Hi friends! Today I’m going to be posting my review of Cassandra Clare’s trilogy The Dark Artifices.

I know it’s taken me too long to read this, but here it finally is.

Lady Midnight by: Cassandra Clare: The first novel in The Dark Artifices trilogy. A new Shadowhunter series that gives readers insight into characters that have made background appearances in her other novels. Emma Carstairs is a young feisty Shadowhunter; when bodies turn up murdered the way her parents were she’s on the hunt for revenge towards the person who killed them. This also leads the way to for her best friend and parabatai, Julian Blackthorn the chance to get his brother Mark back from the Faerie Court. On top of this Emma is learning the meaning of what it means to be someone’s parabatai. This novel shows what it means to truly sacrifice yourself for someone. Clare’s writing is very wordy, but looks like her words were chosen with precision. Each sentence is structured with literary devices that do enhance the story, especially whenever she is writing characterizations for her characters; it’s perfect. The plots, all of them were well done, but some of her characters felt a little flat and as much as it was really exciting to see old characters return, there was something about them that felt off. But there is always that special magic about these novels that has readers crawling back for more.

Lord of Shadows by: Cassandra Clare: Emma and her parabatai Julian are in a bit of a jam when they realize the love they share for one another is forbidden and won’t go away. Wanting to turn her back on Julian forever, Emma knows she can’t as he has enemies everywhere and needs the help. It’s the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book with bad powers that can help them, but everyone wants it and is not easy to obtain. This novel was action packed, from start to finish the plot was excellent. It was a good length and all throughout the plot never wavered; it never got boring, there was always something happening that left the reader in awe. The characters we all know and love showed up and there were some new faces. Everyone came together so well; it all complimented each other. We really got to see what the newer characters are made of and Clare did such a good job of making them brave and fearless. That ending though! How can it just end like that? It just leaves readers completely stunned and craving the next novel.

Queen of Air and Darkness by: Cassandra Clare: After the tragic death of one of the Blackthorn’s everyone’s life is in shambles. Trying to pick up the pieces, but a war is threatening on the horizon. The Blackthorns break up, some to see about the disease wiping out the warlocks and some to Faerie to get the Black Volume of the Dead, but in the process learn so much more. This novel was like an irregular heartbeat; up, down, down, down, up, up, down, up, up. The reader never knew what was coming. For the most part the plot and story was really well done; Clare has this world all worked out and her characters flushed out. This novel probably didn’t need to be 900 pages, as so much happens and at first the reader really has to juggle everything happening, but for the loyal readers to all her books will really appreciate the end of this one. As much as there was action, battles, sadness, there was also so much happiness and it was really good to end on a high note or notes, plural. The writing is what we, the reader, have come to expect from Clare, very witty and poetic. Some of her purple prose could have been condensed and some of the dialogue she repeated which got boring really fast; it was great the first time around, but the same witty remark twice felt stale, and it felt like it happened a few times. Besides that, this was a great addition to her ever growing world.