A Review Of Lady Midnight

By: Sarah Mirzayee (Edited By: Catnip)

Cover art by: Rue Herondale Jackson Vacker

Lady Midnight is the first book in The Dark Artifices Trilogy.  The series takes place five years after the events of City Of Heavenly Fire.  We follow our protagonist, Emma Carstairs, along with the Blackthorn family as Emma tries to unravel the case of her parents death.  

Characters:

Emma Carstairs

Emma is the protagonist of the trilogy, and a rather good one at that. Though a physically strong character,  she doesn’t seem to fall in the “heroes with no emotions'' trope－something I loved about her.  She was able to be vulnerable and still have emotions without it having to relate back to anything about her physical prowess.  Even though Emma wants revenge for her parents death, she doesn’t let it consume and corrupt her actions or her thoughts.  This shows once more what a strong minded and developed character Emma is.  With most YA characters－and even more with YA Fantasy characters－the common course of action is to make rash and questionable decisions that even us, the readers, see as not the best options.  Personally, I think almost every decision made by Emma in this book was very understandable, agreeable and done in the most effective manner possible. Adding onto that, Emma’s choices were overall smart, and helped the plot move forward.  

Julian Blackthorn

I was personally a little conflicted with Julian’s character, and though I understood his involvement in the story, I still didn’t quite like some of his qualities.  Cassandra Clare has succeeded in perfectly writing Julian’s situation with his family, and having to be not only the oldest, but also a patriarchal figure to his younger siblings.  I completely understood and related to where Julian was coming from, and I loved how he cared for his family.  The one problem I had with Julian, was that in some parts of the book he came across to me as a bit out of character that even Emma－as Julian’s best friend and Parabatai－was shocked to see.  When I say this, I am talking about how Julian was able to lie so easily, which as a reader puts me on edge.   I don’t know whether this relates back to the general plot of the series, since I have yet to read the next books. Despite all this, Julian was a really interesting character to read about, considering everything that has happened to his family and how he dealt with it all.  I was moved by how Julian sees his siblings as his children, and how he cares for them, it’s truly heartwarming.  Julian and Emma’s friendship was one of the best parts in City Of Heavenly Fire, so I was a little disappointed when they had deeper feelings for each other, but I am excited to see where their relationship goes.  

Cristina Rosales

I absolutely loved Cristina’s character! It was great to finally see a female person of color being represented properly and not just thrown in as a side character, which unfortunately happens in a lot of YA fantasy novels.  Cristina and Emma’s friendship was so different from Emma and Julian’s, and I enjoyed every scene with just Emma and her talking.  I appreciated the little hints into her backstory and I can’t wait to get more of it.  Cristina seems like a character that most of the other characters enjoy, making her seem like a very lovable person.  Emma clicked instantly with her, and so did Mark.  Cristina is just overall a great friend and a person whom you can trust a hundred percent.  

Mark Blackthorn

The last time Mark Blackthorn was present in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, he was taken by the Wild Hunt in City Of Heavenly Fire.  When Mark was first introduced in Lady Midnight, I was honestly intrigued.  I was extremely curious about Mark, his time in the Hunt and just the world of Faeries in general.  Mark’s story and past was one of my favorite parts of the entire book, it left me completely invested in the story, and was what made Mark such a fun character to read about.  Throughout the book Mark is seen adjusting to being back with his family, and away from the hunt; we see how much being with Faeries can change a person.  We also see this with the Blackthorn’s Uncle, Arthur.  Not only that, but Mark also brings humor into this moreover dark plot.  

The Blackthorns

As for the Blackthorn Siblings－not counting Julian or Mark－I loved all of them.  They are such a close and involved family, which again is a favorite of mine to read in books.  I enjoyed the fact that every sibling had a role to play and was a huge part of the story.  The relationship between Emma and the Blackthorns was great, it shows how important family is, especially to Emma, who lost her parents at a very young age.

Malcolm Fade

Malcolm was a beautifully written character in my opinion.  His end plan and goals were a twist that I never thought would happen. I was a little disappointed, since I had rather enjoyed Malcolm’s role, but the reaction and impact was a thrilling experience.  Though he is the antagonist of the book, you can’t help but wonder if his intentions were actually good.  Malcom did the things he did because he thought he was doing it for love, that fact alone makes you want to sympathize with the warlock.  A lot of villains are written to be bitter, heartless monsters, but because we know Malcom can feel love, it makes him feel more human.  In addition to that, Malcolm is also a character we have seen before in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, this makes his turning point even more shocking for the reader.

Plot:

I really liked the background of Faeries and the Cold Peace in this book, it offers a new view on the Faeries that I have loved in the past.  The politics between Faeries and Shadowhunters is something that I find really gripping, and politics in books is just something I’ve personally always enjoyed.  I liked how the conflict was not predictable, and how the clues were less obvious.  This made the climax of the story unexpected and filled with action.  The way the characters are connected back to the conflict and to the story was perfect.  It wasn’t out of nowhere and it had a good backstory to hold it up.  I also liked how perfectly the plot was put together, it had an ending that seemed pretty closed but still left space to continue onto the next book.    

My Rating:

Overall I would say that this book is definitely my favorite first book in a series by Cassandra Clare.  The plot is written beautifully as were the characters.  There was even a huge plot-twist in the end that had you craving more.  For all that I give this book a 5/5 star rating! I can’t wait to dive back into this story with these characters in the next two books.