Audiobook Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

---

Lady Midnight
The Dark Artifices #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: March 8th 2016
Review Source: Simon & Schuster Audio

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.

I feel like I need to be standing behind a podium right now stating my name and that I, Shannon, am indeed addicted to Lady Midnight and everything involving the Shadowhunter realm.

So obviously I have already read Lady Midnight, been there, devoured that, and still have the scars for proof. But like any devoted fan when the offer to review this audiobook was presented to me I was basically salivating at the mouth with the idea. See a couple of times a week I work overnight, they suck but audiobooks have become my lifeline, so now I just want to get my book obsessed hands on any sort of audiobook. Plus I’m a huge fan of Morena Baccarin so I was game for her to hangout in my head telling me the shenanigans that were about to ensue.

Alright so let’s paint the picture. It’s five years after the Dark War, where death and destruction plagued the Shadowhunter world. Everyone’s family was somehow affected by this, especially the Blackthorn’s and our main protagonist, Emma Carstairs. Emma’s parents deaths were ruled by the hand of Sebastian Morgenstern but Emma refuses to believe that’s what happened, something just doesn’t add up. Emma’s drive and tenacity will not allow her to stop until the real murderer gets the revenge he/she deserves.

The Blackthorn’s lost their father, their brother was kidnapped by the faerie, and their sister Aline was exiled, and their mother had passed before the Dark War. That leaves Julian as the oldest, and official the caretaker of his siblings, Livvy, Ty, Dru, and Tavvy. Then to tie the two together, Julian and Emma are parabatai, a bond like no other, they fight better together, runes are more intense made by a parabatai, and there is just nothing like it in the mundane world. Number one rule (probably not the number one, but let’s pretend) is there is no romantic relationships to be had between parabatai, the law is the hard, but the law is the law. And well that sort of thing makes for an interesting time once feelings start surfacing.

The one thing Cassandra Clare does is she sets up this world that we’re familiar with but doesn’t give us anything remotely the same. I was so ticked off when she first announced this series and people were annoyed she was still writing in this realm. Like, hello, don’t read it then. Actually do, because this book will make you shut up. Cassie is genius and I hope I never have to leave. I may be a mundane but I know a good book.

I could be here for hours telling you all about everyone in this book from Cristina, to Mark, to Arthur and Perfect Diego. I feel in love with everyone we met in this book and that literally scares the sh*t out of me because I’ve read Cassie’s other books, she hurts us, and she likes it! But time heals all wounds and she usually gives us some kind of nice ending that tries to mend our broken heart.

So go buy this! Listen to this! Devour this as many times as you can!