Queen of Air and Darkness: The Dark Artifices, Book 3

…..and a big bomb lands at the end. Just when we see that a new “world order” is in its infancy, evil raises its ugly head.

𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎★★★★★This book quite literally blew me away. After that cliffhanger of book 2, I didn’t pick up the final book until 7 months later which is just insane. I should not have waited that long because this story was mind blowing. There may be slight spoilers below while I arrange my thoughts so beware!“𝙀𝙢𝙢𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.“✨Emma Carstairs is a strong willed, brave, loving, and selfless heroine. She grows so much throughout these books, and having to deal with all of these people around her while still caring for herself is amazing. She found her family with the Blackthorns and they love her just the same. She’s one of my top favorite shadowhunter characters. The next Jace Herondale 😉“"𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪," 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙. "𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙞𝙩."”✨JULIAN MF BLACKTHORN- I now know what everyone sees in him. Not to say I wasn’t obsessed with him in the past two books, but this one takes the cake! Julian has so much love in his heart and he goes through so much pain in this book and I just wanted to protect him.“𝙄𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙪𝙨, 𝙀𝙢𝙢𝙖, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙯𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙪𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣--𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬."✨the plot- the plot went smoothly throughout this book, just the tiniest twinge at the end was a little iffy for me, if I think back to it. (Iykyk) But other than that I loved every second of this book, to be deeply immersed in the shadow world.“𝘼 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡."✨ THULE!!!! THAT’S IT, THAT IS ALL I AM SAYING BUT WOW IT WAS WILD AND SO INTERESTING."𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪," 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.✨Another reason I’m obsessed with these books is because the OG Mortal Instruments characters are still involved and have a pretty big part in this book and I love seeing them. They’re family.𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙂𝙀.✨MALEC NEEDED THEIR OWN SECTION- when I tell you I almost cried at these Alec and Magnus scenes, especially the beach scene 😭 I love them so much and they deserve all the happiness in the world okay?"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩… 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠, "𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙘 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢."✨To end it off, Mark, Christina and Kieran!! My wholesome, favorite throuple. The amount of love they share for each other and how they care, is so beautiful and it’s all an equal connection. I wanted so much more but I treasured what I got.“𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

The Shadow hunters will always have a place in my heart. The epilogue leads me to believe there is more. Looks like I'll have to go to the next series!

Queen of Air and Darkness was an adventure, to say the least. It was quite possibly one of the most insane books I have ever read, and that’s saying a lot. This book was unlike all the others in this universe because it focused primarily on relationships. Yes, there were fight scenes and magic and drama, but this book mainly tackled the romantic aspect of it all. People who you never thought would get together got together. People who you didn’t want to get together got together and people who you wanted to get together didn’t. This book was way more sexually graphic than any other book of Clare’s. You experience every type of relationship under the sun, and chances are you read a sex scene about them too. Ok, now let’s get into the plot.CHARACTER HIGHLIGHTS:KIT:Since the first time that Kit was introduced, he has been my favorite character. Step aside Emma, Kit is coming for your wig. Kit is developed very nicely in this book and you learn more about his past and his relevance to the series. He bonds with Ty (I won’t spoil anything but their whole friendship was kind of disappointing) and gets closer to Jace. He befriends more of the Blackthorns and is an all around awesome character. He isn’t featured as much as I hoped he would, but the cliffhanger ending suggests a new book with him in it.CLARY, JACE, AND THE OGS:Queen of Air and Darkness involved Clary, Jace, and all of the characters from the Mortal Instruments more than any other book in this spin-off series. We get a wholeeeee lot of Alec and Magnus, and there are even a few Isabelle and Simon scenes, but the stars of the show are Jace and Clary. They are less real, relatable, and developed in this installment, but I still loved reading them and seeing their relationship develop. My only problem were these two chapters at the end that involved Alec, Magnus, etc., that were totally unnecessary to the plot. This book could have easily been 100 pages shorter and there were honestly so many scenes that could’ve been turned into short stories. But, like I said, this book focused mainly on relationships, so while I didn’t really want all of the extra detail, it seemed to follow the general idea of love that Clare seemed to want to convey.JAIME AND DIEGO:Jaime and Diego were the splash of normalcy in this book that saved me from quitting halfway through. I would read a racey scene and wonder if I should even continue, and then I would flash back to reality with good ol’ Jaime and Diego. Their relationship as brothers is really stressed here and all of their scenes are heartwarming, comical, and classic Casandra Clare. If the whole book had been written like the Jaime and Diego scenes, I’d probably have liked it better.LIVVY:We end the last book with Livvy dead, but though she is no longer living, she still gets some action. We see how her family deals with her death in many ways and we get to experience more of her character through a way that I can’t say because that would be a major spoiler.PLOT:I honestly thought the plot was all over the place. Many story lines were going on at once and some concepts I didn’t really understand. Clare explained a lot of the “secrets” that she had been waiting to reveal from the past books, and where some of them made my jaw drop, others made me want to smash my kindle to pieces and never read a book again. So many of the scenes gave me secondhand embarrassment, and many of them dragged on for too long and I found myself skimming them. This was to be expected, as the book is extremely long, but it could’ve been chopped in half and still gotten to the point. This book isn’t as effortlessly cool as every other that Clare has written. Some of her concepts felt ridiculous to me and I kept wondering why I was even still reading. It was kind of disappointing, and it took me almost a week to finish it. To put that into perspective, I read the last book in 2 days. It was kind of boring, and it just didn’t live up to my expectations.FINAL THOUGHTS:Ok, I know that I basically just trashed this book, but I’m giving it four stars and here’s why. Though it wasn’t what I had been picturing as I waited a year for its release, it was good. Despite all of its flaws, I STILL read all of it, and I laughed and cried and related to the characters. And though some of the relationships made me feel uncomfortable, I overlooked it because others made me so happy I could cry. It also made me more interested in new ideas that were introduced in this book; somehow it managed to make a fourth series seem attainable. If you’re looking for a long read, something with a lot of depth and philosophical questions, this is for you. If you’re looking for love and acceptance, this is for you. If you’re looking for action and blood and fight scenes, this is for you. If you’re looking for familial bonds and for true friendship, this is for you. I can assure you that I’m looking forward to see what Cassandra Clare has to say next.

Added to the collection

Love this author!! Great price and recieved my book quickly

Amo. Las ilustraciones y el póster que viene, hacen que tener este libro en físico valga completamente la pena.Llegó antes de lo previsto.Tiene algunos detalles menores en las orillas de las tapas, pero nada que arruine el libro.Esta edición, o bueno, el libro que me llegó a mi está firmado por la autora y es más de lo que pude haber pedido.Sí lo encuentras en oferta, no dudes mucho y cómpralo.

Mil gracias a Amazon por enviarme el libro firmado por la autora con ilustraciones😍 vaya ganga por dios ♥️

Fico cada vez mais abismada com o talento da Cassandra Clare! Ela vem crescendo tanto em cada livro, desde o primeiro, de um jeito absurdo! Eu realmente amo cada novo livro dela mais do que o último, mesmo quando acho que vai ser impossível! É por pessoas como eu que ela continua lançando mil livros no mesmo universo - não consigo nem imaginar um mundo onde eu não possa torcer por novas séries e livros dos Shadowhunters. E é por isso, talvez, que amei, amei, amei o final desse! Também é por isso que estou sofrendo!Cassandra sabe escrever uma história completa, com vários, mas vários personagens importantes e diferentes entre si, com cenas paralelas, complementares, sem qualquer passo em falso, a ponto de realmente parecer que são reais. A narrativa dela é super competente, que emociona e entretém tão fácil, que não tem como não ficar preso e viciado na leitura.Mas minha parte favorita dos livros dela são os personagens mesmo, tão únicos e diversificados. Sempre crio ships diferentes e sofridos - e nunca sofri tanto quanto por um dessa trilogia, que me fez acabar o livro de coração partido. É por ele também que eu exijo uma série "continuação"! E é por ele que vou sofrer até ela ser lançada! Queen of Air and Darkness acabou com vários ganchos super interessantes para próximas histórias, mas meu foco sempre será nos meus ships!Cassandra Clare vem melhorando em todos os aspectos a cada livro, é verdade, e também vem fazendo seus enredos cada vez mais mirabolantes! Honestamente, tem duas partes desse terceiro livro que me fizeram pensar, "Que viajado!", completando logo com um, "Amei!". Foi um pouco viajado sim, talvez bem viajado, mas eu realmente amei! É daquele tipo que você abraça a loucura e percebe que só deixa tudo mais incrível!Não vou falar que não tenho nenhuma crítica. Tenho duas bem pequenas: a primeira é que, pela primeira vez desde o livro Lady Midnight, senti que talvez tivesse cena sofrida demais entre Emma e Julian. Ou talvez o problema fosse só que eu estava mais interessada em outros ships já - e, isso, só bem depois da metade desse! Mas minha crítica mais importante é que às vezes a autora cria situações tão impossíveis e as resolve com deus ex machina - ou seja, praticamente intervenção divina. Nada crítico e que deixe a história ridícula. Só acho que ela poderia tentar diminuir essa tendência!Mas o fato é que Dark Artifices se tornou minha trilogia favorita dos Shadowhunters! Meu amor e minha conexão com os personagens se superaram! Nem acabem direito em mim! Não queria ter que me despedir, vou sentir uma falta imensa deles, e de todos os das outras séries que apareceram por aqui! É lindo como a autora amarra todo o universo e nos faz sentir como se fosse uma grande família - e uma da qual fazemos parte!Aliás, ainda bem que resolveram fazer uma trilogia com livros enormes. Gosto assim! Fiquei várias vezes com a impressão de que esses três livros poderiam ter sido separados, mas eu realmente não teria aguentado esperar! Quero que todas as próximas séries sejam assim: livros enormes, bastante história lançada de uma vez!Já deu para ver que eu amo todas as séries e todos os livros desse universo, né? Juro que vale a pena todo o investimento - principalmente de tempo - para ler o que já foi lançado, mesmo que os primeiros livros de Instrumentos Mortais deixem bastante a desejar. Confia, que só melhora! E logo você chega onde eu estou: sofrendo de saudades e ansiedade por todos os próximos livros, disposto a qualquer coisa para que lancem o mais rápido possível!

The cover is freaking gorgeous, and I could probably stare at it mesmerised or hours without realising the time passing. The more you look at it, the more tiny details you discover, such as the background being Thule. Speaking of which, the Thule storyline was incredible (who doesn’t love a half-demon murderer?), and I can’t wait for TWP to have all my questions answered. Ughh, 2022 is SO FAR AWAY.Coming back to the story itself, I’ve got to say, The Dark Artifices is tied with The Infernal Devices for my favourite Shadowhunter series! The plot lines are incredible, and so utterly different!Nobody does better lighthearted/sweet moments but also gut-wrenching/heartbreaking together than Cassandra Clare! It’s got the perfect blend of despair and uplifting, to have you laughing out loud one minute and sobbing the next. But I can’t stop at that. Every single emotion is sure to engulf you in the process of reading, ranging from disgust (Zara could walk into a pit of quicksand and I’d throw a party) to love-struck (Hot Shadowhunter boys are everything ❤ ).I did adore most of the book, but the ending was a tad convenient and didn’t live up to the rest of the series, but it was enjoyable none the less. I was kind of disappointed that the only repercussion of Emma and Jules turning into true Nephilim was the breaking of the Parabatai bond, which was exactly what they wanted? I would have also expected some of the main people to actually die since there is a WAR GOING ON. There were so many things that were unexplained and left loose, I assume it’s to be explained in TWP. But the coming together of the various threads didn’t happen as smoothly as it could have. All that said, nothing really bothered me that much during reading. They were relatively small problems.When faced with QoAaD, you cannot help but be awed somewhat by it. This book had a nice element to it when the main “villain” was not an “evil tyrant” but a just the collective hate of people. I found it to be relevant in today’s world, as we see so much hate crime, which is as bad as any evil. It IS an evil. Also it was so realistic. The fact that everything was not the happiest it could ever be, and the book ending with Shadowhunters exiled from their own capitol by bigots.TDA is a very character central story. I have to say, I loved the various personal struggles each character had in this book. There was growth and depth in almost all the characters, and that’s surprising because with such a vast cast, it’s incredible that Cassandra Clare managed it. Even more so because she made them all so unique and lovable in their own ways. There is so much diversity and representation, and I’m really happy that she’s being inclusive! I would do anything for these Shadowhunters.Emma is my favourite! The sass and the sarcasm CANNOT be topped! I swear, her smart comments and flippancy towards the Clave was life changing 🙂 The next Jace Herondale is not living up to her title only by name, but her attitude too. I love her bravery and sensitivity and humor. WHATEVER HAPPENS, EMMA IS THE ETERNAL QUEEN.Julian, oh darling Jules Blackthorn, totally unlike Cassie’s regular Male Protagonists, but just as brilliant. I really can’t understand why people don’t seem to like Julian? Julian and his heartbreaking devotion to his family. Julian with his schemes and cleverness and lies. Julian who would do anything and everything if it meant safely for the ones he loves. Julian who gave up everything to make things right. Jules who can be cold and calculating but also the most sensitive. I FREAKING LOVE JULES. I will fight you on this. I have to mention how much he struggles through this book… and how painful it is to watch him give up his emotions.Ty and Kit and Dru are so CUTE and I can’t wait to read about them! TWP is going to be so good!!! No doubt the repercussions of Ty’s Necromancy are going to follow them into TWP, and it’s going to be interesting to see Kit after he’s grown up with Jem and Tessa (which is adorable, cause look at that perfect family! Dru is also a personal favourite of mine. The scene where Keiran and Dru talk about philoshophical stuff and then promtly go back to watching a horror film is PRICELESS.Keiran was a total cinnamon roll ❤ I’m so happy to say that at least did have a story and some sensibility left intact! With his colour changing hair and dark brooding exterior that hid his soft-as-butter interior, what’s not to love about him? I admired the fact that he is doing his duty and staying as King of Unseelie to help his land, instead of traipsing about the countryside with Mark and Cristina.Cristina is a lovely girl… but sort of bland. I was unfortunately not so fond of her, because nothing really happened with her? I really wanted to like her, I did. But her whole storyline just seems to be her various problems with her various crushes. And I never really seemed to feel the connection between Cristina and either Mark or Keiran. Her love seems to stem from the fact that she was low key obsessed with the fair folk from when she was young, and these are literally the only specimens of the farie race that she encounters.Mark was one of my favourites in the first two books of the series, so I was really disappointed when he failed to stay very likeable in this book… I felt rather meh about him after QoAaD. What made him so amusing was his disconnect from the Shadowhunters, and this world in general. But he was almost normal by now, and retained none of his numerous qualities that made him so adorable. His storyline too was just the Mark/Keiran/Cristina business, which was a letdown.These were just the main ones, and even if I haven’t mentioned the others, it’s only because I will be repeating myself excessively saying how amazing they all are!I can’t express my love for the shadow world enough. After 15 books and all the released Ghosts of the shadow Market stories, I’m still not tired of this world or the characters in it. And I’ll find it difficult to say goodbye when the time comes. Ave Atque Vale.