4.0
Queen of Air and Darkness
By Cassandra ClarePublisher Description
Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy. Queen of Air and Darkness is a Shadowhunters novel.
What if damnation is the price of true love?
Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. Their society now teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find there is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of the Shadowhunters before a deadly curse destroys them and everyone they love.
What if damnation is the price of true love?
Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. Their society now teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find there is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of the Shadowhunters before a deadly curse destroys them and everyone they love.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities868 Reviews
4.0
Jamie_Reads
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“A veeeery long book that probably could have been told in about half as many pages. I enjoyed the characters, but mostly, couldn't wait for the story to end as it got repetitive and felt unsatisfying. I know this is a lighter and fluffier series, yet I hoped the author would take some risks with her characters - she didn't. Overall, I'm glad Iistened to it rather than read a physical copy because I'm not sure I would have had the energy to finish it.”SuspensefulMagical settingPredictable
oliviazh
Created 11 months agoShare
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Characters change and growMulti-layered charactersAction-packedHeartbreakingRomanticHeartbreaking
Cecilia Feltner
Created over 1 year agoShare
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“That just happened. I have no words.”
Meha
Created over 3 years agoShare
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“Oh. My. GOD.
I'm going to attempt to structure this review into something resembling coherent thought, which will be a tall order given I've been wandering round in an emotionally wrecked dreamlike haze ever since devouring this book in 24 hours.
Now, anyone who knows me knows I'm something of a zealot about TDA. I sing their praises all day long. I force everyone I know to read them. Basically, I was accountable to a lot of people if the final installment in this trilogy turned out to be a let-down.
This was no let-down.
From the get-go, this bursts through your chest and clutches your heart and never lets go. I maintain that this trilogy is the most sophisticated entry in the Shadowhunter Chronicles, and all of the facets that have had me convinced of this fact since Lady Midnight are out in full force here. The world-building and character establishments are by now so well-ingrained in the fabric of this universe that not one extra word of these 900-odd pages needs to be spent on unnecessary exposition. We get to spend all our time with characters we know and love and it's magical. The set up there is for the next series rises beautifully and organically from the substance of this book, without shortchanging the plot threads and character arcs that deserved full realisation for this trilogy to reach a satisfying conclusion.
To discuss everything I loved about this book and the entire trilogy, I've broken it down into a few categories:
World-building
I've already touched on this slightly, but the huge advantage of this series is that this world and its systems are already so well-established. Instead of doing what some authors do and just constantly piling on new details and information and diluting the power of the world as a result, Cassandra Clare uses the strong foundations to full effect and exploring the world and its inhabitants with as much depth and complexity as though it were the real world.
Representation
This series has such diverse array of characters and relationships that are treated as multidimensional stories in their own right. There are characters of colour, autistic characters, a trans character, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual characters. There are m/m, f/f, interracial, and poly relationships. And I so much enjoyed every single one.
Plot
I'm going to be upfront and say that I'm not normally super concerned with plot. I don't like a book to be boring, but generally, I'm in it for characters. That being said, I did love the plot of this book. All the conflict feels so intense and understandable, nothing manufactured. And more than that, this was so chillingly relevant. The rise of the Cohort and all that comes with it draws a sobering parallel to our current political climate, and I loved the way it was handled in the book. There is also some very vivid angst and pain and grief in this book. It feels right, given what the characters go through -- there is proper consideration for the emotional impact that the events of the plot would cause. But, in the author's words it's not 'an unrelenting tragedy-fest' either. This book is really about people and family and love and loss. That means there's grief and angst and pain. But also humour and love, happiness and tenderness, joy and victory. And it all feels so earned, so well deserved.
Characters
Okay now we're reaching the part of the review where I struggle to control my flailing. I love all these characters so so much. Julian Blackthorn may just be my favourite character of all time. He's so flawed and so visceral and real. He struggles so much and makes such terrible choices for such good reasons. I love him I love him I love him. Emma is such a wonderful protagonist as well. She's tough and a strong fighter and reckless, but also funny and kind and vulnerable. Each and every member of the Blackthorn family owns a little piece of my heart, and watching them navigate grief and love and heartbreak was such an emotional rollercoaster for me. Cristina and Kieran are both characters I've come to adore more and more with each book, and their development is brilliant. On top of that, it is so wonderful to see old characters we know and love come back. They fit organically and integrally into the story too, with arcs and purposes of their own beyond cutesy cameos. I don't have the time to list every single character I loved, but I can't go without mentioning Magnus and Alec. Do I even need to explain my love for Magnus Bane? It's Magnus Bane. We all love Magnus Bane. And Alec? Alec has been one of my favourite characters since I read TMI back in middle school. Looking at how much he's changed and grown as a character in this book -- you best believe I choked up. And I have to mention .
Relationships
HOO BOY. This was without a doubt the best part of the book. First off, the romantic ships.
Blackstairs. Julian and Emma. Oh my god where to begin. I don't think words can adequately encapsulate how desperately and ardently I ship these two. Best friends, they understand each other better than anyone in the world, everything about their relationship means they belong together. Which makes it all the more EXCRUCIATINGLY ANGSTY THAT THEIR LOVE IS FORBIDDEN. Between the tenderness and longing and passion of their relationship and the tragically unadulterated angst of their circumstance, it's safe to say I was a wholeass mess!
Meanwhile, IS CANON!!! I am so ecstatic that this ship has sailed, and safe to say they too put me through the up-and-down angst/joy cycle.
Kit and Ty were another favourite dynamic of mine. They broke my wasted heart to pieces, and I am SO EXCITED for The Wicked Powers. I can already tell it's going to wreck me.
And, of course, MALEC. Listen, please understand that "Malec Shipper" was pretty much a defining part of my personality from eighth through tenth grade. I've always loved this ship, but safe to say this book reminded me just how much. MY BABIES GOT MARRIED IT'S WHAT THEY DESERVE! "Some might have called it the presence of God. Magnus just thought of it as Alexander Gideon Lightwood."!!!!!! SO MANY MORE MOMENTS THAT ABSOLUTELY SCALPED ME!
Also shoutout to Gwnn and Diana, and Aline and Helen, both of whom were adorable!
However, even more than the romantic ships, I was destroyed by the friendships and family bonds. Emma and Cristina's friendship, the Blackthorn siblings dynamics with each other -- all of them were so well wrought. They were the heart, the emotional gravitas, of this story. One theme of this book is the importance of feeling. It is about how to feel joy, we need pain, how heartbreak is the price we pay for love. The way these characters love each other and make you love them is what allows this theme to ring so true.
In conclusion...
I loved this. I loved this a lot. And I will be spending the foreseeable future forcing strongly urging everyone I know to read this series and fall in love with these characters for themselves.”
Camila Di Bernardo
Created over 3 years agoShare
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“4.5
Can Cassandra Clare ever do us wrong? I'm starting to think it is not possible.
Everything went as I needed it to. I'm so in love with all of the characters. I'm so in love with this world. I can't wait to read something else within it. If I don't stop myself, I'll definitely end up re-reading TMI just because I love everything Shadowhunter so goddamn much.
I need help.
(The half-star I'm taking off is only because I felt the end was a little too convenient, you know? But I don't really care all that much)”
About Cassandra Clare
Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com.
Other books by Cassandra Clare
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