Cassandra Clare never lets readers down with her amazing world building and her uncanny ability to make you fall in love with each and every character. Lady Midnight, is a fantastic installment that chugs right along with the old Mortal Instruments world that we love. 
 I'll be the first reader or maybe the millionth to say how much I adore Cassandra Clare's books. I was so captivated by the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices. However, I have to admit this first installment of this new series let me down. Throughout the book, I felt it was a lot of relationship drama and information building but no big heart stopping moments or eye-opening until the last few pages. Granted, it is the first book and I understand we need to be introduced to the background information but I almost feel it was too much. I wanted more fantasy versus drama. 
 As far as the characters go I absolutely love our protagonist, Emma. As vain as it sounds, I love the way she looks, her fierceness, her determination, her love for everyone around her who means something to her. There was a lot of viewpoint switching, but I have to admit hers was my favorite. Staying with the ladies, I also adored Christina. Christina is one of those friends you meet that are just truly good to the bone and that's so admirable. 
 With the fellas in this book, of course Julian stands out. He's gorgeous, responsible, and has one heck of a hot name. I really like that between our duo of Julian and Emma, Julian seems to be the more vulnerable one. It's nice to see that in a male for once. Other than Julian there are a slew of male characters, all offering something different. 
 With all that being said, there are tons of fantastic moments in this book. I adore the location and constant beach views. I also liked that we get to see more of the faerie harshness and world. Plus, if you wanted romance of all types... this book explodes with it. We also get to see a lot of older characters we know and love which is always a great moment when reading. Plus, the family dynamic in the book just explodes with love and I adore seeing a strong family. 
 Regardless of the few knocks I have given this book, I still believe it is well done. The ending of this book gives us a few "oh crap" moments right in a row and I'll be curious to see where those lead to. I will definitely be eagerly awaiting the installment to see what Cassandra Clare has in store next. 
 3.5 out of 5 
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