Lady midnight (Cassandra Clare)

The orphans Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn are shadowhunters living in Los Angeles, warriors who have to defend ordinary humans from demons and supernatural creatures, so when dead humans as well as faeries are found they need to investigate. But this case is special for the both of them since it's Emma's chance to get revenge for her parents, who were murdered in the same way five years ago, and the opportunity for Julian to get his brother Mark back. They only have two weeks to solve the mystery and they're yet to realize the great importance of their investment in this case.

"When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don't frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don't want perfect. You want them."

Wow. This blew my mind. It's been over two years since I've last read a book by Cassandra Clare and apperently I kind of forgot how amazing her books are. I did expect to have a good time reading Lady midnight, but I definitely wasn't prepared for the rollercoaster of emotions it triggered in me. I honestly loved everything about this story, I'd even say this is her best work so far, which is a huge statement for me because of the great impact The mortal instruments as well as The invernal devices had on my life. The writing is fantastic and Cassandra Clare just makes it with each of her novels impossible for me to put them down and to not devour them. Something that I noticed, but it certainly didn't bother me in any way, is the weird point of view. I couldn't quite identify wether it's supposed to be a third person limited narrator or a third person omniscient narrator, so I guess it's a mix between the two of them, which is definitely pretty unique. The worldbuilding is a bit different from her previous books, since there is no need to introduce the shadow world to the main character as well as the reader, but only to the reader, because all the characters are already familiar with it (and let's be honest, most of the readers as well). Anyway, she managed to explain everything important without making the story slower or boring the readers, who know that stuff already. The plot in general is very fast-paced and even though there are a few chapters that aren't action-filled at all, none of them are boring. I'm actually really suprised at how much I adored this book since I'm not the biggest fan of crime stories, but I guess the fact that it gets combined with the supernatural world makes it a lot more exciting and I loved how the investigation is written, because even though they experience failure and even helplessness, little hints towards the solution of the mysteries are always given to keep it from becoming frustrating and drab. Usually, the amount of romance in this book would've been way too much, but Cassandra Clare just knows how to write romance without making it annoying and stupid. Her love triangle in The invernal devices for example is one of the few I don't absolutely despise and I usually don't like this whole forbidden romance thing either, but it's just too good in Lady midnight to not love it and it at least has a genuine reason why it actually is not allowed. Another thing I loved about this novel is how diverse it is without making a big deal about it, which is just what we need to show young people how normal the equality between races, genders, sexual orientations and so on should be. Another great aspect is that autism and mental illness are a big topic since even though it's more talked about, authors still don't write about characters with these conditions a lot.
The characters are amazing and I honestly fell in love with them instantly. Emma Carstairs is such a strong and badass warrior, but still so funny and sassy as well as caring about those she loves. I adored her from the first time she appeared in the prologue of City of heavenly fire and I love her even more after this fantastic journey with her. Julian Blackthorn is just as amazing and a character I genuinly respect and admire. He's so fiercely protective and willing to give up everything for the ones he loves and one of the few characters I believe to actually be selfless instead of just pretending to be. Their relationship is so beautiful and powerful and while I obviously love them as friends and parabatai, I can't help but to ship them. A lot. Another character I liked a lot is Cristina Rosales, because she's a pretty interesting character with a lot of secrets and also because of her positive and upbeat as well as loyal nature. I was also able to relate to her since English isn't her native language either, but she tries her best to perfect it. Her friendship with Emma is great and, at least for me, so relatable and seeing how close she got with all the Blackthornes in such a short time was heart-warming. And since I want to keep this review spoiler-free, I can't write much about him, but how can you not love Mark Blackthorn? I enjoyed all the Blackthorn kids as supporting characters so much since each of them added with their personalities something unique to the story and they appear for the exact right amount of time to make the reader care about them, but to still have the focus of the story on Emma, Jules and co.
I don't think there are a lot of YA readers who haven't picked up any of the Shadowhunters novels, but in case you haven't, I'd still recommend you to read them in the order they were released (The mortal instruments - The invernal devices - The dark artifices) even though you technically could start with Lady midnight, but you would miss a lot of the references that make this book even better. Also, can I just say how perfect the short story at the end of the book is and how happy it made me?

Rating:  5/5 ✹

Since you can't really see the cover on the picture above that well, I added a close-up because it's just so beautiful, it might even be my favorite cover out of all the Shadowhunters books. I hope you enjoyed this review and you're having an amazing day!

Leah