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A review by enchantedfiction
Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare
5.0
I FINALLY DID IT GUYS. I finally finished this MONSTER of a book. And as always, Cassandra Clare gets 5/5 stars from me. The Shadowhunter books hold a special place in my heart, since they are what got me back into reading, so it would take a royal let down for me to go below the 5 star review.
Queen of Air and Darkness begins where Lord of Shadows left off, in chaos and bloodshed. Emma and Julian are sent on a mission to Faerie to keep their forbidden love a secret, the rest of the Blackthorn's are left to patch their family together with grief, and the rift between the Cohort and those against them becomes even bigger. When the Unseelie King's plan gets revealed and a Portal to a new world is opened, Julian and Emma's eyes are opened to what could have been the reality of their world, and what is to come if they don't put a stop to it.
I always feel that these books are trying desperately to get the young adult readers to be ready to read adult fantasy since there ends up being a ton of POVs, though they are very easy to follow. I also got a sense that there were some similarities between Horace Dearborn and the current President. I personally am not crazy about a book revolving around politics, but I guess I should have expected it based on the previous two books. There were enough side missions and escapades that made the focus not completely on the politics, but it was definitely a main focus. I always love the diversity that Clare brings to her books, and like real life there are always people who don't agree with certain ways of life, which I think is something she does really well. The main characters are always the ones who view all walks of life as natural and acceptable, which I really appreciate and can connect with since I have the same views. So this was kind of a win/lose for me.
There are some areas throughout the book that I feel do way too much telling and repeating of things which does get a little annoying. Most of the passages are written well without telling too much, but others, especially when a character has a sort of inner monologue, are just too much information. I don't have any examples off the top of my head, but there are quite a few throughout the book. I am a believer that characters should be able to show and not tell their views and emotions, but sometimes this misses the mark.
That all being said, I love all of the characters, their character growth, and I was totally fine with how the story ended. There was enough left at the end to tie things up nicely and kind of close the era, which I have felt is something Clare always does well. I really enjoy her writing style for the most part (besides the passages previously mentioned) and the growth of the world is always so nice to come back to. I am really excited to see where Chain of Gold takes the world, and what the new characters we will meet are going to be like!
Queen of Air and Darkness begins where Lord of Shadows left off, in chaos and bloodshed. Emma and Julian are sent on a mission to Faerie to keep their forbidden love a secret, the rest of the Blackthorn's are left to patch their family together with grief, and the rift between the Cohort and those against them becomes even bigger. When the Unseelie King's plan gets revealed and a Portal to a new world is opened, Julian and Emma's eyes are opened to what could have been the reality of their world, and what is to come if they don't put a stop to it.
I always feel that these books are trying desperately to get the young adult readers to be ready to read adult fantasy since there ends up being a ton of POVs, though they are very easy to follow. I also got a sense that there were some similarities between Horace Dearborn and the current President. I personally am not crazy about a book revolving around politics, but I guess I should have expected it based on the previous two books. There were enough side missions and escapades that made the focus not completely on the politics, but it was definitely a main focus. I always love the diversity that Clare brings to her books, and like real life there are always people who don't agree with certain ways of life, which I think is something she does really well. The main characters are always the ones who view all walks of life as natural and acceptable, which I really appreciate and can connect with since I have the same views. So this was kind of a win/lose for me.
There are some areas throughout the book that I feel do way too much telling and repeating of things which does get a little annoying. Most of the passages are written well without telling too much, but others, especially when a character has a sort of inner monologue, are just too much information. I don't have any examples off the top of my head, but there are quite a few throughout the book. I am a believer that characters should be able to show and not tell their views and emotions, but sometimes this misses the mark.
That all being said, I love all of the characters, their character growth, and I was totally fine with how the story ended. There was enough left at the end to tie things up nicely and kind of close the era, which I have felt is something Clare always does well. I really enjoy her writing style for the most part (besides the passages previously mentioned) and the growth of the world is always so nice to come back to. I am really excited to see where Chain of Gold takes the world, and what the new characters we will meet are going to be like!