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Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1)

Cassandra Clare

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: Series

Why we're reading this: Won the poll for the series BOTM
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What Members Thought

Sep 27, 2018 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, own-ebook-read, own-physical-read, audio, reviewed, romance, cover-love

10/20/2022: Reread on audiobook!
(view spoiler) 10/20/2022: Reread on audiobook!
(view spoiler)

ORIGINAL REVIEW
This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I am a bloody mess right now. A complete mess. A sobbing mess that has been perusing the interwebs for fanart of these beloved characters for the past hour and a half just to soothe my torn up soul. A part of me is glad that I waited to read Lady Midnight until Queen of Air and Darkness was almost ready to release because I don't think that I could have survived several years of not knowing what happens in this moving story. Another part of me is baffled why I waited so long to read it when I've owned this book since it was released, simply because this book destroyed me so thoroughly. I am talking TORE ME TO PIECES. The first series that I read by Cassandra Clare was The Mortal Instruments and I thought that nothing could compare to my love of the characters and the magical world within the pages. Then I read The Infernal Devices and my heart was shattered all over again. But it also grew. The Infernal Devices blew me away just as The Mortal Instruments had and left me with new character loves that shaped and defined my heart. I didn't think that it would be possible to love something more than those series but I was wrong. Cassandra Clare surpassed every expectation I had and then some with Lady Midnight. This book is by far the strongest Shadowhunter book to date. Granted I haven't read Lord of Shadows yet and Queen of Air and Darkness will be released in December, but I can only imagine that the last two books of this series will outmatch Lady Midnight. It seems that each Shadowhunter book that Clare writes surpassed the last. I can only be grateful for that.

So what about this book is so glorious? Well, everything. Most importantly are the characters. The characters are strong and moving. These characters evoke such emotion in me that I feel I can hardly breathe just thinking about them. They are written so beautifully. The characters have real struggles that will touch your heart. This book has a strong theme of family and loyalty. Most importantly is that these characters are three-dimensional. They have so much depth and are so vivid that you feel like you are living alongside them. When these characters are in pain, you are as well. When these characters are overjoyed, you feel happiness also. The very art of these characters emotions is so skillful that it is almost intimidating.

The next thing that I must praise is the masterful plot. I don't think that it could be called anything less. The plot of this book was set up in The Mortal Instruments, but this plot is so deep-rooted that it is mind-blowing. This plot is engaging, compelling, and so very flawless. All of the pieces fall together like a magic jigsaw puzzle. The foreshadowing is instrumented so phenomenally. One of the best words that I can think of to describe the plot is complex because there are so many components.

The world-building is just as strong as in other Shadowhunter books. I like getting a sense for the Shadowhunter world in other parts of the world.

The romance in this book will have you on the floor crying your eyes out. It will devastate you so completely. The romance is well written and full of so much emotion. It will pull on your heartstrings until you question everything about the Shadowhunter world. Apart from the main romance of the book, there are other love stories. One such love story is a tragic one that will make you question morality in the face of love and loss. Another love story is encompassed by betrayal and brings into question the lengths someone will go to in order to protect those they love.

Overall, this is the kind of book that you shout out your love for from the rooftops. This book will make you feel every single feeling you could imagine and then more. This book will gut you and leave you in limbo. There is a quote from Harry Potter that I think best describes the way this book will make you feel. [Queue Ron Weasley's voice.] "You're gonna suffer... but you're gonna be happy about it..." And that's the truth. I have never been more happy to feel destroyed and shattered. I recommend all of Cassandra Clare's books. ALL OF THEM! If you haven't experienced her genius then you are missing out on something truly special.

More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction ...more

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Mar 12, 2016 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016-read, 2016-march-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Finally finished this early this morning and only took 5 days to finish.

My first reaction once I closed the book was: I really have to wait another year for book two and possible two/three years for book three. How am I going to survive. I don't know if I can especially with all the loose threads at the end. The pain is real.

Speaking of pain I predict a lot of it coming in the next books to come especially what Emma planned to do at the end. It is not going to be good. I end was admonishing Em Finally finished this early this morning and only took 5 days to finish.

My first reaction once I closed the book was: I really have to wait another year for book two and possible two/three years for book three. How am I going to survive. I don't know if I can especially with all the loose threads at the end. The pain is real.

Speaking of pain I predict a lot of it coming in the next books to come especially what Emma planned to do at the end. It is not going to be good. I end was admonishing Emma and told her not to because it's going to be heart breaking or more accurately more heart breaking. The pain. The pain.

This story had me going through so much emotionally along the way as well as had me deeply engrossed in the story and the characters. There was just so much going on and it was complex just like the Shadow World was meant to be. I forgot, but it was easy to jump right in and just get consumed like the first two series in the Shadow World, which I loved. Originally I wasn't as exited about TDA compared to upcoming TLH, which features Will and Tessa's children so when I first heard of TDA I was lukewarm about it. I even planned on waiting until the whole series to release before reading them. It wasn't until a few months ago that my interested piqued and suddenly I knew that I wouldn't be able to wait and hoping that I would be okay for the wait between books. Well I am not okay with the wait and I am officially hooked like I was with TMI and TID. How the heck does Cassandra do it? And how does create these great characters and interesting plot lines?

I am in love. I am addicted. And I am already broken for fear of what is to come in future books. It's not fair. Why do authors do this to readers? Torture them and cause them pain along with the characters. Cassandra knows how to break us and she better put us back together at series end or I won't be a happy camper.

This was everything a book should be. It had lots of mystery and interesting twists and turns a long the way. It was engaging from the very beginning. As were the characters that were being explored both old and new in lots of interesting depth. I never thought I would love these characters like I loved Jace, Clary, Simon, Jem, Will, Tessa, etc. Boy was I wrong I love them just as much or more. I fell in love with these characters. I really did especially Julian, Mark, Emma, and Cristina. Really the whole bunch but those four really touched my heart and I am excited and scared to see their upcoming journeys in the next installments. My poor Julian he has suffered and sacrificed so much I want him to get his happy ending.

There was lots of good tension and angst going on between the characters due to their relationships romantic or otherwise. I loved seeing relationships grow and changed over the coarse of the book and was really another driving force of the book. It was as interesting as the mysterious plot that was going on and even more so because I was rooting for characters and wanted to see what was happening between characters. It was very interesting. And I loved it.

There was way more romance in this book than I thought. Not that it was the crux of the book but was a main feature. The romance didn't take over, but it was there more than I was anticipating. It was the set up for angsty romances to come with the foundations have been set. I didn't anticipate that the romances would come forth until later in the series where the conflict would be will they/ won't they with lots of things unspoken between characters. Meaning I thought it would take awhile to get there before anything romantic happened. Boy was I wrong? At the time I didn't know if I was happy about it or not because I knew they would soon be torn apart for the rest of the series and I am not sure if I want to see it because I know they are going hurt and so am I. It's going be so painful. The romances were painful already and this was just the tip of the iceberg and that was bad enough. I don't know if I am going to survive it in the end. All that pain. I do have my pairs that I ship mainly Emma and Julian and also Mark and Cristina but I don't know if either is going to get their happy ever afters but that's who I currently want together. Might change my along the way but I doubt it. The romance is just going to hurt period and I am really not looking forward to it. I don't even know if it will end happily or not. I hope so but I don't know. The pain. The pain. Ugh.

Bottom line the whole book was done really well. I thought by half way through I predicted what was going to happen, but I was totally wrong. I was kept on my toes with curve ball after curve ball that was being thrown at me. I would have never predicted what had happened. I wasn't even close but that's what makes it fun and all the better. I have my prediction for the future of the series or what might happened but I could once again be totally wrong and probably am. We will see.

I know I will read this book again and pick up on little details along the way especially have to read it before the next book comes out. And I will happily do so because it was so good. I am beyond intrigued by this series you have no idea. I love this series so far. Io love all the angst and feels. I loved the cameos of fan favorites along the way. That made me beyond happy. I love Julian Blackthorn. I love the plot. Really I loved everything so far and I loved the twists at the end and the loose ends yet to be explored are even more interesting possibilities to explore. Lots of territory to explore. Where the endgame for this series, I don't know. The wait is going to kill. Why did you do this to me Cassandra Clare? Why? ...more

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Jan 11, 2017 Sarah rated it it was amazing

I was so hesitant to read this because I was worried that with how many books this world has so far that it wouldn't be captivating enough to hold me.

I'm happy to report that I was completely wrong! This book was simply perfection. The mystery was fresh and I loved the literary aspect to it, and... Julian and Emma. I can't. I'm so broken right now.

This series is definitely fighting The Infernal Devices for my favorite series in this world! ...more

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Sep 25, 2016 Tweller83 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, fantasy, district-book-committee

Sometimes the audio is great, others less so. This one was decent but a little confusing, especially at the end. I think I'll have to look at the print version to see why the music came on twice at the end. This book is about a new generation of Shadow Hunters. Those introduced in the last book of the City of Bones series. I liked it, but I have to admit, not as much as the previous series. A cliff-hanger ending makes me realize this will be another series. I should have expected that. I don't w ...more

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