NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHY?!??!??!?!?!?! CASSANDRA CLARE, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO US????????? Freaking torment us with forbidden fruit and then make it so that we wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat, crying out for the Clave to have mercy and bend their ancient laws just this one little time so that Jules and Emma can have the happy ending they so obviously deserve together? Oh… wait… am I the only one doing that?
Lady Midnight is yet another in a long line of books that Cassandra Clare has written specifically to torture us, and she is just oh so good at it. Seriously, it takes a lot to have me yelling at the pages and threatening to throw a book across the room. It takes someone with a very special skill set to be that evil, and Cassandra Clare is nothing if not the greatest, most evil, writer doing YA right now. Her books tug on all your heartstrings, and ensure that you aren’t going to get any good night’s sleep until you’ve dropped everything and read to the end, and even then you’re probably just going to stand their gaping until someone comes to try to shake you out of your Shadowhunter coma and force you back into the real world, where you’re doomed to spend another 12 months agonizing over WHAT THE HECK THAT ENDING MEANS and debating HOW THE HECK WE CAN CHANGE THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE TO ALLOW PARABATI TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER and WHAT THE HECK IS CLARY THINKING IN THAT FREAKING SHORT STORY?!??! Yeah, as you can see, I’ve already begun my slow descent into madness. I might as well just wear a shirt that says, “Do not try to have a coherent non-Lady-Midnight-related conversation with me until book two of The Dark Artifices is finally out next year. Thank you, and have a nice day.” Because I don’t think I’m likely to get over this book anytime soon. My poor husband is going to have to listen to this for months.
…
Okay. I took some deep breaths, and I think I’m ready to talk semi-coherently about this book. For the record, I’m going to assume if you’re reading this, that you’ve already Cassandra Clare’s other series’ – The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices – so there may be some spoilery content from those books in this review. Be warned.
I am SO upset about Julian and Emma. I really just can’t get over how heartbreaking their story is, and it makes me want to rage around my house and spend long hours pacing rooms and muttering about where the clave can go stick their stupid laws… But then I remember… Wait, we’re in the hands of a master-storyteller. Cassandra Clare knows what she’s doing. Sure, she also knows how to destroy me over the course of 600-som-odd pages. But she also surprises me at every turn. I remember despairing over Jace and Clary. I remember raging and crying and tearing my hair out over my favorite OTP – Tessa and Will and Jem – and I thought there is no way that this ends well for anyone. But those stories worked out beautifully. Maybe Jules and Emma won’t end up together (that’ll just kill me) but maybe they will – the truth is NO ONE BUT CASSANDRA CLARE REALLY KNOWS RIGHT NOW. I’ve just gotta trust that whatever happens, she’s totally going to write a killer trilogy that destroys and builds me up simultaneously. She’s proven herself very adept at that.
I loved Lady Midnight. The Dark Artifices is totally shaping up to be my second favorite Shadowhunter series after The Infernal Devices (I will never stop loving them best).
I’m going to take this opportunity to just fangirl out a bit…
I freaking love this cast of characters – Julian and his siblings are the cutest family ever, and Emma is fierce and biting and everything I crave in a good heroine. Cristina is still a mystery that I want to solve, and perfect Diego just adds to that. Mark… I am falling in love with Mark, and, despite his actions, Kieran as well. I want them to have a happy ending, though there is plenty between them that will be hard to forgive.
The Annabel Lee reference was genius. That piece of Poe tie-in is an absolute work of art, and I LOVED it so so much. But man, that story – EVERYTHING about that love story is messed up. It sucks so badly, and I felt horrible for them both, despite his bad (read: murderous and psycho) behavior. I kept that vague in case you haven’t read the book yet, but once you do you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Basically, what I’m saying is this: BRING MY LORD OF SHADOWS as fast as you can and in it give me MORE… More dark historical literary references and more tragic villains and heroes and more more more of Mark and Kieran and Cristina and Julian and Emma and Perfect stinking Diego and a closer look at his treacherous brother. Give me more Ty and Livvy and Dru (whom I adore) and Tavvy.
Lady Midnight left me with an insatiable hunger for more more MORE. I cannot wait for the next book. If you need me over the next year, I’ll be over in this corner trying to solve riddles that cannot be solved until Lord of Shadows comes out.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Guys. I HAVE to know: Did you LOVE Lady Midnight as much as I did? What’s your favorite Cassandra Clare series? Who’s your favorite character/pairing? Tell meeeeee…
I totally agree with you! About in about everything! [Except Kieran. I don’t love him but I don’t hate him either].
I screamed at Cassandra Clare several times during Lady Midnight. So far Jace and Clary are my favorite couple. Loved all the references to TMI and TID characters. I haven’t read TID, yet. But I’ll soon.
Why, oh why do we have to wait one year??
I also wrote a review on my blog.
Haha – Kieran is a grey-area character, but I can’t help liking him – TID is my favorite of her series, so I hope you’ll let me know if you love them when you finish them! 🙂 And the wait really is brutal! I’ll check out your blog!!!