reading this. The story immediately felt different from the others, as Emma has a very different voice and personality to both Clary and Tessa. I immediately fell in love with the Blackthorn family; being an only child, Im always drawn to tales of large, chaotic families. The last Mortal Instruments book City of Heavenly Fire introduces us to the Blackthorns and provides a longer account of what happened to them, their parents, and Mark and Helen, during the Dark War. Lady Midnight begins five years after the Dark War, when the children are older, which works as their personalities and abilities as Shadowhunters have now become more developed.

This book almost reads like a supernatural crime novel, with murders to be solved that increasingly appear to be linked to the Blackthorn family. Theres a lot less background to the Shadowhunter world in this novel its obvious that Clare expects readers to have already read The Mortal Instruments, at least. The focus is more on faeries and, to a certain extent, warlocks, with very little mention of vampires or werewolves. I hope that there may be more involvement with vampires especially in the next instalment, as I always found that faction of Downworlders interesting. I also liked the literary connections of the plotline, in its use of Poes Annabel Lee, which the chapter titles are also taken from.

Some of the same themes are shared with The Mortal Instruments though, most obviously forbidden love, though forbidden for a different reason than Clary and Jaces love. The bonds between siblings are equally strong, though possibly more complex here. I like the way that Clare brings modern issues and a diverse range of characters into her novels: as in her other series, there are LGBT characters, plus in this one she also looks at mental health (Arthur) and autism (Ty), and how dangerous the lack of understanding of such conditions can be. But I like how she doesn’t label people, she just lets them be as they are.

The other thing I found interesting is the way it links to the story about Tatiana Blackthorn in The Bane Chronicles; in the short story she is experimenting with some kind of dark magic, but her aim and whether or not she is successful is never revealed. So the idea of a curse on the Blackthorn name immediately intrigued me as I thought it might be picking up the thread of that story? Maybe thats something that will be pursued in the next book.

It was a long book but didnt feel boring or tedious, the main characters are likeable and the mystery intriguing. The big reveal was sudden but excellent, as I hadnt guessed the identity of the killer, but it all made sense when it came out. There are some other mysteries hinted at but not yet solved like Dianas secret so Im looking forward to finding out more about those in Lord of Shadows.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member