Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare | Rating: ★★★★★

Did I spend the very last of my money on this book? Think about who you're dealing with here. Think a little harder. I ABSOLUTELY spent the last of my money on this. Who needs food when you have Shadowhunters. I wasn't kidding when I said Cassie's basically got me in a choke-hold. It's all fun and games until a demon comes and bites your left eyebrow off. Which is kind of how Queen of Air and Darkness left me feeling--like a demon bit my left eyebrow off. But, like, in a fun, "I can always draw them back on" satisfying way.

I tried to read it slowly. Really, I did. I was like, "Jessica. You're going to regret reading this too quickly." And then I was like, "Jessica. Don't listen to yourself. You can't be trusted. You're having a conversation with yourself when you could be reading Queen of Air and Darkness." Some points were made, right? I made a very valid point. So, I inhaled it.

SO. Queen of Air and Darkness, first of all, ripped my rune necklace off and poked me in the eye with it. Which, again, satisfying. Truly. 10/10 would be stabbed by a necklace again.

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare | Rating: ★★★★★

There's something about a place you've been with someone you love. It takes on a meaning in your mind. It becomes more than a place. It becomes a distillation of what you felt for each other. The moments you spend in a place with someone... they become part of its bricks and mortar. Part of its soul.

Five months. Five. Freaking. Months. That's how long it has taken me to recover from Lord of Shadows and I have to admit, I'm not even remotely over it. I just reread Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows over the course of one week because (1) I missed this world and (2) It's getting to be chilly outside so I typically go for comfort in Harry Potter or Shadowhunters. I figured now was the time to get up and write my review despite my inability to come to terms with the final chapter of this book as well as who we lose this time around. Basically, I am having a struggle when it comes to comprehending my emotions.

I think we all know how far up Cassandra Clare's ass I am at this point. That is a very vulgar way of putting it but, eh, what can you do? The Dark Artifices began with a really solid first installment and I briefly wondered if she could top it. I know better than to underestimate Clare because once again she proves she just keeps getting better with age--the writing in Lord of Shadows was phenomenal. I felt every word. Every heartbreak. Every butterfly. Every tingle and shock. There was something so good about Lord of Shadows that I can't quite put my finger on its pulse--it is perhaps one of her best works to date.

First of all HOW ARE WE ALMOST HALF WAY THROUGH THIS CELEBRATION?! This is nuts. Completely bonkers. It's, dare I say it, cuckoo bananas. This week's topic in my celebration of the 10th anniversary of Cassandra Clare's City of Bones is all about the relationships of The Mortal Instruments. Romantic, platonic/parabatai, family bonds, etc. Part of me wants to really expand this week's theme to extend to The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices since they all technically do make an appearance in one way or another throughout all the Shadowhunters novels.

So. Guess what I'm doing? *Evil laughter* Besides drinking coffee and ogling lipsticks on Temptalia, of course.  I'M GOING WILD WITH IT. Or, at the very least moderately untamed fangirl levels of joy and squeals and probably a lot of tears because Cass does tend to have that effect on us, right? Right?! No--but for real, I am extending this weeks theme to those three series because I'm a little feral this evening, as I just finished rereading Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows this week. And it's one of those moments where our beloved characters just pop up at random or are at least mentioned.

(And I'm still procrastinating writing a review for Lord of Shadows. Which, yes, is pretty sad as I've read it twice since it was released in the spring.)

I feel winded. Can you possibly feel winded from typing? I am pretty sure you can. Let's just get down to the good stuff. Grab a drink. Snuggle in. Find something to use as a tissue just in case the mere mention of a relationship causes total tears and distraction. We're going to be here for a good bit of time.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare | Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)

When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don't frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don't want perfect. You want them. You want—"
He broke off then, as if realizing everyone was looking at him again.

There are many reoccurring themes and characters mentioned from past releases by Cassandra Clare in Lady Midnight, but perhaps the most significant part to this installment–the first of a planned trilogy called The Dark Artifices–is the nod to a small truth each and everyone of us faces. It’s that sometimes answers come about in ways you least expected and that often, these truths can leave our lives in shambles and make us wonder how it came to be.

Not to mention a world of betrayal.

So–answers. Answers and more questions. That’s the first thing we come to see and have resolved piece by piece throughout this monster of a novel. Lady Midnight is large and fast paced and steamy; Clare brings us back into the Shadowhunter world effortlessly and in some ways just keeps getting better.