Where do I even begin?! Last summer, around the same time, I read and fell in love with the new series by Cassandra Clare, more specifically «Lady Midnight» the first book in the Dark Artifices series. Being a fan of the Shadowhunter world for so long, I could have never imagined that a time would come when I didn’t like a book written by Cassandra Clare.
The Mortal Instruments series made me fall in love with Jace and Clary, with Simon, with Magnus, with this entirely new magical world. I must admit that I was not a huge fan of the Infernal Devices series because frankly I found it too bitter-sweet for my taste with the whole love triangle thing going on. But «Lady Midnight» have brought back the excitement of Shadowhunters!
Now… «Lord of Shadows»… I was so very disappointed.
WARNING: I’ve cut some parts of the blurb that might spoil the first book for some of you and I’ve tried to keep my review vague to avoid any big spoilers, but if you haven’t read the first book or haven’t read any of the Shadowhunter series, be cautious and read this at your own risk.
The faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.
You all are probably wondering why I was so disappointed with this book (and even if you are not wondering I am still going to tell you because that is what I do on this blog, force people to read things they might not be interested in! Muahaha!)
THE REASONS WHY:
1 – Since I’ve already touched this subject earlier, let’s start with love triangles! I don’t like them, I don’t find them interesting to read about, I don’t like the situation of “oh, but I love both of you and now I can’t decide”, and then it takes an entire book or sometimes multiple books to plunder through these “complicated emotions”.
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2 – The concept and execution of forbidden love. It gets old, really! Why can’t people love each other and be happy?! We’ve had this in the Mortal Instruments, we’ve had a little bit of this in the Infernal Devices and now in this series as well. Just, no! Enough is enough!
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3 – I am also growing tired of the never ending drama. And usually Cassandra Clare can balance it out well by adding thrilling action, huge fights, adventures and Shadowhunter’s history. But «Lord of Shadows» felt like one big dramatic event after another with no end in sight.
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And the final point, not exactly a reason why I disliked it, but I feel like I need to speak about it anyway. I love how, nowadays, authors expand more on the idea of romance. It’s grown from the “boy loves girl” concept to a way more diverse and open flow than what I used to read when I was a teenager. And that is great!
What I don’t find great is that sometimes authors seem to “force” this diversity into their stories. As if feeling the pressure to make the romance different, to include as many situations as possible, without it seeming right or fit for the particular novel.
That is how I felt about «Lord of Shadows». There were great moments of battles and secrets, mixed with hints of Shadowhunters’ past that were thrilling and exciting. But the negative things overweight the positive this time and unfortunately I cannot give this book more than 2 stars.
My Rating:
⭐⭐ / 5
I know there were a lot of people who loved this book and I understand that my opinion might not be the most popular one, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this whether you agree or otherwise!
With love,
Alex
WhimsyPages 
I can’t say that I hated this book as much as you, but I definitely agree that Clare was forcing diversity. I also hated the ending. It felt really gimicky to make up for the rest of the book.
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Oh..the ending. It felt like the story dragged and dragged for many many pages and then BOOM, everything happened at once. 😦
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Thank you! You expressed everything exactly the way I feel.
The Shadowhunter world used to be my favorite fandom, but now… it seems like Clare is running out of ideas.
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I’m trying very hard to finish the third and last book in this series (not sure why I even bought it, but hey.. Now I’ve got to read it) 😂
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