Book Review: Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #1)

Release Date: December 4, 2018
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 912 pages
Source: Purchased Book/eBook

Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy.

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks.

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

    

Review:

Characters: This story begins right after the end of Lord of Shadows, meaning most of our protagonists are in mourning after the tragic murders of Robert Lightwood and Livia Blackthorn. Much of this story deals with loss and how our protagonists cope with their grief. In fact, a lot of the choices that these characters make going forward has the tragedy of Livvy's death in mind, whether consciously or not. Losing someone like that, and the fear of losing someone else can make people do crazy things. I loved seeing how all our protagonists faced their struggles, even if I didn't agree with how they chose to handle their grief, and the journey that they all take, whether alone or together, in this story is fantastic. Since this is an insanely long book, there's so much that these characters go through, so many trials and tribulations, yet every choice they make, every step they take, feels organic and authentic to who they are as characters and even when I don't agree with their choices, if they were to make "the right" choice, it wouldn't feel as realistic as them making "the wrong" choice.

Romances: This series focuses on two main romances, that of Julian and Emma, the parabatai that were never meant to fall in love, and Kieran/Cristina/Mark the "love triangle" of this series. When I first started this series I wasn't expecting to get as swept away by the romances in this series as I did, and this installment brings everything to an amazing head and the complications of these romances aren't small little things that are easily dealt with, there are real stakes in this story that extend to the romance as well, partially because in Emma and Julian's case their romance is one of the main plot points of this entire series. I love how everything comes together and even the smaller romances in this series, the ones featured in the past, or will be featured more heavily in the future, despite the heartaches, there's always hope, and that's always something I've loved about Cassie's works, there's always hope.

World-Building: Ohmigosh! Seriously this installment cranks everything up to 11 and doesn't exactly stop. This is a story where things are going to get worse before they get better, which is mainly why it took me so dang long to finish this story. In addition to all the assholery (yes, that's a word) that goes on from the members of the Cohort, there are quite a few scenes that brought back memories from the other final installments in The Shadowhunter Chronicles so far. I can't talk really talk about them in anything other than very vague terms as they're huge spoilers, but even though I wasn't a huge fan of one of the aspects to the story at first, as I felt it was TOO reminiscent of a previous finale, by the time that aspect was finished, it felt so immensely important that I didn't mind it anymore and in fact I'm hoping to see more in the future. This is also an installment where big changes come, and the Shadow World may never be the same after this installment.

Predictability: Holy Crap. I'll admit it's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, but looking back I can't pick out a single moment that I saw coming in advance. On the contrary, there were so many moments that completely blew me away and the twists and turns this story takes will keep you gasping until the very end of the book.

Ending: What a phenomenal final climax. I mean, I wasn't expecting such a phenomenal action sequence full of heartache, heartbreak, and just heart. So much goes down in the final climax of the story, but that's not the end. Even though there are a few moments of high tension after the final climax, including something that left me stunned speechless, I think it's more than safe to refer to the "final battle" of this book as the final climax. After all, is said and done and all the crazy insane stuff goes down, there are a couple of chapters that show the characters that are left and what they're up to and there's one scene that had me bawling like a baby and I'm not even ashamed.

Rating:

It's no surprise to me that I love this final conclusion to The Dark Artifices. This series is so tense and exciting and overall amazing. There's so much more I could say about this story and how much I love it, but I feel if I go on too much longer I won't be able to censor myself from spoilers.

Book Review: The Silver Mask (Magisterium #4)

Release Date: October 10, 2017
Authors: Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Length: 240 pages
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

A generation ago, Constantine Madden came close to achieving what no magician had ever achieved: the ability to bring back the dead. He didn't succeed . . . but he did find a way to keep himself alive, inside a young child named Callum Hunt.

Now Call is one of the most feared and reviled students in the history of the Magisterium, thought to be responsible for a devastating death and an ever-present threat of war. As a result, Call has been imprisoned and interrogated. Everyone wants to know what Constantine was up to-and how he lives on.

But Call has no idea.

It is only when he's broken out of prison that the full potential of Constantine's plan is suddenly in his hands . . . and he must decide what to do with his power.

In this spellbinding fourth book of Magisterium, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare take us beyond the realm of the living and into the dangers of the dead.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Callum Hunt has been revealed to the entire mage world as the reincarnation of Constantine Madden, The Enemy of Death, and now he's in the Panopticon with seemingly no way out. That is until he's broken out and given the chance to achieve what many believe to be his destiny. I really enjoyed Call's character development in this book. A majority of this development is truly facing the fact that he has the soul of the Enemy of Death inside him and what that means for who he is as a person. It's a really fascinating journey and I loved seeing Call learn more about who he was and figuring out just who he is and can be.

Romance: This is by far the weakest point of this book, and while it's not a big element to this story it was very disappointing. In this book, Call gets a new love interest, and it comes completely out of the blue and honestly feels very forced. I mean I think there might have been a touch of foreshadowing in previous books, but nowhere near enough for it to not feel forced and on top of that there is next to no chemistry with these characters, thus there was no reason for me to root for them. I mean, even Call and Celia had more chemistry.

World Building: The majority of this book's world building revolves around Constantine Madden and his goals. I don't want to give that much away, but I will say that we see more about the world outside of the Magisterium, and get a deeper look inside the minds of the villains of this story. Honestly, that's pretty much it. I mean, the story was immensely enjoyable at times, but most of the time it was just sort of a middle area in terms of enjoyment. This is a very short book and because of that not too much happens. There are a few big developments over the course of the book and again we do get a deeper look at this world, these characters, and where the story is headed, but I just couldn't help but feel that either the authors are saving the bulk of things for the last book, or they've sort of lost steam for this series.

Predictability: This book definitely had its moments. I mean, on the whole, I knew more or less what was going to happen, either the story didn't do such a great job at foreshadowing or the book just followed a fairly simple premise, but that being said there were some fantastic moments in this book. There are things that happen in this book that either shocked and thrilled me or chilled me to my core.

Ending: So much like the previous installment, this ending was the most twisted and topsy-turvey part of the whole book. The final climax was fantastic, while not quite the action sequence I was hoping for it was fraught with tension and was very moving. Everything after well let's just say that I'm left with a lot of questions and a cliffhanger that will make the next year not so happy.

Rating:

I heavily debated this rating, I mean, I gave the last book four stars only because of the messy romance that this series has, and honestly continues to have, but in the end I felt I had to knock off another star because I didn't feel that the authors put their all into this book and while I'm optimistic for the finale, it's a very cautious optimism.

Book Review: Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2)

Release Date: May 23, 2017
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 701 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Would you trade your soul mate for your soul?

A Shadowhunter’s life is bound by duty. Constrained by honor. The word of a Shadowhunter is a solemn pledge, and no vow is more sacred than the vow that binds parabatai, warrior partners—sworn to fight together, die together, but never to fall in love.

Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?

Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile, rising tension between Shadowhunters and Downworlders has produced the Cohort, an extremist group of Shadowhunters dedicated to registering Downworlders and “unsuitable” Nephilim. They’ll do anything in their power to expose Julian’s secrets and take the Los Angeles Institute for their own.

When Downworlders turn against the Clave, a new threat rises in the form of the Lord of Shadows—the Unseelie King, who sends his greatest warriors to slaughter those with Blackthorn blood and seize the Black Volume. As dangers close in, Julian devises a risky scheme that depends on the cooperation of an unpredictable enemy. But success may come with a price he and Emma cannot even imagine, one that will bring with it a reckoning of blood that could have repercussions for everyone and everything they hold dear.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Since this story has such a large and diverse cast of characters, in order to keep this section from getting huge, I'm going to pick three characters, those who either have a more significant role in this story than the previous one, or those whose story was more interesting to me. Don't get me wrong, all these characters are fantastic and they grow and evolve at such a wonderful rate and all their stories are very compelling. I think the character that surprised me the most was Drusilla, the Blackthorn that's too old to be a child, but too young to be an adult. While she didn't have as significant a role in this story, as most of the other characters, she has her own little subplot that looks very promising for the final installment and brings up questions I need to be answered ASAP.  Kit Rook, the boy revealed to really be Christopher Herondale at the end of the previous installment really comes into his own as he goes from con man's son trying to survive without his father to Ty's detective sidekick to, well I'm not going to give it away. Kit's character development was really fun to watch. His plotlines with Ty and Livvy were some of the best parts about this book and I can't wait to see where his story goes in future installments and how, and if, he makes it out of this series. Dianna Wrayburn, the Blackthorns' tutor also has some incredibly surprising character revelations in this story as well. I love Dianna, her care for the Blackthorns is fantastic and the secrets that she hides make her all the more compelling and intriguing of a character.

Romance: So, of course, the central romance to this series is the one between Emma and Julian, but of course they're parabatai and love doesn't come without breaking the Law and a curse of madness and destruction. A large portion of this book doesn't have really any development on Emma and Julian's relationship, mostly it's just a silent longing from afar, but as the story continues there are some very significant moments between the two, and while I'm not quite sure where their romance will end, for good or bad, I'm still excited to see how everything there is resolved. An even more complicated romance, if that's even possible, is whatever is going on between Diego, Cristina, Mark, and Kieran. When I first started this story I had no idea where the romance could go, let alone where it would. As this story progressed and the bonds between these characters begin to shift and change, I definitely have an idea or two where things might go, and it fascinates me to no end to see where these characters not only end up personally but romantically as well. The romance in this story is incredibly on point and while at times it can be a tad idyllic, the situations the romantic partners are put into aren't.

World Building: You would think that after ten other books set in this world that there wouldn't be a need for any more world building since there was so much time to build it before. However, what I love about Clare's world is that it's constantly evolving and changing. After the repercussions of the fallout in City of Heavenly Fire, Shadowhunters grow more and more distrustful of Downworlders, the Fae in particular, and so in this series, and this installment we get to see a lot of the world building that concerns the Fae. There is a trip taken into Faerie that leads our heroes on a dangerous quest full of high risk and even higher rewards. Meanwhile, something sinister is rising from within the Clave, a bigoted group called the Cohort seek to restrict the rights of Downworlders even more, not even seeing them as people deserving of rights. On another front, the Unseelie King, a man who craves power and hates Shadowhunters is rising and with his rise, he hopes to see the death of all Shadowhunters and the subjugation of everyone else. This world just keeps growing and evolving and while I'm a bit worried about its future, I'm excited about the journey and adventure.

Predictability: Honestly, I've been sitting here and wondering what in this book I was able to predict. I mean, there were some vague feelings I had that turned out to be true, and some very obvious foreshadowing that I don't think was intended to be subtle. Other than that there wasn't much of anything I was able to predict and this story has a whole lot of twists and turns. There's one twist that completely floored me and made me cry, like really cry, not just tear up, and I won't say if it's a happy, sad, proud, or angry cry but it was a very emotionally draining scene and a very powerful one as well.

Ending: So, full disclosure, the ending of this book was spoiled for me. I won't reveal how, but let's just say that when the final book in this series comes out I might have to have an internet ban until I finish the book. Anyway, so when the final chapter rolled around, I thought I was ready for what I was about to read. However, the final chapter of this story is chock full of intensity, tension, joyful moments, and not so great ones, and when what I knew was inevitably coming finally came, it still impacted my feelings probably just as much as if I'd been reading it for the first time. The finale of this story leaves things hanging in a way that will make me curse the author for making me wait two years to figure out what happens.

Rating:

So, this wasn't much of a surprise. I mean, I went into this book knowing I was going to love it, but I wasn't fully aware of how much until this moment. This book blew me away and while I am very angry to have to wait a while to catch back up with these characters, I'm also obsessed with finally starting The Last Hours series.

Book Review: The Bronze Key (Magisterium #3)

Release Date: August 30, 2016
Authors: Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Scholastic
Length: 256 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Magic can save you.
Magic can kill you.

Students at the Magisterium are supposed to be safe. Under the watchful eyes of the mages, they are taught to use magic to bring order to a chaotic world.

But now the chaos is fighting back. Call, Tamara, and Aaron should be worrying about things like pop quizzes and magic contests. Instead, after the shocking death of one of their classmates, they must track down a sinister killer… and risk their own lives in the process.

As Call, Tamara, and Aaron discover, magic can only be as good as the person who wields it. In evil hands, it has the capacity to do immeasurable harm, unless it is stopped in time.

In this striking third book of Magisterium, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare present us with a school where anything, good or evil, can happen, and the only way to unlock the truth is to risk everything to find it.

    

Review:

Protagonist: After spending the entire summer with his best friend, Aaron, and getting an award for the destruction of The Enemy of Death, Callum Hunt is really happy with his life. He's even hoping to have a normal year at the Magisterium, that is until an attempt is made on his life and a fellow student winds up dead. Now, Call, Aaron, and Tamara want nothing more than to discover the spy hidden in the Magisterium, and if all goes to plan, do so without breaking too many rules. Call's character development in this story, at least in regards to the main plot, is done very well. There's a huge theme of personal responsibility, and knowing that your actions have consequences, some good and some that could cause irreparable harm. Over the story, Call sort of lets this lesson sink in and there are some parallels with Constantine and Call and their own personal journeys, and the responsibility they each had in their lives.

Romance: Ugh. Seriously I kind of just want to leave it at that comment and move on, but I also feel the need to elaborate more. So, if this series never had romance in it I would have been fine. If the authors had taken the time to really grow and develop a romance between two characters, even if one of them wasn't Call, that would have been fine as well. However, the romance, if you even want to call it that, in this series is a mess. It's like there's this weird love triangle with Celia, Call, and Jasper, and then there may or may not be romantic things going on between Call's apprentice group, but it's all done in a very vague way which leaves me just wanting Call and Aaron together because they make more sense than any other romance in this series, and they honestly don't even make that much sense.

World-Building: There's something dark brewing within the Magisterium and it's after Callum. As our characters go through their Bronze Year at the Magisterium, Master Rufus informs them that they are not to put a toe out of line and they are to devote themselves to their studies. Over the course of the book, we learn more about magic, specifically chaos magic, as Call and Aaron are both Makaris. We see more Elementals and meet up with characters we haven't seen since the first book and catching up with characters we saw in the previous installment. Honestly, though, I'm not quite sure what to put here. I mean, there is a great deal of world building, specifically, characterwise, we learn about so many characters, their backstories and their motivations. However, there isn't all that much more to the world that we get to see, we find out where all the big Elementals are being held, and that scene specifically was very fun, and we finally see the Collegium, but overall, we more get a greater sense of the world as a whole and specifically certain characters' roles within it.

Predictability: I'm going to be honest with you, I read the last line of the book before I got there. This happens sometimes when I try to see how many pages a book has (I really should have just looked it up on GR) and my eyes curiously wander. That being said, while I had a vague idea of what was coming, I was in no way prepared for what happens in this book. I'm still trying to get over the events of this book. Granted, I did just finish it, but there's a lot that happens. Now, going into this book, and even up until nearly the final climax I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. There were a few twists that this story had already that caught me off guard, but that was nothing compared to the twisted ending this book has.

Ending: Like I said above, this ending is seriously twisty. As we get to the final climax of the story, things start to come together and make sense, however, then the final climax hits and I wasn't quite sure where things were going to go. Things happened in that climax that I don't want to talk about, mainly because of spoilers, and this all leads to the most confusing, yet interesting, cliffhanger of all time. Honestly, I don't know where this story is going to go next, and I don't care, all I care about is getting that next book in my hands and finding out.

Rating:

Literally, the only reason this book is getting four stars and not five is because of the romance. I'm sure by the end of the series it will all come together, but until then it's currently a mess and it detracts from the amazingness that is this story.

Top 10 Books of 2016!

It's time once again for the obligatory Top Books of the year. This year I decided to stick with a Top 10 since I felt like 16 best books of the year was too much. The rules are pretty much the same as last year. All of these books I read, reviewed and were released in the year 2016. All of these books I gave 5 stars, to be as fair as possible only one book per author, and since it was really hard to rate them in a particular order, THESE BOOKS ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. Now, without further ado on to my Top 10 Books of 2016! (As always you can click on the book covers to read my full reviews of these books!)

1. The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves #2) by Morgan Rhodes

Starting off this list is a book that either I don't think a lot of people have heard of or were turned off by because of the first book in this series. I'll be the first to say that while I enjoyed A Book of Spirits and Thieves immensely, I was pretty annoyed with the fact that most of it takes place in modern day Toronto and not in Ancient Mytica, which was pretty much the stronger storyline anyway. That being said, this second book more than makes up for it. It brings together the two plot lines wonderfully as well as gives a much more expansive look into the Ancient Mytican storyline. While I'm saddened to hear that book 3 has been postponed so the author can finish writing the Falling Kingdoms series, I'm still waiting with bated breath to find out what happens next.

2. Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter

When I first heard that the third Jackaby book would be delving into one of the more anticipated mysteries of the series, the death of Jenny Cavanaugh, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, and this was before Beastly Bones was even released. So when I got my hands on a sneak peek of the first six chapters or so I thought I'd be taken with it right away, however, I became concerned when I wasn't swept away by the free preview I got. I shouldn't have worried though because once I got the full book in my hands it became my favorite Jackaby mystery yet, I'm both highly anticipated and secretly mourning the release of the final book in this series, however after this series is complete I can't wait to see what Ritter will come up with next.

3. The Head of Medusa (Elementals #3) by Michelle Madow

When I first began the Elementals series by Michelle Madow, I thought it was a fun, almost guilty pleasure-like series. However, as the story developed I really grew attached to the world and it's characters and by the time I got to this third book, The Head of Medusa, I was fully invested in what was going on. I was so excited to find that I genuinely loved this installment, the pacing is a bit weird, with almost two parts to the story, but that's really easy to get over and this makes for one of, if not the most, intense installments in this series.

4. Traveler (World of Warcraft: Traveler #1) by Greg Weisman

If you told me at the beginning of 2016 that I'd give a spot on my Top Books list to a branded book like World of Warcraft: Traveler, I would have said you were crazy. It's not that branded books can't be good, it's just that usually they aren't. However, earlier this year my cousin, who's a big WoW nerd, found out about this series and asked me to read it. It's written by a producer and writer of one of our favorite shows, Young Justice, and so I decided to give it a try. While I would say some remedial knowledge of Warcraft lore is preferable, this book does do a lot to make sure you understand what's going on without holding your hand through it. The story is completely engrossing and I'm bummed that more people aren't reading it because it's truly phenomenal. I can't wait until the next installment comes out.

5. The Inquisition (Summoner #2) by Taran Matharu

Even though the beginning of this book made me sick with disgust at how the villains of this series behaved as they ganged up on our hero, in a way that perfectly showed off what bigoted and spiteful demons they truly are, I can't fault this book for that. In fact, I commend this author for not holding back on the trials and tribulations that our "good" main characters have to go through. After the extreme trials Fletcher has to go through, in the beginning, we see this world open up so much more than we got to see in book one, and led to one of the best cliffhanger endings I've ever read.

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

Going into 2016 I wasn't as excited for Lady Midnight as most of my friends were. Granted I hadn't read City of Heavenly Fire yet and I barely remembered the plotline of City of Lost Souls, however after getting those two books read this year my curiosity was piqued for this first book in a new Shadowhunters series. I was not let down when I started this book and I ended up devouring it in just a couple of days. I can't wait to continue this series in Lord of Shadows, and while it's still a bit more than a year away, I'm greatly looking forward to the start of the Last Hours series. 

7. The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) by Rick Riordan

After a slightly disappointing, although still thoroughly entertaining, start to the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, I was pretty apprehensive thinking that if a new series was far too reminiscent of Percy Jackson for my liking that a new Camp Half-Blood series might just be too much. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved nearly every minute of this adventure. Apollo is a hysterical narrator and I was excited to find that Riordan didn't lean too much on old characters, but instead seem to be using them as cameos and guest appearances as necessary which leave the series still feeling new and fresh.

8. Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den (Simon Thorn #1)

I picked up a copy of Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den at BEA 2015 and because I'd read some of Carter's previous works I thought I'd try her first foray into the world of Middle-Grade lit. I was not fully prepared for what I read. This book has a remarkably similar feeling to a Percy Jackson adventure, but instead with shapeshifting animals instead of Greek demigods. The world building of the series is phenomenal and I didn't expect a Middle-Grade book to keep me on my toes as much as this one did, but there were twists that shocked me to my core in this adventure. I can't wait for the sequel and in fact, I'll be reading it here shortly but first I want to give this installment a quick reread!

9. Dawn of Ash (Imdalind #6) by Rebecca Ethington

There were two Imdalind books that came out in 2016, this one, Dawn of Ash, and the conclusion to the entire series, Crown of Cinders, why I chose to include this one, other than simply enjoying it more, is how much was packed into it and how much it impacted the entire series. There are things that go down in this installment that I would never have expected. This book definitely derails the series in a fantastic way and if you haven't begun the Imdalind series by now you really should it's inexplicably amazing.

10. Burning Shadows (The Order of the Krigers #2) by Jennifer Anne Davis

Much like the Imdalind series, there were two Order of the Krigers books published this year, though both met the criteria to be included on this list. In fact, if I wasn't able to finish Burning Shadows by the end of the year, or if I didn't like it as much, the first book, Rise, would have taken its place on this list. Without giving away the plot of Rise I have to say that this installment takes this series to a whole new level. There were a few things I was worried about going into this installment, and yet I shouldn't have feared, Davis does and expert job and manipulating her characters and their predicaments to feel relatable and entertaining. I'm chomping at the bit to find out what happens at the end of this trilogy.

Honorable Mentions:

      

            

Final Bits: Much like last year I've left decided to keep the Honorable Mentions category for books that I read this year that probably would have made the main list had they been published in 2016. Each of these books was special in their own way, and each of the had a rather large impact on my year. I loved the messages about the consequences of spreading rumors and the power of lies seen in The Truth About Alice. Hidden Huntress led to some of the most intense world building I've read all year. The Exiled Queen led to a tipping point and compelled me to binge read the rest of the Seven Realms series as soon as I could. Finally, All In was one of the most shocking and unpredictable books I've ever read. Anyway, those are my top books that I read and reviewed over the last year. What books made your list? Leave a comment or link to your list below! Happy New Year everyone!

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare (WOW #19)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight.

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

Lord of Shadows releases on May 23, 2017 from Margaret K. McElderry Books

Look at that cover! Seriously, it's kind of tripping me out here. I loved Lady Midnight so much, much more than I actually thought I would and I cannot wait to dive back into this fantastic series and see where our heroes will go next and what dangers they may face. On a less vague note, I'm particularly interested in the romantic entanglements that seem to center around Mark Blackthorn, he's fake dating Emma, but he had a thing with Cristina, and while he was trapped in Faerie had some sort of romantic relationship with the dark faerie prince Kieran. Plus, I'm interested to see how the reawakening of Lady Midnight will factor into the overall storyline since it's not mentioned here.

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Book Review: Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1)

Release Date: March 8, 2016
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Length: 720 pages
Source: Purchased Book

The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.

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?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.

    

Review:

Characters: Like other Shadowhunters books this series has a wide cast of characters that tell this tale. Foremost we have Emma, the girl we first met in City of Heavenly Fire, who will at any cost find out who really murdered her parents during the Dark War. Emma is a very driven character who gives almost no heed to danger or the rules. Then there's Julian, who after the harsh ruling of the Clave exiling his sister and giving up on looking for his brother, has become the primary caregiver of his four younger siblings. He will do anything to protect his family, that protection also extending to his parabatai Emma, even if that means doing something unsavory. Then there's Cristina Rosales, a girl on her travel year from the Mexico City Institute, who quickly befriends Emma and the Blackthorns. Christina is a very wise and loyal person, she also has secrets, such as why she's even at the LA Institute. Finally there's Mark (there are more characters but we'd be here all day if I kept going,) after spending what felt like years in the Wild Hunt he's returned to his family changed. He doesn't quite look older physically, but he acts much more like one of the Fair Folk than a Shadowhunter, Each of these characters I've mentioned, and the ones I haven't, are so multi-layered, and as the story progresses we learn more and more about them. They develop and grow beautifully and I can't wait to see where they go.

Romance: So normally I'm not a fan of forbidden love. It's something that's been done so much it should be taught in How to Write Romance 101. However this forbidden romance intrigued me. Until this book it's never been explained why parabatai cannot fall in love. The only explanation to it being the Shadowhunter mantra, "The Law is Hard but It's the Law." In this book Julian and Emma aren't automatically already in love or at least not that they fully realize. As this book goes on their feelings start to bubble to the surface and, not like I already wasn't, I was rooting for them. I love how their love is described, it's definitely not this pure and innocent thing, there are some rough edges to it, but it's still written so well. As for the other romances in this book, since you know Cassie Clare can't resist lots of romance, that's a bit of a tangled mess. I was surprised to discover that this story has a love triangle of sorts, and I'm not completely sure how I feel about it. I mean, I do enjoy the tensions and drama of the triangle (square?) I'm just not entirely sure I know where I want these characters to end up.

World-Building: WOW! There's a lot of world-building in this book. So first off let me say that I love the change of scenery in this book. While I love the New York crew they were very much cut off from Mundane culture, except off handed references from Clary and Simon, however the entire LA crew has knowledge of Mundane culture and thrives in it. It feels much more present day than TMI did, not that it didn't it's just different, anyway then there getting to know the Blackthorn family and learning what's happened with them since the Dark War and where they stand after the Cold Peace. In fact it isn't just the LA residents of the Shadow World who've changed, the entirety of the Shadow World lies changed after the Cold Peace, Things that six year prior would have been perfectly legal, like a Shadowhuter protecting a Fae, is now illegal unless given permission by the Clave. Things are different and this world is different and there are those who aren't afraid to take advantage of these changes for their own nefarious purposes. And of course as this world gets bigger and expands into new series we see and check in on characters from the past who come to help out and check in on out current group of protagonists.

Predictability: So the central mystery of this book is the seemingly random serial killings that have strange ties to Emma's parents deaths. There are other mysteries such as many of the central characters' pasts, but for the most part it's looking into the deaths so that the Blackthorns can get their brother back permanently. I have to say even with the rather spoilery things I knew before starting this book (the internet is an evil place) I still had my doubt about who did it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Cassie Clare is a wiz at foreshadowing. She never makes anything too obvious, but leaves just enough so that when it's revealed, even if it seems to come out of the blue, there's enough that makes it all make sense.

Ending: So the ending to this book is kind of weird. In a way there are like two endings. The first ending where what I think is the final climax goes down. Every thing is full on tension and action, with a few crazy twists thrown in, followed by a seemingly reasonable cool down period where things are explained, and this installment is seemingly put to rest. But then no, there's another climactic moment not too long after, where more action and fighting goes down, more characters show up, and more twists are lobbed around and revealed. Followed then by the real, final cool down period where this book comes to a close, but not before a short epilogue with a confusing but nonetheless chocking cliffhanger.

Rating:

Gah! This book was amazing, I loved the characters, loved the world-building and the secrets that were revealed, even the ones I was in no way expecting, and finally I loved the Annabel Lee inspiration this book has.

Book Review: City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6)

Release Date: May 27, 2014
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Length: 725 pages
Source: Purchased Book

In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother.

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.

The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris - but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?

When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...

Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the word in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!

    

Review:

Characters: So I've said it many times before and I'll say it again. I love these characters. I recently reread City of Lost Souls and while I was reading that I felt like I was sort of over the Mortal Instruments characters, not that they aren't fascinating, but because that book didn't exactly do them justice, especially not coming back after nearly three years, however this book, this book was everything. Not only do we see the core five characters grow and develop in surprising and wonderful ways, but we also see and meet characters from other series in the Shadowhunters world, including the newly released, though at the time upcoming, Dark Artifices series.

Romance: Once again I loved how evenly the romance is spread out. In the first three books of this series the romance was very concentrated on Jace and Clary, and trust me there are many romantic Jace and Clary scenes in this book, but the romance is also spread around quite a lot. My personal favorite was Izzy and Simon, I don't know what it was about this romance, there was a great many things, but I just love the way they unexpectedly fit together. There is also some Magnus and Alec romance, though not quite as much as one might hope, but it's there. Honestly, all of the romances in this series are written well and extremely compelling.

World-Building: There is a LOT of world-building in this book. Honestly with this being the last in a six book series I wasn't expecting all that much world-building, but this is much more than the last book of a series. It also serves as a lead in to The Dark Artifices and almost and extended epilogue to The Infernal Devices. You would think with so much going on and so many characters in play that the world would get too complicated and the story would get lost by the wayside, but no everything tied together so well, fit just right, that I never truly felt like I was taken out of the story.

Predictability: So truth time? I sort of got spoiled on this book, a lot. However even though I knew about a lot of the things that were going to happen, there was still a thing or two that caught me off guard. In fact the foreshadowing to this book, much of which I picked up on due to spoilage, is still very well crafted. I mean, granted I don't know for certain how I would have reacted and what I would have caught on to, but I'm sure there would have been quite a lot that would have shocked the hell out of me. In fact even when I knew what was going to happen, even when I knew the outcome, some things still deeply affected me, which I can only attribute to how well this book was written.

Ending: This book ended sooner than I had expected. I mean I knew how it ended, I just didn't know quite when it did. The final climax, or at least the final battle, comes a couple chapters away from the end. I really liked the way it was handled, everything sort of fit very well, and everything just made a lot of sense. The cooldown period, which comes in the form of the last official chapters deals a lot with the clean up and regime changes as this series comes to a close and another one begins. Then there's the epilogue. Honestly, I don't know what I want to say about this. It's a good epilogue for one thing and there's quite a lot to it. I'm not going to say that it ties up all loose ends, because it doesn't, but I think it leaves everything in a good place. There's still much left to explore in this world.

Rating:

So I've seen a lot of people say that this is their favorite book in this series, but with how subpar the last two were, it was hard for me to believe, however after reading this book there's no contest. Between the amazing character and romantic developments to the introduction and lead in to the new series and callbacks to The Infernal Devices, this book was Glorious.