Review + Discussion : Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Title : Lord of Shadows
Author : Cassandra Clare
Series : The Dark Artifices #2
Genre : YA fantasy
Release Date : May 23, 2017
Publisher : Margaret K. McElderry

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Would you trade your soul mate for your soul?

A Shadowhunter’s life is bound by duty. Constrained by honor. The word of a Shadowhunter is a solemn pledge, and no vow is more sacred than the vow that binds parabatai, warrior partners—sworn to fight together, die together, but never to fall in love.

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.

*This review contains no spoiler, but I've created a spoiler and discussion section below the line

Frankly, I don't know how to write this review except to say LORD OF SHADOWS WILL WRECK YOUR HEART AND YOUR SOUL. This book is just that good that amazing would be an understatement. It's basically everything that I don't know I hoped in a sequel.

I have so many things to say, but let's start with the characters first. I am pleased to inform you that the characters development is so well done here. While the characters in Lady Midnight is more focused on Julian, Emma, Christina, and Mark, in here, we get to see more of Kit, Ty, Livvy, and Dru. I honestly love Kit! We didn't see much of him in LM, but in here we see a lot of his Herondale sassiness. And I love his friendship with Livvy and budding romance/friendship with Ty. Livvy and Ty also get their own spotlight here and it makes my little heart happy. Side note, but I think Cassie handle autism well here. I already suspect that Ty has autism since LM, eventhough it never been addressed clearly, but she discuss the topic here in a positive way. We even get Diana POVs here, which is really great! I think I love every one of them more than I did in Lady Midnight, if it was even possible. But, to be honest, while I love them all, the character I relate with the most is Julian. This really surprise me, since I didn't really feel that way in LM, but when I read this book, I found myself agreeing to every choice and every act he made, both good and bad. I would have done the same thing if I were in his place. Suffice to say, he's definitely my favorite character here and by the end of the book I just wanna hug him and never let go.

If you worried that the plot would disappoint, worry not, because the event in Lady Midnight is nothing compared to this. It's not about Los Angeles Institute anymore, but rather the problem has spread in the Shadowhunter world. We even visited London (which please me because SO MANY TID/TLH references! We even meet one or two of TID characters 😉), Cornwall, Faerie Land, and Idris. And yes, like I said, it'll play with your heart and eventually break it on the last pages.

At this point I don't have any word left to explain this book without giving away spoilers (more to it below) so please do yourself a favor and read this book or start this series if you haven't!

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SPOILERS + DISCUSSIONS

Don't go below this if you don't want to be spoiled!

• CAN WE TALK ABOUT LIVVY? Her death really really wreck me and I'm just at loss of words when I read that scene. I'm not naive enough to think all the Blackthorns will survive by the end of this series, but still I didn't expect her to die in this book, on the very last pages of it, no less. And she died in Julian's arms. Julian, who became a parent figure since he was twelve, trying to keep all of her brothers and sisters safe, has to watch his own sister died in his arms. No, I'm not crying, you are.

• Livvy's death got me thinking, how will Julian cope? It's been clear since LM that Julian is ruthless, that he would burn down the world if it means his family would be safe, so there's a pretty big possibilities of him being an antihero in book 3. But I got fascinated by the quote Cassie put in her dedication page: "The wound is the place where the light enters you", which is why I'm clinging to this small chance of him not being destructive, and instead honor Livvy's death in a way that she would love.
• I didn't talk about the romance before because I'm afraid it'll be spoilery, but I want to discuss about Mark x Christina x Kieran situation. This surprise me because I kinda ship all three of them? I pretty much didn't ship any of them in LM (neither Mark x Christina nor Mark x Kieran), but the more I read about them in Lord of Shadows, the more I think they would be good for each other. As for Julian and Emma, there's SO MUCH angst between them, but they're pretty much in the same situation as before, with only difference that now they both know they love each other.
• Not really a spoiler but how am I supposed to wait 2 years for book 3?