Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1) in Mortal Instruments & Infernal Devices Lovers!

Mar 27, 2013 Jess at Such a Novel Idea rated it it was amazing

I tried to stretch it as long as I could.

This was fantastically done. Full of magic and left me only wanting more!

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Well, now I know I've got plans for my birthday in 2016.

*waits for another 8 months to go by* ...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Katie Lou rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

So, I was super lucky enough to win an early copy of Lady Midnight from the wonderful Amber at The Mile Long Bookshelf! Since the book has only just been released, obviously I’m keeping this review spoiler free. But you should know that I want to discuss all the things SO MUCH. Hopefully I’ll be able to upload a discussion video at a later date to talk about everything! In the meantime, prepare for this review to be a fangirlish mess. I have a feeling I might ramble a little bit here, so you may So, I was super lucky enough to win an early copy of Lady Midnight from the wonderful Amber at The Mile Long Bookshelf! Since the book has only just been released, obviously I’m keeping this review spoiler free. But you should know that I want to discuss all the things SO MUCH. Hopefully I’ll be able to upload a discussion video at a later date to talk about everything! In the meantime, prepare for this review to be a fangirlish mess. I have a feeling I might ramble a little bit here, so you may want to grab a cup of tea. I’m not joking.

Guys, you don’t need me to tell you how much I love Cassandra Clare’s books. The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices are two of my favourite series’ of all time, so I had high hopes for Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices series, and oh boy, did it deliver

This book picks up five years after the end of the Dark War, and it follows parabatai Emma and Julian, as Emma continues her quest to discover the truth about the murder of her parents. The Clave believes that Sebastian Morgenstern was responsible for their deaths, but she does not. When more murder victims show up in the same state as that of her parents, Emma and the Blackthorn family make a bargain to investigate and find the killer.

The characters in this book are amazing, there’s no doubt about it. I was worried that they might not live up to the awesomeness of the characters in the previous series’, but I had nothing to fear. As always, Cassie Clare delivered a fantastic array of well-developed, brilliantly intriguing, and diverse characters. I loved getting to know each of them, and I can’t wait to continue learning more about them as the series continues.

I’ll be honest, when I first met these characters in City of Heavenly Fire, I wasn’t hugely interested at the time. That’s because I busy worrying about the main characters in the current series! But I knew I’d get more of a chance to know them in The Dark Artifices, and as I predicted, I liked them much more in their own series. Personally, I think I might actually prefer Emma to Clary, which is something I couldn’t predict happening! But Emma has so much wit and sarcasm, she really is like a female Jace. So I utterly adored her. I also loved the tension between her and Julian as their relationship began to change. I’m very excited to see where this goes because of laws against parabatai relationships. My heart actually ached for them at times.

The rest of the Blackthorn family are just as interesting. Tiberius is great and I can’t wait to read more about him. I have a feeling he’ll get a bigger plot in the next book. Also, Mark Blackthorn is fascinating. His was the story that stood out for me in City of Heavenly Fire when he was taken by the Wild Hunt. Learning more about him and his time there was one of my favourite aspects of this book. I could probably sit and talk about each of the characters in this book all day, but none of us have time for that, unfortunately.

Moving on from the characters, THE PLOT IN THIS BOOK. OH MY GOODNESS. When a book keeps making your jaw drop until the very end, you know it’s special. Those twists in the final few chapters, I was not expecting one bit. I really wasn’t. I pride myself on being able to predict plot twists before they happen, but not with Lady Midnight. Nope. It’s a credit to how great a writer Cassie Clare is that I literally did not see the twists coming from a mile off. Also, a little warning, chapter 22 will utterly rip your heart out. Good luck reading that one, guys.

As expected, there were some references to the previous stories set in the Shadow World, and we got to catch up with some of the characters, which was beyond amazing. Jem and Tessa appear briefly, but I expect they’ll be featuring a lot more in this series, which I’m very excited about because I love Jem. Like, a LOT. Also, there is a short story at the end of this book which is AMAZING.

I know this is only the first book in this trilogy, and there’s so much more to come, but I can’t fault it so far. There isn’t one aspect of this book that I didn’t enjoy. There were a few plot points that made me frustrated, but that’s exactly what they were supposed to do. Lady Midnight takes you on a journey through a jungle of emotions, and I adored every second of it. I’m very much anticipating the next book, AND THE WAIT FOR IT IS GOING TO BE TORTUROUS. Thank you, Cassandra Clare, for sharing yet another story that completely consumed my heart. ...more

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May 09, 2013 Wisty rated it it was amazing

Wow. Ok. Thoughts and feels. So many thoughts and feels.

Cassandra Clare does it yet again. But even if she hadn't, I still probably would've given this book a high rating, for nostalgic reasons alone. It's not like I read Clare's others excellent series so long ago, but I feel like I've been immersed in the Shadowhunter world my whole life. So yeah, opening up this book and seeing that good ol' Dolly font, and seeing Shadowhunter- culture words and mentions of some favorite characters from the o Wow. Ok. Thoughts and feels. So many thoughts and feels.

Cassandra Clare does it yet again. But even if she hadn't, I still probably would've given this book a high rating, for nostalgic reasons alone. It's not like I read Clare's others excellent series so long ago, but I feel like I've been immersed in the Shadowhunter world my whole life. So yeah, opening up this book and seeing that good ol' Dolly font, and seeing Shadowhunter- culture words and mentions of some favorite characters from the other series made it so that a small percentage of me didn't care about the quality of the book. But I'm pleased to say, it was an excellent read all on its own.

I'm really amazed at how one woman can come up with such a complex world. This book was huge, and it didn't even require complete background because a lot of that was given in previous books. Yet Clare still managed to fit a zillion ideas into this huge book and still have a zillion more to put into upcoming books. It's seriously impressive.

The characters in this book were likable and adorable. Emma, Cristina, Julian, Ty, Livvy, Dru, and Tavvy- even Perfect Diego and Kit; I loved everyone. Clare has a way of including a lot of diversity without it seeming overly contrived.
And the descriptions were so poetic. I love how much thought was put into this, with the whole Annabel Lee thing, and murder mystery detective novel feel. And there's so much more to explore! In other words, I need the next book now.

I also laughed a lot, mostly at suprising moments. Clare always managed to include some lightness and banter(That Avengers conversation is what comes to mind!),even at the most serious times.

Of course, Clare writes swoonworthy romances like a pro, and though Julian didn't do it for me like Will did (but really, who does?), I was still shipping that romance so hard. Man, I hope it works out.

I look forward to more of Kit, now that his secret is out, and I couldn't help but tear up at the appearance of the beloved Jem and Tessa.

The ending was very emotional and upsetting! And holy cow, what about the extra story about Jace and Clary?! What the hell was that last line? I'm going to need that to be cleared up immediately, if not sooner.

Essentially, yet another excellent volume from Cassandra Clare, and I'm really feeling a lot right now. Also, this is the first time in a long time that I stayed up pretty late to continue reading, so I'm tired! And now, of course, the wait begins for the sequel. (This worries me. The wait for Clockwork Princess took over my whole life, and then I had the BIGGEST book hangover after reading it, and I really can't have that happen again. It's just too much.) ...more

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Dec 26, 2015 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-of-the-2010s, most-anticipated-2016, best-of-2016

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When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of t ...more

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Feb 20, 2014 Erica (thebookishblondie) rated it it was amazing

Ahhhh this book was so good!! It's my favourite first book in a Cassandra Clare series, so far!! I loved the characters, each one for different reasons. The plot twist near the end, and who betrayed them was a surprise to me. It never occurred to me that the person that it ended up being, would do that to them... I really enjoy Emma as our main character, even though she can be frustrating at times with her decisions, but nobody is perfect. I liked how she has been a Shadowhunter her whole life, ...more

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Feb 26, 2017 Jessica added it

Shelves: books-not-finished, fav-authors

Honestly, I couldn't get into this book. I'm so disappointed by that fact. I wanted so much to be able to read and enjoy it. Over the last year, I have stopped and started this book so many times, but none of the characters are grabbing me and making me want to keep reading. I hate to say this because I love Cassandra Clare and I love the Shadow World - The Mortal Instruments is my favorite series ever! I'm just so frustrated that I can't seem to get through this book. Honestly, the only reason ...more

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