Reviews

Cassandra Clare really knows how to hurt me. Any single mention of TID trio gets me every single time. I cannot believe it took me this long to finally get past the prologue of this book.

libraryofdreaming's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm a big fan of Cassandra Clare's series The Infernal Devices and, to a lesser extent, The Mortal Instruments, so I was moderately excited to read her latest endeavor: The Dark Artifices. For the most part, I enjoyed it. Lady Midnight is not my most favorite anything, but it was an entertaining read and I am interested to see what the second book brings. Say what you will about Cassandra Clare (and I'm sure it would all be justified), she does know how to weave an engaging story. While the characters of this book are mostly a mishmash of all her other creations, they still were interesting enough to me. I appreciated the new focus on family. The Blackthorns are a diverse and intriguing bunch. It felt believable to me to watch Julian's struggle to care for his siblings while also still being their brother. It was a dynamic that definitely interested me and for once I thought it was rationally handled. I also really enjoyed seeing another facet of the Shadowhunter world expanded in this book by bringing new focus to the Fae. I'm always interested in more fantasy mythology and while I wasn't impressed with every aspect, it did keep my attention.

While I'm not super thrilled with some of Cassandra Clare's characterization of Mark, he was still one of the most intriguing characters of Lady Midnight. The romance was extremely predictable. I can already guess exactly how it will eventually play out but I didn't hate it. I don't have an objection to most of the tropes used, even if I did think they moved way too fast with the physical aspect. The plot itself had some twists I wasn't expecting and I really did like the Edgar Allan Poe twist.

At some points I enjoyed the new LA setting, since I recognized many of the locations, but the depiction of LA traffic was ridiculous. I have this problem with so much media set in LA: the characters are zipping around the city, conveniently rescuing each other from life and death situations in the blink of an eye. Um, have you been to LA?? Unless it's the middle of the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day, there is no way you could get even down the coast quickly enough to save someone from drowning (especially since you left WHILE they were already in the ocean) or other magical catastrophes. They would all be super dead. I know that's a nitpick, but it bugged me! Also, where the heck is the Institute supposed to be? It's next to the ocean with considerable land attached, but unless they were in Malibu I can't imagine such a place existing. I couldn't picture it in my head and since they run all over the place so quickly I didn't have any help pinpointing a neighborhood.

Lady Midnight was not high art, but thankfully I didn't expect it to be anything of the sort. It was, however, an amusing experience with some good magical lore, fairly decent character dynamics, and a fun mythological connection. I will look forward to the sequel, not with bated breath, but with enough interest to keep me going. I can always go to the Shadowhunter realm and be entertained...

oliviazh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jkumei's review against another edition

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this book is A HEATHEN to carry and tbh the main relationship WAS NOT GIVING, like forbidden love oh no but they are just boring. Only wanted to read bc I like the other siblings and their relationships but I cant put myself through it hoh my god. I got this book in opening week as well and I look at it all the time to think about the missed opportunities

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