Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
I remember reading The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare for the first time clearly. It was the first book since Harry Potter that I completely and totally fell in love with. The Shadow world that Clare created was a world that I could live in forever. I told everyone about it and how wonderful it was. I loved the first 3 in the series more than anything. The last three I didn't love as much, but I was still glad that the world was continuing being built and I did not have to say goodbye to these characters just yet. I have read pretty much everything that Clare has written (I still need to read The Shadowhunters Codex, but I'll get there), and although I've never loved anything as much as the first 3 books she gave us, I have always loved going back into this familiar world.
When I learned that she was releasing another book, I was ecstatic! I pre-ordered it right away and started re-reading everything she had given us. I read the synopsis over and over again trying to figure out where this exciting new series was going to take us. I was definitely okay with the story following Emma and Julian instead of Clary and Jace; I was done with their story and ready for new blood. What made me overly excited for the book was that Mark Blackthorn was coming back, which meant that we would learn more about the world of the fae, which isn't really covered in the other series but as always intrigued me.
I didn't read the book right away when it first came out. I knew so many people reading it, I wanted to wait until there was less hype about it. But the more I saw people reading it, the more they said how amazing it was, I decided that it would be my next read.
Lady Midnight takes place 5 years after City of Heavenly Fire, so 2012, in LA. Some killings have been going on, but they involve mundanes and faeries so the Clave won't investigate them. However, they have caught the attention of Emma Carstairs because they are very similar to her parents murders. Although the Clave decided that Sebastian Morgenstern was their murderer, Emma has never believed it. She is not the only one fighting demons of her past. Mark Blackthron has been returned to the family after he has spent 5 years in Wild Hunt. Mark may not have aged at all during these last few years, everyone else has and they aren't the kids who he left behind.
-There is more of a family aspect to this one than there were in previous Clare novels.
-The last 5-7 chapters made up for the entire novel.
So now I'm going to say two things that are going to upset you. #sorrynotsorry
When Lord of Shadows comes out, I'm not going to rush to read it.
Also, I ship Emma and Mark. Yep, I said!
All in all, I wasn't as impressed with it as everyone else was. For me, it didn't live up to the hype that everyone was giving it.
Rating: 6/10
Pages: 668 (Hardcover)
Books in Series: 3 planned, but this is currently the only one; sequel to The Mortal Instruments series
Genre(s): Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Should You Read It: If you are a fan of Cassie Clare, yes. Otherwise, I think you can pass.
When I learned that she was releasing another book, I was ecstatic! I pre-ordered it right away and started re-reading everything she had given us. I read the synopsis over and over again trying to figure out where this exciting new series was going to take us. I was definitely okay with the story following Emma and Julian instead of Clary and Jace; I was done with their story and ready for new blood. What made me overly excited for the book was that Mark Blackthorn was coming back, which meant that we would learn more about the world of the fae, which isn't really covered in the other series but as always intrigued me.
I didn't read the book right away when it first came out. I knew so many people reading it, I wanted to wait until there was less hype about it. But the more I saw people reading it, the more they said how amazing it was, I decided that it would be my next read.
Plot
Lady Midnight takes place 5 years after City of Heavenly Fire, so 2012, in LA. Some killings have been going on, but they involve mundanes and faeries so the Clave won't investigate them. However, they have caught the attention of Emma Carstairs because they are very similar to her parents murders. Although the Clave decided that Sebastian Morgenstern was their murderer, Emma has never believed it. She is not the only one fighting demons of her past. Mark Blackthron has been returned to the family after he has spent 5 years in Wild Hunt. Mark may not have aged at all during these last few years, everyone else has and they aren't the kids who he left behind.
From here on out, there a spoilers that range anywhere from minor to major!
Read with caution!
I'm serious!
You've been warned!
Characters
Emma Carstairs: Emma is now 17 years old and she is completely in love with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, which is totally illegal in the Shadowhunter world. She is also very much obsessed with her parents murders because she doesn't think Sebastian killed them. She is a bad ass fighter and very determined.
Julian "Jules" Blackthorn: Emma's parabatai and make shift parent for the Blackthorn children. Being the oldest of the children who hasn't been abandoned by the Clave, he feels a major responsibility for them and takes on way more than he should. By the end of the novel, you learn everything he does to keep the family together, and your heart breaks a little.
Drusilla "Dru" Blackthorn: The second youngest of the Blackthorn children. She loves horror movies because there aren't demons in them. She is curvier than the average Shadowhunter, and she knows this, which makes her a little uncomfortable. She makes a comment on how her aunt called her a "Butterball" and I hate the aunt for telling an impressionable young girl this comment.
Livia "Livvy" Blackthorn: She is the 4th of the 7 children and is Ty's twin. She is one of the more practical Blackthorn children and takes great care to protect her family after that Dark War.
Tiberius "Ty" Blackthorn: Twin of Livvy and 5th of the 7 children. He is autistic and because of this, he is deemed "weird" by other Shadowhunters. He is extremely brilliant though and is the detective of the family. He isn't much of a fighter but can throw knives like no ones business.
Octavian "Tavvy" Blackthorn: The youngest of the Blackthorn children, he has a very vivid imagination and taught himself to read when he was young.
Mark Blackthorn: In CoHF, Mark was taken prisoner by the fae and has since been riding in the Wild Hunt. He suffers some serious PTSD and at first he doesn't recognize the children. He is a half-sibling to the other Blackthorn children and is part-Shadowhunter, part-faerie.
Arthur Blackthorn: The uncle of the Blackthorn children, he isn't all there. He and his brother, Andrew, were taken prisoner by a lady of the Seelie Court after consuming faerie food. Although they were eventually let go, neither of them has ever been the same.
Cristina Rosales: A transplant from Mexico, she quickly becomes best friends with Emma. But she is holding some secrets that prevent her from fully opening up to Emma.
Diana Wrayburn: The tutor brought into the Institute to teach the children after the death of their parents. I never fully trust her even after she explains herself.
Diego "Perfect Diego" Rosales: The love interest of Cristina, even though she tries extremely hard to not love him for reasons that take her forever to tell us. He is a Centurion, which I wish was explained more, because I don't totally get why a Centurion is so special.
Kieran: A member of the Wild Hunt who is a love interest of Mark during their time in the Hunt together. He is a prince of the Unseelie Court, which gives him some freedom in the Hunt.
Malcolm Fade: The High Warlock of Los Angeles, and the eventual bad guy. He was the one who killed Emma's parents, and is a necromancer. A long time ago, he fell in love with a Shadowhunter, which was at the time a big no-no. The Shadowhunters killed her, although told everyone she became an Iron Sister. After finding out that she was killed, he started plotting his revenge on the Blackthorn family.
Gwyn: The leader of the Wild Hunt and a total ass.
Iarlath: A member of the Unseelie Court, he asks the members of the LA Institute for help in finding out who's kill fae and in return, return Mark. He's a bad guy too.
Old Favorites
Some characters from TMI and TID make some cameos, at times I liked it, other times, I didn't really care for them to be there. We get to get reacquainted with: Clary, Jace, Magnus, Robert Lightwood, Jem, and Tessa. We also learn through conversation that Simon and Izzy are engaged. Mazel Tov!
What I Didn't Like
-The book took forever to get going. Like, think Squints for Sandlot slowly repeating "for-eh-er, for-eh-er" kind of slow.
-Emma and Julian's love story is so predictable and used up. I am so over forbidden love.
-I want to know more about Mark's time with the fae. I want to know more about the fae period.
-I didn't bond with the characters until the last few chapters. Not because they weren't good guys, but because they are pretty much re-writes of characters from TMI. i.e. Emma=Jace; Jules=Clary. Give me something new.
-The story focuses more on the forbidden love and less about what the real issue is: that someone is killing people!
What I Did Like
-I did not see who that bad guy was coming. Malcolm wasn't even on my radar! I thought we were going to meet someone new for it and when they put all the pieces together to figure out is was Malcolm, my mind was blown! Way to go, Cassie!
-There is more of a family aspect to this one than there were in previous Clare novels.
-The last 5-7 chapters made up for the entire novel.
So now I'm going to say two things that are going to upset you. #sorrynotsorry
When Lord of Shadows comes out, I'm not going to rush to read it.
Also, I ship Emma and Mark. Yep, I said!
All in all, I wasn't as impressed with it as everyone else was. For me, it didn't live up to the hype that everyone was giving it.
Rating: 6/10
Pages: 668 (Hardcover)
Books in Series: 3 planned, but this is currently the only one; sequel to The Mortal Instruments series
Genre(s): Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Should You Read It: If you are a fan of Cassie Clare, yes. Otherwise, I think you can pass.
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