Actual Rating: 3.5. This review is spoiler free. 
 It is ridiculous, but also convenient that I have finished Lady Midnight a few days before its sequel, Lord of Shadows, releases. It's ridiculous because I have been lugging around this tome of a novel for the past year, and it's convenient because I don't know how well my interest in a sequel would have fared after a year of waiting. 
 In the past, I would devour Clare's books the second they released. I would snuggle under my blanket while Cassie orchestrated forbidden love triangles and Clave shenanigans. Then, years pass and shadowhunter books are still coming out. It's unbelievable that we're approaching 11 main shadowhunter books--I haven't read the novellas--and there is yet another series down the pipeline. I can understand the excitement other fans would have at this prospect, but I am a reader who likes closure. I like it when a series comes to an end, and all I can do is theorize what kind of adventure our protagonists are on next; I like the mystery and intrigue, you know? But now, I am held prisoner in this shadowhunter universe. I just wonder how many times we can follow 16-year-old shadowhunters who save the world while circumventing the Clave before it starts to get a bit stale. 
 With that being said, LM was not a bad book; in fact, I'd say it was an overall enjoyable story. It's problem--and it has a few--is that it's violently long. This book could have definitely used a trim. While it was somewhat successful using the length to further explore characters, it still found itself going around and around. I found myself extremely bored in certain parts of the book. Even now as I'm trying to remember what even happened in the middle I'm drawing a blank. In the words of my acting teacher, the story felt a lot like a "Middle, middle, middle" instead of a "beginning, middle and end". 
 I liked the Blackthornes as a whole. Especially Mark. He's bae. Julian is sweet too, but I just find Mark more interesting. There were a bit too many of them, and at times I kind of blended them all together. They're starting to develop their own voices, but it was difficult at first to keep all those crazy names in check. On the other hand, it was nice to closely follow a family of shadowhunters for once and explore those dynamics. I also really liked Cristina in this book. I appreciate the friendship Emma and her shared throughout the story. Diana's hair is full of secrets, and I'm getting tired of it. Malcolm Fade is alright I guess. (view spoiler)[I found myself especially indifferent when you find out he's the villain. You didn't really get enough time with him before the betrayal, so the impact for me was minimal. (hide spoiler)] I'm not really feeling moody Kit, but it doesn't look like he's going anywhere.(view spoiler)[ Do we need another Herondale? Another Herondale who had a parent that fled from shadowhunters much less. (hide spoiler)] 
 Also, can we talk about how fucking beautiful everyone in this world is? I know it's a thing in YA where people only seem to care about hot people, but come on. Everywhere I turned there was another description about how fucking stunning everyone was. 
 He was too bloody and scratched and miserable-looking to tell now, but he'd be devastating someday. 
 Okay... 
 When Diana had come to work as the tutor to the children of the Los Angeles Institute five years ago, Emma had thought she was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. 
 I mean I guess.... 
 He was beautiful. Not like Julian was beautiful, or Cristina--in human ways--but like the cutting edge of Cortana. 
 Stahp. 
 Emma, who had also been twelve, had not been shy about letting the world know she thought Jace was the handsomest and most amazing person who had ever graced the planet with his presence. 
 Give me a break. 
 Emma is girl-next-door hot. Mark is faerie hot. Diego is tall-dark-and-handsome hot. Jace is otherworldly hot. Julian is preciously hot. Even fucking Ty has long, dark eyelashes delicately feathering his cheekbones. Wtf? Even the Downworlders were described as being "Hollywood beautiful". *Shudders* 
 The romance was nice in this book, albeit a little comical at times. (view spoiler)[ I definitely lol'd at the sudden sex scene. (hide spoiler)] Also, can we address the super weird and inefficient way they communicate with one another? It would take literal minutes to write one sentence and even then it might not be clear. I just imagined Emma furiously writing letters on Julian's arm only for him to look at her and say, "Wait, what?" How hilarious. I like the whole forbidden parabatai romance, but it strikes me as weird that they Clave even lets opposite sex parings exist for this very reason. It seems like something that would happen more frequently. 
 A lot of people were pissed off with the end, but everyone knows it's going to turn out fine. LET US BASK IN THE DRAMA. MUAHAHAHA. 
 I thought Cassie did a good job exploring mental health in the shadowhunter world. It wasn't explicitly stated, but it was beautifully done. I think it added to the fact that it's still so misunderstood and taboo in their society. I still don't' understand shadowhunters, though. In TID they were supposed to be so much more progressive than their mundane counterparts. To an extent they were, and while we can't expect too much they still seem to contradict that. When it comes to any other issue or their views on change, they are so archaic. No mundane technology? Why are computers bad? It just confused me. 
 While it might sound like I hated this book, I really didn't. It's just always easier to rant about the stuff you didn't like. I think Cassie is a great writer, and I would love to see her explore new worlds. It's obviously her right and choice to continue with the shadowhunter world, and it has continued to bring her a lot of success. That's awesome for her. But, I have to say a small part of me wants to see her awesome world building and characters in a new setting.