Rating: 4 stars
“It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that 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?”
This year has been a very Cassandra Clare heavy reading year, when I was actually reading, that is. Lady Midnight is the first in Cassandra’s collection where we are finally able to delve into the life of Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorn family after we are introduced to them in City of Heavenly Fire (2014). This story follows Emma who is trying to figure out the true reason why her parents died as she doesn’t believe that they were killed during the events of The Mortal Instruments, and since there have been new, similar deaths of faeries, she has even more reason to be suspicious, as Sebastian Morgenstern was defeated during the Mortal War.
Just like most people, I really did not expect this book to end how it did, and I can safely day that I did not expect the plot twist coming. I almost instantly loved Malcom, because warlocks might just be my favourite characters in this franchise (from the help of Magnus in every other book he’s in), and for him to go and do what he’d done really didn’t sit well with me. Emma, and even the Blackthorn’s put all of their trust into them, and he might have been one of the only constant guardians in their lives, and for him to go and betray them, mainly Emma, like that, is unsettling. He stayed around them, and helped them when they needed it, so that he wasn’t a suspect in Emma’s eyes.
As much as I do love the idea Emma and Julian together, I think it would be a lot better if she was to just tell Juilan why they, being parabatai, can’t be together. I’m hoping they’ll find a way around it.
I was suprised, and then very happy, to see that Jem and Tessa appeared in this book, and I absolutely love that they did, and they were looking for the lost Herondale, which made it even better because who doesn’t love the Herondale family. I never expected Kit to be him, though, but I love that he is. I really don’t know if my opinions are bias at this point, but I absolutely love every twist that Cassie puts into her work. After finding out that Kit was an infamous Herondale, I knew that I couldn’t wait to read Lord of Shadows. (review to follow this one as I picked it up as soon as I finished this.)
Tea Stains and Book Spines 