Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

So, yesterday was a monumental day. Why? You might ask. Well, I finally finished Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare and, yes, it was EVERYTHING that I hoped it would be!

For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it follows a young girl named Emma Carstairs as she tries to solve the mystery of who killed her parents and avenge their deaths. Emma Carstairs is a shadowhunter— part human and part angel— and is thus tasked with protecting the world from demons. This is the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series set in the same fantasy world as her previous works— the world of the Shadowhunters!

Now, this is one big book (I mean what else would you expect from a Shadowhunters novel?), but all 669 pages of this story were completely worth it; not a single page seemed extraneous.

I’m sure like many of you, I went into this novel slightly apprehensive. Was it going to live up to the stories of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices that I already know and love? Would the characters be as lovable, heartbreaking, and real? Would my feeling of loss be fulfilled since the ending of City of Heavenly Fire? Lets just answer these questions simply—yes! All of my hopes and expectations were not only fulfilled, they were surpassed.

Lady Midnight was funny, heartbreaking, intense, suspenseful, and just all-around awesome. This book was not missing a single element. Because of its utter awesomeness, I have decided to pick just a few aspects that I thought made this book so successful. The first of these being the characters.

I was not sure how I was going to feel about having all new characters when I already love the characters of Clare’s other series so much. That fear, however, was extremely irrational because Emma, Cristina, Julian, and the whole Blackthorn family have probably become my favorite cast of characters not only in a Cassandra Clare series, but in a single novel ever. Every character is so well developed, even those that are not technically main characters. They each have unique backstories, quirks, secrets, and interests that make them feel utterly real. No one is simple. Each character is complicated. The reader can relate to each character in some way. It seems like almost everyone could feel represented by at least one character in this book, and that is an incredible feat.

The characters are not the only phenomenal aspect of this book, however. The plot, and how it developed was completely organic, but also completely unexpected. Now, that may sound like a bit of a paradox, but honestly, everything flowed so nicely I could not stop reading, but then as soon as I thought I knew what was going on, I was thrown curve ball after curve ball. The true mark of success of these curve balls, however, was that after they were introduced, they made complete and total sense. They were being foreshadowed all along! How could I have not seen it? This ability to surprise the reader with a plot point, but also plant the seeds for it in a memorable way, is a quality that I love in a book and Lady Midnight mastered it.

Fittingly, the last aspect of this book that I want to talk about is the ending. The ending of Lady Midnight was nothing short of fantastic. Just when everything is seemingly looking up—Clare destroys everything. Though, not in a way that feels unnecessary. The ending did not frustrate me, if anything it maddened me because every act of each character in the final scenes made sense for their arc at that time. Their decisions were hard and hurt them to make, but these seemed to be the choices that had to be made in that moment. There was just enough left unsaid, just enough teased for the future of the series, and just enough conflict left over, that the reader has no choice but to read the next installment.

Overall, I would probably recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Especially, if you have read Cassandra Clare’s books before. Don’t be scared! You will love this one just as much as the others. It is an exciting, urban fantasy full of heartbreak, mystery, action, and love.

If you’ve read Lady Midnight already, let me know what you think! Do you like the new characters as much as I do? And what about that ending? Just remember, NO SPOILERS! I definitely don’t want to deprive anyone of the Lady Midnight reading experience.

Also, check out Twin Reads Goodreads, to see what we rated Lady Midnight, what we are currently reading, how we have rated other books we have read, and what books are on our To Read list!