I am a MESS. 
 It's not often that the second book in a series overtakes the first in terms of plot, emotion and pace, and Lady Midnight was strong in all of these. Lord of Shadows, however, was yet another step up. In nearly 700 pages, I never got bored, and I never got sick of a certain character's point of view, because they were all interesting and nobody's plotline felt like just a gap-filler. I loved it so much, I can feel myself starting to love The Dark Artifices even more than The Mortal Instruments, which I wasn't sure was possible. 
 SPOILERS 
 Like always, Cassie's strongest part of her books are the characters; I loved pretty much all of them, and found them all so complex and intriguing. Cristina is my idol, Emma consistently made me laugh, Julian made my heart hurt (and ngl I'm slightly scared of him), Kit is now my favourite Herondale, I wanted to be best friends with the twins, and Diana is such an inspiration (I love that she's trans- Cassie is always so good and including all gender and sexual orientations). I was also super happy that Magnus and Alec made an appearance. The relationships were also done so well; I don't even know who to ship Cristina with anymore, Emma and Jules gave me life, and I NEED KITTY TO HAPPEN. I'm so glad they're the protagonists of TWP (and Dru of course!). 
 I honestly didn't expect so many deaths. I was quite sad about Jon Cartwright for some reason, Robert Lightwood's death KILLED ME, mainly because he and Alec were finally getting somewhere with their relationship, and Livvy!? I was heartbroken. I still am. I thought only JK Rowling was cruel enough to kill one twin, but apparently not. I do think that her death will play such an important part in the last book though, mainly for Jules- how will he react when part of his family that he's fought so hard for is dead? I don't think it's gonna be pretty; he'll probably become even more ruthless. 
 I really hope the parabatai problem gets fixed without the two of them destroying everyone, which seems quite likely at the moment. I also hope this damn Cold Peace gets sorted out. And, was it just me, or did everything scream SEBASTIAN CHILD when Dru met that young faerie? I need to know what that's all about and if yet another generation of Morgensterns is gonna ruin everything. 
 I'm really excited to read the last book- I don't think I can wait two years!