Lady Midnight: Collector's Edition (Volume 1) (The Dark Artifices)

Product Information

Another thing I greatly appreciated was the tie-in of my favorite poem, Annabel Lee. The way Clare brought the poem to life was creative and original and superbly done. Each of the chapter titles are lines from the poem, and at first I thought that was all there was to it, but the titles are reflective of the story, the mystery, as a whole. Forbidden love, danger and vengeance . . . Read the first book in the Dark Artifices series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and the queen of fantasy, Cassandra Clare, in a stunning new anniversary edition. Forbidden love, danger and vengeance . . . Read the first book in the Dark Artifices series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and the queen of fantasy, Cassandra Clare, in a stunning new anniversary edition. What really strikes out from Julian, though—even beyond his maturity—is his love. Firstly, he loves his siblings; he loves them with an intensity that is poignant to experience, and gives the *Lady Midnight* a powerful family dynamic. But he also loves Emma; loves her as a parabatai, and doubly so as a romantic partner. By the Angel, my hands are shaking as I'm trying to compose a decent review. I feel broken beyond repair, Cassandra Clare's words ravaged my sanity, shattered my soul and now I'm on my knees searching for tiny fragments, trying to put together what's left of me.

Each clue Emma unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents - and can she bear to know the truth? The plot is also paced well. There are no moments when the action begins to overwhelm, and nor does the tale ever drag to a juddering halt. Things progress smoothly. The *Lady Midnight* is to do with more than just the death of Emma’s parents. It’s to do with an ancient Shadowhunter Law; it’s really, at its heart, about Emma and Julian. I really like how the story is building, and I'm eager to read the next book! I love the Shadowhunter universe, and I really like that Cassie keeps adding things we didn't know! The Scholomance really draws my attention, and also the whole world of Faerie! I have a feeling the next books will be even better than this one! Also, I think this is the best first installment of a series Cassie has ever written.

Cassandra Clare Press Reviews

And the action - there was so much of it! This book never stopped, never even slowed; it was a constant stream of events transpiring, and I loved that! There was never a dull moment! Cristina Rosales — Emma's eighteen-year-old best friend who currently resides at the Institute to learn about how their Shadowhunter culture differs from Mexico's. It also made it so that the book had an even faster pace, because the chapters were split into sections for each POV. Frankly, through this novel, I have learned much of the Shadowhunter world, especially what it was like for Emma and Julian to grow up in it, and not just be thrown into it like Tessa and Clary were.

Christina Rosales - an ICON, a blessing to my life………. I love that she’s close platonic friends with Emma and they never feud, I love how much she asks for herself and how unapologetic she is about her life, I just relate to her a lot and I hope she’s happy forever So, the whole point about Emma and Julian's feeling for each other being 'forbidden' is based solely on the foundation of them being parabatai; and if you asked me, this 'forbidden love' feels really forced and underwhelming to me, even worse than the 'forbidden love' between Jace and Clary. Emma: La verdadera protagonista de esta historia, pues digamos que la trama comienza por algo relacionado con ella. El hecho de que sea una Carstairs ya te da esperanza, pero consigue desmarcarse de Tessa y Clary. Hay varias cosas que no quiero spoilear que hacen que sea muy diferente, pero sobre todo el hecho de que sea ya de por sí la mejor cazadora de sombras de la nueva generación. La verdadera sucesora de Jace, la guerrera más fuerte y que aprecia de verdad su entrenamiento. Me ha encantado TODO sobre Emma. Podría leer cientos de páginas sobre ella y sus sentimientos, los cuales, por cierto, son explicados al detalle y con los que consigues conectar con ella de un modo increíble. Clare's well-developed protagonists..., pell-mell action sequences, complicated family dynamics, and fascinating magic system continue to engage.' Publishers Weekly

The book is told from different points of view, namely: Emma, Julian, Cristina, Kit, Mark, and, briefly, Annabel.

The beginning is much more fast paced than most of her other novels in the Shadowhunter’s series. It took me a while to get into the first book in both the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments, but I had no such issue with Lady Midnight. Once I started reading, it was very hard to stop. Throughout this novel, there are consistent switches in point-of-view. This - I believe - was very beneficial from a reader's perspective, as it allowed for a broader perception of the current events. Because this book was so complex with so many overlapping events, it was great to get a head start, and see little snippets from each perspective. Tessa & Jem - That “item” that they were after. Shit, son. But seeing Jem build a relationship with Emma? So beautiful, I don’t even have words for it. I really hope that they are in Lord of Shadows more, because I honestly can’t get enough of them. We are bound together, Emma, bound together- I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I'm yours and you're mine, you've always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!”Without these switches in POV, it is definite that the book would have suffered. Such changes both enabled more of an in-depth insight to the characters, and an invaluable insight into the action.

Of course there was also humour and sassiness that made me burst into loud laughter, and dear Lord the Clace and Malec and Sizzy feels made me squeal! Let me tell you this, Jace became a seriously fine adult. I am and always will be a die-hard Wessa fan but I liked the glimpses at Jem and Tessa, even though my heart was crying for Will. I just miss him so much.The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel. Lady Midnight - due to the protagonist, Emma, being familiar with the Shadowhunter world - was able to skip past this length introduction, and delve straight into the action. Okay, let’s talk about the sex. First off, birth control runes? Praise/bless. I loved this more than words and Clary is honest to god doing the lord’s work. The sex on the beach. Like, it might be a tiny bit unrealistic (sand is not your friend during sex, I promise) but like, I had to wait 102 books for Jace to whip out that condom in Hell, but Cassie Clare gives us a hot sex scene in this first book of a series? The blessings. And Julian was the virgin and not Emma? The gifts keep on coming. Seriously, you all, I was screaming with joy over everything in chapter eighteen. Also, huge shout out to Solly for sending me the naughty version of the beach scene, because he knows me. I mean all of the romantic angst between these two is established by the fact that they are parabatai---magic bound warrior partners with a bond which is supposedly unbreakable---and for some odd and unknown reason two parabatai aren't supposed to feel romantic love toward each other! In terms of characters, I believe this is the strongest group Clare has created. I would first, however, like to discuss the incorporation of other Shadowhunter characters from previous series: Jem is commonly mentioned, which I really liked, as it allowed for an insight into his life after The Infernal Devices, and also after City of Heavenly Fire; both Clary and Jace were spoken of as if they were famous, which was really amusing, but comforting all the same - it was so great to see that they were continuing with their life together; Magnus was as he always is - flamboyant...surely it would be a crime to neglect to include Magnus in a Shadowhunter novel; Simon and Isabelle...I won't spoil it for you!