Thursday, January 24

Book Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1)Author: Cassandra Clare
Title: Lady Midnight
(The Dark Artifices #1)
Genre: Fantasy, UF, YA, Romance, Mystery
Pages: 688 
Published: March 8th 2016 
Where I Got It: My shelf (Xmas Gift)



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?

This was a xmas gift from a friend of mine. I was curious about the author since I have heard such good things so this was a pleasant surprise. The cover is super cool so it made me even more intrigued. 

The story follows Emma who is a shadowhunter which is pretty much a warrior and guard against evil things that find themselves in our world. She and her “parabatai”, Julian, fight side-by-side. Things happen and bodies start building up. Not 100% abnormal, but they are too like the murders of Emma’s parents. This sparks some further investigation from Emma and Julian. 

Emma was a fun heroine and I liked Julian too. I don’t 100% understand the parabatai thing. From what I understand it is pretty much a side-kick that you are magically linked too. The closer your relationship, the better your magic is. Except that being TOO close is not good either. It can lead to a stick and rocky road. That is what I get from it…hopefully the next book goes over this concept more. 

This was a long, long book. It took me a while to get through it. Not in a bad way at all, but I felt like this was a strong wine and you took your time with the story. There is a lot of world-building and getting to know our characters. There are a few and I enjoyed getting to know them more. The author is good so I didn’t get annoyed with all the world-building and character development. I enjoyed it. I took my time with this book and I recommend everyone who reads this to do the same. Gobbling this up would lead to miss important elements. At least that is my humble opinion. 

I adored the blending of the famous poem ‘Annabel Lee’ into the story. It fit well and it really did add to the story and to the feel of the book. Even each chapter showcased a couple words from the poem. It worked really, really well. 

Holy cow…that ending. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! I am super curious to see what is going to happen next. I have my theories. But oh dear. I cannot say more without spoiling anything…….but EEEE! 

I worry about our characters for sure. 

Now, I will say the beginning was slow. Yes, I did just say I didn’t mind the world-building, but it took FOREVER for anything to really happen. I wasn’t fully invested until about chapter 3 or 4. After that, I was hooked and invested and the occasional slowness didn’t hinder anything. It helped actually. 

Also, there is a possible love triangle at play here. I am not amused by this. Sure, it hasn’t happened yet. But the signs are there and the author has hinted at it. Maybe it is a tease. People develop crushes. Maybe he just likes her a bit and she doesn’t truly reciprocate the feelings??? We shall see in book 2. *fingers crossed* Hopefully, it isn’t a full out love triangle, because I will be annoyed. 

All-in-all, I did enjoy this big book. There was a lot of story and I enjoyed it. I do worry about book 2, but I am excited about it at the same time. I did buy it since it was on sale so I will eventually read it. I do recommend it. The author is good. The story was good with a couple of hiccups. I’ll give this a 4. 


2019 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

Book 3 of 16-25 Books



5 comments:

Sophia Rose said...

You have me curious about this one. It shares a world with the first four books of the original series I read, but it sounds like the storyline might be more to my liking. I never actually liked the heroine of the Shadowhunter series or the teenage love drama between the main players and I skipped the love triangle in the Infernal Devices trio. So... maybe this newer series.

Glad you loved it and are looking forward to more.

Melliane said...

I have the first book of the mortal instrument series to try

Carole Rae said...

Sophia, I didn't read the other ones. I am curious about them.

Melliane, i am curious to see what you think of those :)

Blodeuedd said...

Wow, wait there now Carole. For this to fit shouldn't half truly be romance. Is half truly romance. Like pnr romance ;)

Carole Rae said...

LOL, yes there was too much romance tbh ;) There was even a possible love triangle. xD