Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?
“Sometimes the most ruthless heart speaks the most truth”
Book: Lord of Shadows
Series: The Dark Artifices #2
Author: Cassandra Clare
Format: Hardcover, 701 pgs
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Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?
Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile, rising tension between Shadowhunters and Downworlders has produced the Cohort, an extremist group of Shadowhunters dedicated to registering Downworlders and “unsuitable” Nephilim. They’ll do anything in their power to expose Julian’s secrets and take the Los Angeles Institute for their own.
When Downworlders turn against the Clave, a new threat rises in the form of the Lord of Shadows—the Unseelie King, who sends his greatest warriors to slaughter those with Blackthorn blood and seize the Black Volume. As dangers close in, Julian devises a risky scheme that depends on the cooperation of an unpredictable enemy. But success may come with a price he and Emma cannot even imagine, one that will bring with it a reckoning of blood that could have repercussions for everyone and everything they hold dear.
Review:
Welcome Back Sweet Cassie! Welcome Back Queen!! Please, Come In And Enjoy This Party That’s Made Just For You. Reclaim Your Crown Queen.
Freakin’ finally people! Cassandra Clare wrote a book that’s not just great, it’s Freakin Fantastic! Our pain is finally over! Gone are the days of pointless Shadowmarket short stories and mediocre Shadowhunter Academy tales. The queen is back and she’s a bangin’!
*I’m soooo excited.. incase you couldn’t tell.
First and Foremost, I need to extend my deepest apologies for the review of Lady Midnight that happened last week. I was in pain, drunk with anger and disappointment. I meant every word but it still hurts.
*accurate representation of what went down last week
“Fiction is truth, even if it is not fact. If you believe only in facts and forget stories, your brain will live, but your heart will die.”
There’s so much to unpack here. I’m so excited!
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- Character Development Remember my complaint about there being too many people? Well Cassandra finally took the time to develop some of them individually. Instead of having that jumble of one dimensional, indistinguishable array of people. We finally have an ensemble that’s strong and interesting to follow.
Livvy and Ty are no longer referred to as “the twins.” They each have their own unique personality and interactions. Especially with Kit, who *YAY is finally in the picture. Even Dru gets her own side plot line and through those few chapters, we get to learn so much about her. Her loneliness, pain and struggles make her more real and relatable than everyone else. - Cristina, Mark and Kieran This love triangle reminds me so much of Tessa, Jem and Will’s love triangle from The Infernal Devices. TBH it’s the only thing that she copied that I approve of.
This love between them is mature, honest, respectful and mutual. As in, all three ARE in love with eachother. I kind of want them to spend their life together, all three of them. I don’t want her to pick one of the boys or have the boys pick eachother. I want all three together. No.. I NEED the trio to be together forever.
- Friendship Seriously, Christina and Emma are the absolute best example of a friendship yet. Better than Clary+Simon or Clary+Isabelle. There is no toxic female animosity between the two. Nor is there any jealousy between them. They both genuinely care deeply about each other, keep secrets together and share their experiences and advice without any judgement. Maturity Everywhere People!
- The Plot Telling you that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time isn’t strong enough to show you how engrossed I was in reading Lord Of Shadows. It took me ONE day to finish this 700 page book. There was love, family, friendship, intrigue, mystery, fear, pain, understanding, politics and humor. I don’t think I’ve ever used so many adjectives to describe a single book before. I really want to tell you to skip the first one and just dive into this, but you need the backstory unfortunately.
- Livvy
Spoilers! You’ve been warned. Livia Blackthorn dies. In the last chapter. In the last few pages. In the tender age of 15. She just dies. By the hand of none other than her own blood relative, Annabel Blackthorn. I expected Dru, maybe Tavvy, even Helen. Just not Livvy. Which is why I can see that she makes the perfect choice. How can her twin brother, Tiberius live the rest of his life? He lost his other half, literally. Ty, the autistic, anti-social one, who only opened up to Livvy. My heart was in deep pain.
- Character Development Remember my complaint about there being too many people? Well Cassandra finally took the time to develop some of them individually. Instead of having that jumble of one dimensional, indistinguishable array of people. We finally have an ensemble that’s strong and interesting to follow.
– Ave Atque Vale Livia Blackthorn –
- Kit + Ty So, it has been revealed that Kit Rook, son of Johnny Rook, is actually.. wait for it… The Lost Herondale. Christopher Herondale. Great Grandkid of my bae, my love, my sweetheart.. William Herondale. It’s just so cute to see a Herondale in the book. I loved the moment shared between Jace Herondale and Kit at the institute. With Jace being the last surviving member of his family for so long. I’m excited to see both boys bonding together. It’s also interesting to see a Herondale who is also a thief! In the quote below, Kit was trying to steal a bunch of first edition novels from the London Institute. Unbeknownst to him, Will H is actually his great great great grandfather. So he’s stealing from himself really.
“There were valuable first editions of books in the enormous library, most of them had been scribbled in by some idiot named Will H.”
Thank you to whoever took the time to make this Herondale family tree so we can all understand the connections between them.
*Y’all noticed how I hardly mentioned Julian and Emma, who are the protagonists of this whole show? This should tell you that the secondary cast is much more interesting than the leads.
Anyway, I genuinely have no negative feedback this time. A stark contrast between my last review on Lady Midnight don’t you think?
Until Next Time!
BookBye!
Final Rating:
★★★★★
What did you think of this book, have you read anything similar to it? Or do you have any recommendations for me to try? Lets chat, don’t worry, I don’t bite. ^^
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