This book is phenomenal! I thought the other books in this world were good when I read them but this one takes it to a whole knew level.
From the very start of this book we are thrust into the world of Shadowhunters and Demons and Warlocks and Werewolves and Vampires...the list goes on. The action is introduced right from the beginning and continues all the way to the end. Lady Midnight is full of mystery, romance, fighting and lots and lots of plot twists.
I loved getting to know all of the characters that were introduced in City of Heavenly Fire in more depth and getting to see how the Dark War really effected them.
I thought that it was really interesting to see the way that Julian had adopted the role of their father. I liked how it wasn't an immediate thing, that it developed over time with him knowing that they needed someone who would look after them like that. I love the different relationships he has with each of his siblings and how well he knows each of them individually. I also loved to read about how much he adored them.
I loved learning more about Emma too. It was interesting to see how the death of her parents fueled everything that she did. It fueled her desire for revenge and it fueled how deeply she cared for the Blackthorns. It also fueled her impulsiveness and her carelessness, much like Jace from The Mortal Instruments series. The deaths of her parents, along with the events of the Dark War, very much shaped her into this kick-ass Shadowhunter.
It was good to get to know the rest of the Blackthorn children better too. They were all so young during City of Heavenly Fire that they were almost pushed to the side a little. None of them were old enough to fight or fully understand what was going on so nobody really considered how everything would effect them. Now they are all older and three of them are teenagers they understand everything better.
I think the Blackthorn who the war has most noticeably effected is Tavvy. Though he was only two years old during the war, and his siblings tried to hide it from him the best that they could, he still wakes up, five years later, having nightmares of it. He doesn't seem to understand a lot of what is going on around him but I think that is from his siblings still treating him as the child he was during the war. I think this is most noticeable when he solved the Lady Midnight riddle with his children's book. It was never something that crossed the minds of the older children so it was not something they thought to check.
The main premise of this book is the hunt to discover a murderer but in the background Emma is also searching for the person who killed her parents. Her parents were believed to have been killed by Sebastian Morgenstern during the Dark War but Emma has never believed that story. She knew that something more sinister had happened to her parents. As it turns out she was right. At the end of the book when the young group of Shadowhunters tracks down the murderer, they also unknowingly track down Emma's parents' killer. While confronting the killer, Emma learns that her parents deaths were the result of a failed experiment to see if a spell worked. If anything this left Emma feeling more heartbroken than ever. Her parents deaths had been the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Another underlying story is that of Mark Blackthorn, the half-faerie, half-shadowhunter boy. At the beginning of City of Heavenly Fire Mark Blackthorn is taken by Faerie and forced to become part of the Wild Hunt. At the beginning of this book, Mark is given back to his family to help them with their investigations of the killings. All the way through the book Mark struggles to readjust to the Shadowhunter world. He cannot decide if he truly belongs with his family of Shadowhunters or with the Faeries of the Wild Hunt. He is pressure by both sides to be part of their world and both sides have things that he wants. Through the whole book Mark refuses to have ruins put upon him but when he finally decides that he is a Shadowhunter he asks Julian to give them to him for the sake of saving Tavvy.
Not only do I love the world that Cassandra Clare has created with The Shadowhunter Chronicles but I love how she incorporates certain topics into her books without making them an issue. She has written about different sexual orientations all the way through the chronicles but in this book I noticed that she added in a little part about mental illness and learning difficulties. She wrote about how those who had them were treated differently than everyone else for it and how it was just that little bit harder for them to do things. They are very much ignored by the Clave and their families feel that it is necessary to protect them from the names and the humiliation they could face if their differences are discovered. I like the way Cassie described it and explained it with relevance to the story she was telling. She wrote in a way that drew your attention to it but also did not take you away from the story.
Also, the story at the end with all of the original characters in it absolutely made my day. I am so happy that Cassie added in an extra little bit to allow readers to find out what happened with all of the characters after the Dark War and after the stories in the Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy. It was good to know that they were all happy and enjoying life together with minimal disturbances.
This book well and truly left me with a book hangover. I never wanted the story to end and as soon as it did I just wanted to have the next book in my hands ready to continue on. This book hangover has now turned into a book slump to the point where nothing I read seems to keep my attention. I guess that is just the sign of a good book and an even better writer to leave you longing after characters after you have turned the last page.
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