"Lady Midnight" (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Well, that's it guys - Cassandra Clare has officially destroyed my life. I am obsessed with this series. Obsessed. I need "Lord of Shadows" immediately. How do they expect me to wait?!

I know there are a lot of anti-Shadowhunter people out there that think it's time Clare moved on, that there's nothing else to say about this world - but they are so wrong. So. Wrong. If anything, Clare's series have improved every time - I was a much bigger fan of TID than TMI. But, anyway - "Lady Midnight" is brilliant.

I will admit, I had my doubts - what if this book was just a rehashing of Clary's story? What if there was nothing new or exciting? This book took me completely by surprise, and I am sorry that I ever doubted you Cassandra Clare. "Lady Midnight" had all the components we have come to expect from a Shadowhunters series - fast action, fierce women, angsty romance, interesting characters, and actual diversity.

On that note, something I love about Clare - she has always included LGBT+ characters in her series, and TDA is no exception. This time, she also had Mexican characters, a character with autism and another with a mental illness. None of this representation felt forced, or tokenistic. All the characters were three-dimensional and were never just portrayed as That Character With A Disability™ or That Character Who Isn't White™. Actual diversity that shows minority groups as human beings is (unfortunately) hard to come by, so I adored this.

The plot was definitely a classic Clare "on the edge of your seat" one. It was hard to decide what I loved more - the fighting action or the romantic action. The main mystery in this story definitely did not resolve the way I thought it would and I love a story that takes me by surprise. Though, perhaps one thing that detracted from this novel was it's length - the action would have felt a lot more pressing if it was not disseminated by so much text. But, honestly, the length was not such a detractor that I stopped reading it, or that I felt this novel deserved less than 5 stars.

Do I love Emma and Julian together? Damn right. Do I also love Emma and Mark? You know it. What about Mark and Cristina? You better believe it. I pretty much loved any couple that was even hinted at - except Diego and Cristina. I think maybe because he was not as well fleshed out as the other characters. Either way, this book has so much angst in its romance subplots, I think I could die a happy woman.

Overall, this was another brilliant story by Clare, filled with action, intrigue and romance that was portrayed by diverse, three-dimensional characters. Even though I also recommend her previous books, don't shy away from "Lady Midnight" just because you have not read the previous Shadowhunters books - you can easily follow this book without them as a point of reference. Though, I must say, I would especially recommend this book to people who have already fallen in love with characters in TMI and TID, as some of our favourite characters have cameos in "Lady Midnight".

View all my reviews