Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare Series: The Dark Artifices #1
Published by Margaret K. McElderry on March 8th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, YA
Goodreads
The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.
It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.
Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…
Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?
Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.
Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare Series: The Dark Artifices #2
Published by Margaret K. McElderry on May 23rd 2017
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads
Would you trade your soul mate for your soul?
A Shadowhunter’s life is bound by duty. Constrained by honor. The word of a Shadowhunter is a solemn pledge, and no vow is more sacred than the vow that binds parabatai, warrior partners—sworn to fight together, die together, but never to fall in love.
Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?
Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile, rising tension between Shadowhunters and Downworlders has produced the Cohort, an extremist group of Shadowhunters dedicated to registering Downworlders and “unsuitable” Nephilim. They’ll do anything in their power to expose Julian’s secrets and take the Los Angeles Institute for their own.
When Downworlders turn against the Clave, a new threat rises in the form of the Lord of Shadows—the Unseelie King, who sends his greatest warriors to slaughter those with Blackthorn blood and seize the Black Volume. As dangers close in, Julian devises a risky scheme that depends on the cooperation of an unpredictable enemy. But success may come with a price he and Emma cannot even imagine, one that will bring with it a reckoning of blood that could have repercussions for everyone and everything they hold dear
Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare Series: The Dark Artifices #3
Published by Margaret K. McElderry on December 4th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads
All first editions of Queen of Air and Darkness will include ten black and white interior illustrations, and a new short story!
Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in The Dark Artifices trilogy.
What if damnation is the price of true love?
Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.
A series review? WHO AM I??
Yes, it has truly been forever since I reviewed a whole series but something as amazing as this one just got to me. Alas, I have fallen back into my early teen days and I am once again trash for Cassandra Clare (and I have zero regrets about it).
Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn are part of the LA Institute, having quickly moved through the ranks after the events of City of Heavenly Fire that almost wiped out the Shadowhunter community. Suddenly, a new demonic energy starts to take over LA and Julian’s brother, Mark, returns after being missing for 5 years. Emma and Julian must work to crack the case but also soon start to realize that they have feelings beyond what is expected of their parabatai bond. Lady Midnight has intense and captivating worldbuilding but an even intense forbidden romance. 🔥
The Dark Artifices takes place after the events of The Mortal Instruments series and even though I haven’t finished The Mortal Instruments series, I was able to pick this one up with no problem. I loved being thrown back into the Cassandra Clare universe and I didn’t regret it.
All of the characters of this series are amazing. The entire Blackthorn family is so loveable and I want to protect them all. I also loved Emma and Julian and UGH I just wanted them to get together so bad. I am so obsessed with this series and I really can’t believe I read over 2000 pages in like two weeks.
Overall, if you’re a fan of Cassandra Clare, I really recommend picking up this series! It’s so gripping and captivating and even if you’ve never picked up one of her books, Clare does a good job at recapping some of the old characters and events.
