Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Emma Carstairs is a seventeen year-old Shadowhunter at the Los Angeles Institute with her parabati, Julian Blackthorn, friend Cristina Rosales, and the younger Blackthorns: twins Livia (Livvy) and Tiberius (Ty) who are both fifteen, Drusilla (Dru) who is thirteen, and the youngest of seven years old, Octavian (Tavvy). Five years ago, Emma's parents were killed by an unknown murderer and left by the sea. Their bodies turned into dust. Emma vowed revenge on her parent's killer and spent the next 5 years finding clues and keeping them in her closet and information from Jonny Rook at the Shadow Market. The Clave blames her parents' deaths on Sebastian Morgenstern during the Dark War, but Emma, Jace Herondale, and Clary Farchild (who run the New York Institute) are also not conviced. Now more bodies start turning up like her parents', and Emma is determined to solve the mystery.

One day the Wild Hunt arrive at the Institute. During the Dark War, Mark Blackthorn (who was 16 at the time, and Julian and Emma were 12) was taken by the Wild Hunt because he is half Faerie. The oldest, Helen Blackthorn, was exiled to Wrangel Island by the Clave because of her Faerie parent also after the Dark War (Lady Nerissa, same as Mark's). Mark is returned to the Institute by the Wild Hunt in exchange for the Shadowhunter's help in solving the murders, since some of the victims are of the fair folk. The Shadowhunters cannot call the Clave for help because they're breaking the Cold Peace- a new law installed after the Dark War forbidding Shadowhunters from working with the fair folk after they allied with Sebastian in the war.

While Mark was in the Hunt, he met a Faerie prince, Kieran, who he fell in love with. Mark admits he's bisexual, as he is also attracted to Cristina (who is having a thing with her "friend" from Mexico, Diego [or Perfect Diego, as Emma called him]).

The group works out the investigation where a secret club is involved, called the Followers, where they hold a lottery. If your name is picked you have to kill someone.

Everything adds up at the end of the novel when the group discovers that the leader of the evil group, also known as The Guardian, is Malcom Fade, the High Warlock of Los Angeles and their friend who sometimes came over to take care of the children and eat pizza (Anslem Nightshade, a vampire, was framed about selling demonic pizza by Julian so that people avoid what Julian and Emma did). There is a poem about a girl named Annabel Lee written on the bodies of the murdered, and they realize that it is a spell to awaked her from the dead. She was Malcom's lover and she was killed by the Clave. He wants to bring her back using dark magic.

The group goes to the cavern where this takes place when Tavvy is kidnapped by Malcom on the beach. Part of the poem is Blackthorn Blood, so Malcom plans to kill Tavvy to complete the spell. The hands of the murderers of the lottery were put on a candelabra as Hands of Glory (another ingredient). Malcom is killed by Emma Carstairs when she uses an Endurance rune on her arm to deflect the killling blow of his magic (Julian put it there) and stabs Malcom with her sword, Cortana.

All while this is happening, Julian and Emma have very much fallen in love with eachother. The problem-they're parabati, which makes it forbidden. They have sex on the beach after he rescues her from the sea (the cave lead into the ocean). At the end of the novel, Jem Carstairs tells Emma of why parabati cannot fall in love-the runes turn into magic and power (which is what happened in the cavern) since the bond is a romantic bond (closer). Emma takes Julian aside and tells him she does not want to secretly date him because she is afraid of this magic (she didn't tell Julian about the power runes, but that she doesn't want to love him anymore in secret. It's a lie but IT BREAKS MY HEART and well, hers). To complete her lie, she asks Mark to become her fake-boyfriend since she took the whipping that was meant for him. He says "why lie?" and I think takes her hand.

Tessa and Jem find Kit Rook, son of Jonny Rook (now dead by demons), because he is actually Christopher Herondale, son of Tobias Herondale. Tobias was exiled but no one could find him so they gave his punishment to his pregnant wife. Someone helped the baby (forget) and hid him. Now Kit is at the LA Institute, probably going to make friends with Ty (even though Ty held Kit at knifepoint when the investigation team went to Kit's house to see Jonny Rook for information).

In the epilogue, Annabel opens her eyes.

I can't believe Emma did that. She's going to kill Julian's heart forever :'(

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

This isn't written by me, but someone else on the internet. It is a summary of the book that I read to refresh my memory of the events before reading Lady Midnight. Here it is.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (sequel to Red Queen)

This series deserves a post simply because I do not want to forget it. I spent a good 4 hours in my room finishing Glass Sword because I could not put it down. I wanted to write about this book because this is a new book, meaning that the sequel will take years to come. In those future moments I can then revisit this post and refresh my memory about my reflection upon Glass Sword and the events that took place.

The main character, Mare, is a "newblood" with Red blood but Silver abilities. In her case, she has the ability to control and create lighting and electricity. Red Queen ended with Mare and her love interest, Cal (brother to Maven, King in Glass Sword), fighting for their lives in the Battle of the Bones arena Maven put them in to be executed. I don't remember how they escaped, but they defeated all their executioners and joined forces with the Scarlet Guard, a rebel army trying to overthrow King Maven.

Maven is the younger brother of Cal. His mother, Queen Elara, has the Silver ability to read and control people's minds. She forced Cal to kill his father, then labeled him as a traitor and Maven took his place about the kingdom.

Glass Sword begins with Mare and her brother, Shade (who she thought was dead after he was conscripted into the war) who is also a newblood like herself. He has the ability to teleport.

Throughout the story, Mare's goal is to use the book Julian Jacos gave her (her tutor, and the book holds all the newbloods like her) to find the newbloods before Maven does, as he wants to kill them all so that the population doesn't know they exist. There is Nix (strongarm with unbreakable skin [dies]), Gareth (manipulate gravity and fly [dies]), Kesha (blow things up with her mind [dies]), Cameron (silence people's abilities and is immune to silent stone, the stone that blocks people's powers), Shade (teleoport, [dies]), Cal (control fire), Farely (no ability, but a good command and Shade's love interest before he died, Nanny (can take the appearence of anyone), Darmain (like Nix), Har__ (forget the rest of his name at the moment, but can control light and make people see things that aren't there, invisibility) Farrah (absorb sound), Luther (a young boy around 7 who can kill plants (never tried people) with his hands), Ada (can memorize everything, literally), Sara Skonos (Julian's love interest, healer), Jon (an eye who can predict the future), and Maven, who can also control fire. Don't forget about Kilorin, Mare's normal friend from the Slits (who is also a skilled hunter and fisherman). Oh, and Mare's brothers, Bree and Tramy, and younger sister, Giza. And mom and dad.

The Scarlet Guard go rescuing and gathering newbloods, but they also go to Corros prision to resue the ones they were too late to save. There's this whole showdown and that's where some die. They release all the prisoners and run for the Blackrun (the jet they flew there). Mare is running towards the jet and Ptolmeus (metal power man) is throwing metal at her. Just as he throws a needle, Shade teleports in front of her with his hand out to bring her with him to the jet.

Mare zaps and kills Queen Elara and brings her body back to broadcast on TV (or whatever it's called)

Farely was holding her stomach so I think Shade got her pregnant before all this. HE WAS THE ONE PERSON I DIDN'T WANT TO DIE! I thought Kilorin was going to die and I was okay with that.

They get back, and then get on another Jet to go to the Choke, where 5 thousand innocent child soldiers are being sent to die. In the sky, they're shot down by Maven. Everyone gets pinned by metal and instead of letting them all get captured and killed, Mare trades herself in to Maven in exchange for everyone else to be freed. The novel ends with Maven and Mare on a podium in front of a crowd with her wearing a collar and him holding the leash, and she kneels at his feet like he tells her to.

I think the ending was rushed, but I saw it coming. Something had to keep us wanting the next book.

BUT SHADE! COME BACK TO ME!

The end.