Author- Cassandra Clare My Rating- 4.5 STARS Synopsis- 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. |
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.
My Review- Wow! Every time I pick up a Cassandra Clare book I know the plot lines are going to be thick and weaving, the characters are going to face a tank load of hard decisions and angst and sometimes someone who I adore is going to die. There will be all kinds of love and people types and orientations.
Lord of Shadows did not fail to bring me all of this. Emma and Julian and a whole host of supporting cast (some new, some from previous books) have much to do. They believe the threat of Malcolm came to an end in the previous book but they underestimated warlock powers. The moment Emma killed him, after discovering a whole lot of traitorous behaviour and murder, a spell was triggered to bring him back from the dead. Malcolm has a mission and he needs Blackthorn blood to finish his ritual. With the Black Volume, he has great power and raises a lost love who then ends his life for real and runs away with it.
It would seem everyone wants the book and the power it has to offer. The Seelie Queens offers them a bargain they can not resist as destructive as the outcome may be, the Unseelie King wants it for his dark plans to destroy all Shadowhunters and rule the whole of Faery and Emma and Julian need it in hopes of saving their family and, perhaps end the Cold Peace that has banished the Faeries from Shadowhunters and other Downworlders, choking their power and forbidding them to seek help. And then, there is the small problem of Emma and Julian's love, and the curse it may bring on them and others through their parabatai bond.
Emma has tried everything to get Julian to hate her, dating his brother and rejecting him as often as she can, but they are drawn to each other. Their love is world destroying. And Julian doesn't care if the world is destroyed. He will do anything for Emma and his family, no matter the costs of the destruction left behind. Julian is a warrior, but he is ruthless and one track minded when he wants something. And that, in the end, is what causes many great tragedies that tore my heart wide open. The ending was a cold bucket of water thrown over me that left me speechless.
The ending of this book near killed me. The loss was awful. I haven't felt that way since the previous series when Max lost his life, the youngest Lightwood. But I was left quite confused, which is why this is the only book by Cassandra Clare I have ever given less than 5 stars. When Max was killed, I understood, there was great evil in Sebastion ( a previous villain in TMI) and always would be. It was how he was created. But Annabel is a different story, what she does makes no sense to me. Since her return to life, yes she has been messed up by a terrible past, but she was sane, spoke reasonably, ultimately was trying to protect Julian from the terrible power of the Black Volume. But then....she goes psycho and had she struck out at any other person than who she did, I could have accepted it. But her choice of victim and her turn to craziness barely made sense to me.
However, the shocking end had the desired effect despite my confusion. I will continue to devour every Shadowhunter book placed in front of me because it is a world I can not get enough of. I hope Cass never stops creating Shadowhunters for us to follow...or perhaps have Downworlders as main characters to get a more in depth look at their world. People moan about there being more and more books based in this world, but seriously her writing is amazing. Fluid and beautiful, her descriptions are out of this world. And while there are stories to be had in this world, I want to read them. I will never get tired of Shadowhunters (only the books though, the TV series hasn't done much for me)