Book Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Title: Lady Midnight

Author : Cassandra Clare

Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire

Release date : March 8th, 2016

Rating : 4.8/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?

Review :

I read this one a while ago now, and I’m so sorry I didn’t post my review earlier! But let me just say that it was “A” TO THE “MAZING”.

While reading Lady Midnight, I constantly forgot to write down my thoughts when they arose (like I usually do when I read). It’s maybe because I felt that, despite the different plot and characters and settings, it was like a perfect continuation of The Mortal Instruments series.

We already know Emma, Julian, the rest of the Blackthorn family, etc. Unlike TMI’s main character, Clary, Emma deserved my love and respect. She is a confident, cool girl; the kind  you’d admire from afar in your high school and wish you were. She’s totally awesome and funny, determined and brave. Bref, the kind of protagonist you’d definitely picture in an action-packed book/movie!! On the downside, she resembles Clary a little bit, in the sense of her recklessness and her annoying I-do-whatever-I-want-and-things-better-go-my-way aspect. Since this is only the first book, I can get over it, mainly because she’s strong and badass!

However, I’d hate to see the Clary-ish side of her take over in the next books. Emma’s kind of action-teen typical, easy to like, but it would be Clare’s mistake to forge, yet again, a golden path for her main character.

Julian, for his part, isn’t the swoon-worthy type, but I admit I had my fangirl moments with him! Basically, all characters are designed to be liked by the readers, and I did like them, even the “bad ones”. They all have redeeming qualities. We meet a new High Warlock, Malcolm, who’s not at all like Magnus, who even seems too incompetent to be a High Warlock. Maybe I missed a part, but are powerful abilities the only requirement to be High Warlock?! His quirkiness was pleasant, though, so as a character, I liked him (hahaha).

Cassandra Clare’s writing style is very good for a Young Adult book, as expected. It flows like water, very easy to read and understand. Point of views alternate, so we get in depth insight into different characters and events. Los Angeles could have been better described, because I feel as if Clare only knows about the sea and the pop culture? It was definitely not in a local, personal way. Clare didn’t do her homework correctly, because I didn’t get the feeling Emma’s lived her whole life in LA, although that’s her backstory.

One of the most important themes of this book is, according to me, family. Whether it’s blood family, or life family, it’s such an important aspect of everything they do, everything they fight for. I could also sense that Clare wanted to breach certain social issues, such as sexual orientation, but it was too vague and stored in the background. It is, however, a start to Clare’s literary awareness.