In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

 

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

 

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

 

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she 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?

 

 

 

Okay, where to start other than saying I loved the book? If you have not read any of the previous books in the Shadowhunters world and don’t want to be spoiled I recommend to you read them first. Plus some things will make more sense if you read them.

I must admit while I have read and loved The Infernal Devices Trilogy I have only read the first three books in The Mortal Instruments which I also enjoyed but yet have to read the last three books. But thanks to the internet I know how it all ends, so I decided to finally start Lady Midnight which I had sitting on my shelve for some time now.

Now to Lady Midnight. I loved this book and I think it is my favorite book in the shadowhunters word I’ve read so far. Though The Infernal Devices are a close second.

In this book we meet the Blackthrons and Emma Carstairs. I really enjoyed them all. Julian seems all broody but really he has a soft heart and once you get to know it all it all makes sense. He has a lot to carry on his shoulders. Mark, I was not really sure for some time where he stands but I did like him a lot. I also enjoyed all the other kids in the family each had their own quirks and strengths. I look forward getting them to know more about them.

The Blackthorns are not having it easy, not at all.  It seems at first all is going smooth but the deeper we go in the more we see the flaws and the struggle, which made me love them even more.  With them comes Emma who lost her parents in the dark war and now lives with the Blackthorns and is also  Julian’s parabatai which comes with its own little difficulties as she is also in love with him. But as we know it is forbidden for parabatais to be lovers. "The Law is hard, but it is the Law."

We also meet Christina and Perfect Diego, both I liked very much and can’t wait to see more of. It would not be complete without some fair fold and a warlock both are pretty important as always to the story and both are scary, yet exciting to read.

We also get to see some people we met and loved in both The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments. Which was so great and written into this story perfectly. It was great to see them but even better to see them happy.

This book was a total emotional roller coaster ride and nonstop action. Plus we get some pretty wicked plot twists throughput the book. Every time I thought I had it figured out I was thrown a curveball.

Overall I loved this book and I can’t say much more without spoiling it so I just leave it at that. If you are a Cassandra Clare fan, than this book is a must read.

I rate this book a full 5 ★ and will start book two tonight .

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

“There was beauty in the idea of freedom, but it was an illusion. Every human heart was chained by love.”
***
“Lex malla, lex nulla. A bad law is no law.”
***
“Everyone is more than one thing,” said Kieran. “We are more than single actions we undertake, whether they be good or evil.”
***
“Laws are meaningless, child. There is nothing more important than love. And no law higher.”
***
“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.”
***
“Heros aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes.”
***

 

 

Audiobook
The mystery of who killed Emma's parents
The mystery of the deaths of shadowhunters
The mystery of love
The mystery of a lost boy
The mystery of the one in charge
So many mysteries to answer. They just kept pilling up for the first 3/4 of the book. I expected them to crumble under the weight but no the characters stayed true and stayed strong. Fought and fought and suffered, till at last answers started reveling themselves and the answers were not easy to accept.
The stress of the last 1/4 of this story was crazy. Ms. Clare made sure that they were dragged through the mud and left caked and battered along a troubled river. Seriously Ms Clare, why did Emma have to do that at the end ? Troubled times. Yes, I loved it. Yes, I already downloaded book 2.

Sex on the beach sounds sexy   But the reality is   

Apparently I need more heroine tags. I really enjoyed Kate in this one. That said, it was a little bit of a miss for me...but only just. I enjoyed the terse and serious Thorne, Kate was a strong, patient, kind character. I really saw her warmth and dug how self-assured she was. Their relationship was great, as was the backstory (I'm a sucker for that)-but that's where my first hang-up is. I wish the enemies-to-lovers thing would've played out a little longer or had a bit more bite. It would've been nice to have it revealed to us a bit more slowly, especially since the sexual tension was great and lasted SOO long.

The length and pacing of the relationship is the main reason for the only just. I love that Dare did not make her hero some articulate charismatic man in love, she kept him at few words and Kate learned to interpret his actions.

The subplot of her heritage wasn't awful but it was incredibly overboard. That 25% or so of the book was where I got a bit impatient. I think this is what I'm referring to when I say the enemies-to-lovers could have had a bit more play. This had so much time and felt like it became an unnecessary distraction to the rest of the story and characters which felt quite strong. Unfortunately, that's why this is only a 3 despite featuring some of my favorite tropes and feeling light and funny with characters I liked.

Do I trust Mark ? Do I like Mark ? I'm not sure