Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
Published: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 698 (Hardcover)
Series: The Dark Artifices #1
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

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.

These books make me feel old (not that I'm really that old), but I first started reading Cassandra Clare books 7 years ago. Honestly, if an author has kept me reading their books for that long there has to be something good about their books. I don't know if it's because I'm super sentimental or what, but I love these shadowhunter books. 

This world always manages to drag me in. It's probably because it has just about all the supernatural creatures you could ever possibly imagine and want all in one and I'm a sucker for supernatural books. Especially well written supernatural books. I'm all for the author's writing, mainly because I actually laugh out loud while reading. Ok maybe it's more of a snicker, but still. I have way more emotions from this book than I've had reading many other books. 

 I really enjoyed the whole cast of characters, even if I would get some of them confused. It took me forever to stop getting Ty and Tavvy confused. Tavvy didn't really have any really distinguishing qualities, except for the fact that he was the youngest. Dru and Livvy also weren't that distinguishable, but I didn't really get them mixed up (probably because their names were so different). I wish that those characters were more developed throughout the story. Since they weren't developed it almost felt like there were too many characters, especially for someone that isn't familiar with the series. There were many name drops and guest appearances by characters from other series that would not make sense if the reader hadn't read any of the other books. While I did enjoy seeing some of my old favorite characters, it kind of felt unnecessary. 

I did really love the main cast of characters, specifically Julian, Emma, and Mark. Julian is so precious and I loved how fiercely he loves his family. Emma was badass, but also had a soft side and she felt like a real person. Especially since she was dealing with the loss of her parents, while also trying to navigate her feelings. I also really enjoyed Mark's character, but I don't really want to spoil too much, so I'll leave it at that.

The romance was something that I enjoyed, but was also frustrated with. As much as I love Emma and Julian, I didn't understand why they couldn't always be truthful with each other. The ending was something that didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. I feel like they could have worked it out some how and it was unnecessarily painful. I did like the build up of their romance though. It was sweet and it didn't feel like insta love because they had been friends since they were children.  

I definitely enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down most of the time and I really loved being able to return to the shadowhunter world I've loved so much. I'll definitely be going out to get the next one very soon!