Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare Book Review
“That’s not the spirit of the law, Emma. Remember? The Law is hard, but it is the Law.”
“I thought it was ‘the Law is annoying, but it is also flexible.”
About
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Series: The Dark Artifices 1
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Synopsis
In a kingdom by the sea…
In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.
Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?
The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.
Review
Spoilers contained below
Dear fellow Shadowhunters,
To start the new year off right, I decided to re-read The Dark Artifices before I dove into Queen of Air and Darkness in March. Feel free join me in re-reading The Dark Artifices leading up to March, reading one book each month. Last month was Lady Midnight, next month is Lord of Shadows, and March is Queen of Air and Darkness, but my review for that doesn’t go up until April, so we still have lots of time! We can all cry or rejoice together! It’ll be fun! If you want to join me, comment below in my Dark Artifices read along and we can review things together!
So much has happened in this wonderful masterpiece called a book! But I guess, I’ll begin with the Blackthorns. I love and adore the Blackthorns! I like how each kid is individualized with different personalities in how Julian likes art, Ty enjoys reading Sherlock Holmes and discovering things in nature, Dru likes scary movies, Livvy likes to fight, and Tavvy likes to sit in bags of sugar. Then Mark comes back through the trade agreement with the faeries and he’s all frightened at first, thinking it’s a dream. Poor Mark! But I loved that moment when Julian talked to him and made him see that it wasn’t a dream—that he really was home.
Mark is a really fun character who just kept growing throughout this book. Even though, he’s supposed Mark is a really fun character who just kept growing throughout this book. Even though he’s supposed to be the older brother, he’s been in the wild hunt for five years (human time) and hasn’t aged a bit. So I could understand how he might feel weird to be placed back in normal time, looking the same, but seeing and feeling that everything is different. He was ridiculed and carved into like a pumpkin from faeries who made him feel ashamed for being a shadowhunter. But he also fell in love with Kieran, the son of the King of the Unseelie court. I thought that it was sweet that Mark found someone to give him hope during such a dark time. I also thought it was beyond sweet how Mark would say the names of his siblings each night as a way to always remember them when being in the hunt. It really emphasized his love for his family and how he missed them dearly. Mark, they missed you too!
Since we’re on the topic of the Blackthorns, let’s talk about Ty. Sweet, good, old Ty. He has such an old, observant soul and is very knowledgeable. Did anyone else think that Ty lived with autism? Last semester in college, I took a special education class because my major is education, and I learned about different disabilities, one of them being autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In that class we learned about individuals who lived with ASD were sensitive to lights, sound, and touch—-overall heightened senses. Ty was sensitive to certain sounds, but he liked the calmness music brought him. He’s not sensitive to touch because he hugs Julian and things like that, so I’m thinking Ty is on the higher side of the spectrum of ASD. Some people who live with ASD don’t like to look at people in the eye because it’s uncomfortable like Ty didn’t like to look people in the eye. And in class we also learned that people who live with ASD also liked routines and patterns like Ty liked sticking to a schedule and if the schedule deviated, the book said he would get mad. Ty was also described as someone who liked to observe the natural world or go off into his own head sometimes, which was another clue that made me think that he had autism. Another thing was the fact that the book talked about how people knew Ty was different and how there were shadowhunters who were “different” and may have a disability but they weren’t acknowledged. I guess college did help in making me see this new part of Ty that I never realized upon the first time reading this book. It made me appreciate Ty more and understand him better because of this. I also like that Cassandra Clare might have included something like disability in this book because disability is such an underrepresented part of society that people don’t see in books or movies.
While we’re on characters, I also liked Cristina. Cristina is such a strong, fierce person, kind of like a young Izzy. But she’s also hiding something from her past about why she ran away from her home to Los Angeles. I like that Emma never pushed Cristina to tell her her secrets because it showed that Emma trusts Cristina and that she will tell her when she’s ready. But when Emma opened up about liking Julian to Cristina, Cristina also opened up about losing two of her greatest loves of her life: her best friend and her Perfect Diego. One day Cristina overheard Jamie, her best friend, and Perfect Diego talking about how Cristina’s family shouldn’t be the Rosales’s in power and that they should be, so she thought they were betraying her. I would think that too if I was in Cristina’s position.
When Mark came back from the wild hunt, he really connected with Cristina the most because she had no expectations or remembrance of him. I kind of liked their relationship and how they could be honest with each other about their fears. They really just work together. And can we mention how funny Mark is when he talks all high and grand in his faerie mannerisms! He’s so cute! I didn’t like how during this one part Kieran snuck up on Mark and Cristina and misinterpreted the situation. I know you love Mark, but you don’t need to be jealous! Oooh, but the fact that Kieran told on Mark for betraying one of the court’s secrets to Cristina. My gosh, I wanted Mark to be all over him and punch him! But I think it was worse that Mark didn’t and that he said he would never forgive Kieran for what he did. It finally severed the only thing holding Mark back from saying he would stay with his family.
Kieran, you shouldn’t have let the jealousy get the best of you!
But, I swear the whipping scene gave me chills all over again! Is it like a thing with heroes and heroines that they have to have whipping marks on their back like a badge of honor? Like there was Tobias from Divergent, then there was Aelin from Throne of Glass, and then there was Maxon from the Selection. Like gosh, no matter how many times fictional characters get whipped, I can never stand the pain they endure. But because Kieran told on Mark, Gwyn and Iarlath, and him go to the institute and Kieran and Iarlath are all high and mighty and Gwyn’s all sorrowful because he doesn’t want to do what he has to do: punish Mark.
Kieran really got knocked off his high horse when the punishment was revealed! You foolish faerie.
But Julian, bless his heart, said he would take the twenty whippings from Iarlath for Mark and Mark was yelling at him to not do it. And when Julian bent in front of that tree and got whipped and Emma felt the pain course through her—my heart! She didn’t want him to endure that pain because she knew what she felt was only minuscule to the pain Julian must be feeling. She loved him so much and knew that she had to be the one to take the whippings because he had all the kids to think about and if he seemed broken, it would break the kids. So she put him under some sort of sleeping rune so he would be knocked out and not feel the pain when she would take his place instead. Then Iarlath, the sicko, whipped Emma fiercely until she was screaming and my heart was lurching. Again, CHILLS! Just the love and the sacrifices they would make for each other is just so powerful.
I love Jemma, and you’re lying to yourself if you don’t want Julian and Emma to be together! This whole book, Emma’s discovering her feelings for Julian and how it’s more than just a plain parabatai love, but love love. Then we have Julian who’s trying to suppress his love. He even left for England for two months to try to stop feeling what he felt for Emma, but it never went away. And the moment when they’re on the beach and “have fun” was just a special moment for them in maturing and coming into accepting what they felt for each other. Can we stop to mention how there’s a protection rune? By the angels, knows Clary made that rune because she was in the demon realm and needed protection. So why not conjure up a rune to make all shadowhunters safe no matter the situation? Shadowhunters, protected and always ready to have fun 😉. I swear that was the funniest thing.
I also loved the Jemma moment when Julian took her to his closet in his art room that he usually kept locked. Emma always wondered why Julian had never drawn her or stopped drawing her when they were little. It was because Julian’s feelings were more than friendly so he hid his feelings literally in a closet shrine of Emma’s honor. He painted her strong, glorious, detailed, vibrant, and luminous, capturing everything his heart felt about her. And I just loved that! Julian’s a real romantic and a sweetheart when you think about it. He’s just a very mature boy who had to grow up quickly to take care of his siblings and he’s harboring a typical teenage boy angst for a girl he can’t have? Honestly, Julian needs a good old break from responsibility and to just do what he wants. And I’m happy he got to kiss Emma and show his paintings of her and most importantly, show her his heart after all this time. Then Livvy comes in search for him, ruining the moment. All the kids always come looking for him at the worst times!
But Julian is such a good brother and friend. He has taken care of five kids since he was twelve. TWELVE! I couldn’t even work a microwave comfortably by myself when I was twelve! Julian had to learn to cook, clean, and be there for his siblings when they had no parents or older siblings to look up to for love. That meant Julian had to grow up fast and be the parent more than the brother. More often than not, my heart hurts for Julian because he would be looking at a situation and thinking about how he would just love to laugh and do fun things with his siblings and be a sibling rather than the authority. But he couldn’t because he always had to be the responsible one to say no to them or to tell them what to do—-he could never just be the laid back brother that would watch movies, play games, read, or do puzzles with them. It was always go to bed, be safe, clean up, or don’t do this. And that has to suck because Julian’s a kid himself too and he hasn’t been able to do kid things. I remember this part where Ty hugged Julian and that meant the world to him. Or the other part where Julian wanted to talk to Ty about something to do with the investigation, but Julian just ended up saying I love you to Ty. I loved that 💙.
I also remember the part where Ty approached Mark and asked him to take on some responsibilities because Julian takes on so much. And I just thought, wow. Ty knew that Julian had a lot on his shoulders and he wanted to help alleviate that by speaking up to Mark. However, Mark told Ty that he couldn’t because he barely knew how to take care of himself after being in the hunt all this time—which is understandable. But Ty was kind of disappointed. I think as Mark becomes comfortable in his skin and in this world again, he can take on responsibilities.
But there’s also the fact that Julian basically runs the whole institute. In hindsight, I think everyone knew But there’s also the fact that Julian basically runs the whole institute. In hindsight, I think everyone knew Julian was running the institute instead of Arthur. I feel like Arthur is such a good person deep down, but has just gone through a lot of loss and pain in his life. He can make rude comments like when he told Ty to take off his headphones for the test, but he can also be very smart. I think that Julian taking on the institutional business was a very bold thing to do, but he was just looking after the kids’ best interest again. Everything comes down to the kids for Julian and keeping them safe and happy. Julian even thinks of them as his kids, which I found heart-felt, but heavy. He said when he almost dropped Tavvy as a baby, he thought is my baby okay? And that’s when he thought of them as his own. I feel like that sentiment is sweet, but just a lot for someone his age to handle. And also doing the institute business, that’s waaayyy much more than he should be doing. I feel like if he told Emma or something, she would have helped him. I also don’t know why Diana wouldn’t at least help Julian on the side with emails or write ups or something.
Diana’s definitely hiding something. If you don’t know what it is (I do from reading Lord of Shadows a long time ago), comment your guesses. 😉.
But, who would have thought that Malcom would be the one to be crazed. We think because he’s close to the Blackthorns that he would never do such a thing, but I guess when they say keep your friends close, but your enemies closer he was not kidding. I also liked how when they were watching a movie with Malcolm in the beginning, he was like I came back to raise my great love from the dead. Like he literally just outed himself and we never even knew. Reading it this time around, I tried to be keen on Malcolm and see how I didn’t see it the first time. I was an idiot because Malcom was being very blunt about what he was doing. He even stated it from the get go!
I think that what he did with the killings and the lottery was a strategic idea. But it was wrong. I think that yes, Malcolm was wronged by the Clave in taking his great love, Annabel Lee from him, but that doesn’t mean you should kill others to bring her back. But then again, he was a man in love out for vengeance like Emma was a parentless shadowhunter out for vengeance too. The fact that Malcom killed her parents as a trial for his spell was ridiculous. That’s so sad to think that they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time—it could have been anyone else. Emma deserved better and so did her parents.
BBut on the other hand I could see why Malcom would do it. He loved Annabel and the Clave stopped them from being in love. The Clave apparently doesn’t like love because it’s a human emotion, so angelic shadowhunters shouldn’t love. I think that’s so unrealistic because shadowhunters are angelic, but they’re people too and they love as much as anyone does. I found it kind of typical how the villain relayed their whole master plan at the end. It’s funny, because after all this time of trying to figure out who’s doing it, you finally show your face and want to talk?
Malcom took Tavvy at the end and my heart stopped. I couldn’t believe Malcolm and how he would do that to them or how he said he hated the Blackthorns and faked loving them. What a cruel, sick person.
Emma finally got her revenge and killed Malcolm by stabbing him and then opening the water portal so he got washed away. I guess when you do bad things, you get what’s coming to you. I was happy everyone was okay, especially sweet Tavvy who got caught in the middle. We also have to thank Kieran for helping them during this time. I feel like Kieran will redeem himself more as the book progresses. In my heart, I’m not quick to forgive him, but I understand he regrets what he did and why he did it in the first place. I don’t think he’s a bad person, just someone who caused something bad to happen.
I love all the cameos in this book from the Mortal Instrument characters to the Infernal Devices characters. I love when Clary, Magnus, Alec, Max, and Jace show up at the end when getting a dark magic alert. They all were coming from Simon and Izzy’s engagement party! I would love to be at their engagement party! I wonder how Simon proposed, maybe he did some role playing and serenaded Izzy with a cheesy song? Guesses anyone? 🤔
I liked how Dru was looking at Jace with goo goo eyes and how Livvy was loyal to Perfect Diego. I loved the motherly and caring way Clary cared for the kids and Emma. I also liked how they had a lot of influence in helping Julian and Emma stay in the clear with Robert, the Inquisitor. They understood what it was like to fight in a battle at that age too. My babies are all wise and grown up now! I miss them!
I felt really bad for Nightshade at the end who got thrown in jail for being there at the wrong time. He did nothing but sell good pizza! Poor Nightshade.
I also liked Emma’s conversation with Jem at the end about parabatai and love. He said that if parabatai love each other in that way, their power would grow strong and become warlock magic. Then the two people would go crazy until the point of death. Emma doesn’t want to tell Julian because of the advice Tessa gave in saying telling someone love is forbidden, only makes it stronger. So instead, Emma keeps this knowledge to herself and has to do the one thing she knows she doesn’t want to do, but has to for the sake of Julian and the kids.
She has to break his heart and make him stop loving her.
Because she took the whipping for Mark, Mark promised her a favor. So with a heavy heart, Emma goes to his door at night and asks him to be her fake boyfriend, knowing that Julian would never come back from it if she dated Mark. Emma had a crush on Mark as a kid and that always made Julian crazy jealous. Julian was still crazy jealous when he caught Emma talking to Mark platonically earlier in the book. But Mark agreed and was like “Why fake it?” I honestly took that in two ways: serious and suggestive. He could be asking why do you want to fake our love or could be like why fake it when we know we like each other. I think it’s the former. I think Mark likes either Cristina or Kieran, not Emma.
Let’s go back to Tessa and Jem for a moment. They were trying to find the lost Herondale, the secret Herondale of Tobias Herondale and the wife who got punished for his cowardice. It was revealed that the baby of the two was harbored into the real world and they were trying to find him. It turned out it was Kit. Johnny Rook always said his biggest secret was Kit and now we know why. Kit’s name is short for Christopher, figures.
Kit is such a head strong boy who is bound to do something great like all the great Christophers before him. He was very reluctant to go with Emma, Tessa, and Jem, and he was very unbelieving that he was a shadowhunter until he pushed open those doors, confirming that he was. I loved how when he pushed open the doors, he stumbled inside, and saw Ty. Kit was reminded of the time Ty held a knife at his neck when Ty snuck out on a mission with Emma and Julian. What a funny, awkward reunion. Did anyone else notice the way Kit described Ty and noticed him. I don’t know about you but I feel like they would be great friends or great lovers. I’m more on the lovers side because how cute would Ty be dating Kit, a Herondale. Gosh, we love a Herondale.
Kit locks himself in one of the hundred rooms afterwards as in an act of rebellion. Ty keeps guard outside of his door, which again, friendship or lovers? ; ). Anyway, I can’t wait to see what becomes of Kit in coming to terms with being a shadowhunter. I can’t imagine how much his life has flipped upside down. He literally saw his dad ripped in two and now he’s uprooted from his home and told that he’s a part of the Nephilim. That has to be rough.
Then at the very end, Annabel’s eyes open. Like what’s with that?! She’s risen, or rising, she’s awake. Like go back to sleep. Sorry, but that’s kind of weird.
There’s so many things that has to happen in the next book with uncovering Diana’s secret, finding a way to get around this parabatai curse, Julian and Emma’s relationship or lack thereof, Kit becoming a shadowhunter, Mark dealing with his secret love and his two great loves in his life: Cristina and Kieran. There also needs to be more scenes with the other characters! I just love catching up with them.
What do you think will happen in the next book? What was your favorite or least favorite part? What are you looking forward to in Lord of Shadows? Favorite ship? Let me know below in the comments and we can discuss!
Until March with the next read along book,
As always, with love,
Rating
4.6 Full Bloom Flowers
Charcters: I loved the overall character building and getting to know everyone.
Plot: The plot was more intriguing the first time around because I didn’t see the surprise with Malcom coming, but that’s not to say I didn’t love the book overall.
Romance: Gosh, I love a good forbidden romance!
Writing: I adore Cassandra Clare’s writing! It’s always so simple to get into and relate to.