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Lady Midnight

by Cassandra Clare

"Lady Midnight" is the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices trilogy, set within her larger Shadowhunter Chronicles and unfolding at the Los Angeles Institute five years after the events of the Mortal… more

First published 2016 · English

29 quotes ★ 4.35 (247,702) Fantasy

Quotes from the Book

When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They're in everything you do. They're in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don't think they're perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don't frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don't want perfect. You want them. You want—" He broke off then, as if realizing everyone was looking at him again. "You want what?" said Dru with enormous eyes. "Nothing," Julian said. "I'm just talking.
There was beauty in the idea of freedom, but it was an illusion. Every human heart was chained by love.
These pictures are my heart. And if my heart was a canvas, every square inch of it would be painted over with you.
You’ve got a lot of responsibility now,” Jace said to Julian. “You’ll have to make sure Emma winds up with a guy who deserves her.” Julian was strangely white-faced. Maybe he was feeling the effects of the ceremony, Emma thought. It had been strong magic; she still felt it sizzling through her blood like champagne bubbles. But Jules looked as if he’d been slapped. “What about me?” Emma said, quickly. “Don’t I have to make sure Jules winds up with someone who deserves him?” “Absolutely. I did it for Alec, Alec did it for me — well, actually, he hated Clary at first, but he came around.” “I BET you didn’t like Magnus much, either,” said Julian, still with the same odd, stiff look on his face. “Maybe not,” said Jace, “but I never would have said so.” “Because it would have hurt Alec’s feelings?” Emma asked. “No,” said Jace, “because Magnus would have turned me into a hat rack.
Lex malla, lex nulla. A bad law is no law.
That's not the spirit of the law, Emma. Remember? The Law is hard, but it is the Law." "I thought it was 'the Law is annoying, but it is also flexible.
No one is ever the villain of their own story.
Hello? This is Clary Fairchild.” “Clary? It’s me, Emma.” “Oh, Emma, hi! I haven’t heard from you in ages. My mom says thanks for the wedding flowers, by the way. She wanted to send a note but Luke whisked her away on a honeymoon to Tahiti.” “Tahiti sounds nice.” “It probably is — Jace, what are you doing with that thing? There is no way it’ll fit.” “Is this a bad time?” “What? No! Jace is trying to drag a trebuchet into the training room. Alec, stop helping him.” “What’s a trebuchet?” “It’s a huge catapult.” “What are they going to use it for?” “I have no idea. Alec, you’re enabling! You’re an enabler!” “Maybe it is a bad time.” “I doubt there’ll be a better one. Is something wrong? Is there anything I can do?” “I think we have your cat.” “What?” “Your cat. Big fuzzy Blue Persian? Always looks angry? Julian says it’s your cat. He says he saw it at the New York Institute. Well, saw him. It’s a boy cat.” “Church? You have Church? But I thought — well, we knew he was gone. We thought Brother Zachariah took him. Isabelle was annoyed, but they seemed to know each other. I’ve never seen Church actually likeanyone like that.” “I don’t know if he likes anyone here. He bit Julian twice. Oh, wait. Julian says he likes Ty. He’s asleep on Ty’s bed.” “How did you wind up with him?” “Someone rang our front doorbell. Diana, she’s our tutor, went down to see what it was. Church was in a cage on the front step with a note tied to it. It said For Emma. This is Church, a longtime friend of the Carstairs. Take care of this cat and he will take care of you. —J.” “Brother Zachariah left you a cat.” “But I don’t even really know him. And he’s not a Silent Brother any more.” “You may not know him, but he clearly knows you.” “What do you think the J stands for?” “His real name. Look, Emma, if he wants you to have Church, and you want Church, you should keep him.” “Are you sure? The Lightwoods —“ ‘They’re both standing here nodding. Well, Alec is partially trapped under a trebuchet, but he seems to be nodding.” “Jules says we’d like to keep him. We used to have a cat named Oscar, but he died, and, well, Church seems to be good for Ty’s nightmares.” “Oh, honey. I think, really, he’s Brother Zachariah’s cat. And if he wants you to have him, then you should.” “Why does Brother Zachariah want to protect me? It’s like he knows me, but I don’t know why he knows me.” “I don’t exactly know … But I know Tessa. She’s his — well, girlfriend seems not the right word for it. They’ve known each other a long, long time. I have a feeling they’re both watching over you.” “That’s good. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.” “Emma — oh my God. The trebuchet just crashed through the floor. I have to go. Call me later.” “But we can keep the cat?” “You can keep the cat.
Being told that love is forbidden does not kill love. It strengthens it.
He bumped into a pay phone and said, 'Excuse me, miss,' on our way in," said Julian. "It's polite to apologize," said Mark with the same small voice. "Not to inanimate objects.
Everyone is more than one thing,” said Kieran. “We are more than single actions we undertake, whether they be good or evil.
We are bound together, Emma, bound together—I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I’m yours and you’re mine, you’ve always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!
I love you, Julian Blackthorn. I love you more than starlight.
When no one you know tells the truth, you learn to see under the surface.
You'll fix me, because we're parabatai. We're forever.
Yeah,” he said, eyelashes lowering as his gaze traced the movement of her fingers. “It hurt me being away from you. It feels like there’s a hook dug in under my ribs, and there’s something pulling at the other end. Like I’m tethered to you, no matter the distance.
In Emma's defense, Cameron's annoying, but he's hot." Julian gave her a look. "I mean, if you like guys who look like a redheaded Captain America, which I... don't? "Captain America is definitely the most handsome Avenger," said Cristina. "But I like the Hulk. I would like to heal his broken heart." "We're Nephilim," said Julian. "We're not even supposed to know about the Avengers. Besides," he added, "Iron Man is obviously the best-looking.
You don't want him," she said to the pink-haired girl. "He has syphilis." The girls stared. "Syphilis?" "Five percent of people in America have it," said Ty helpfully. "I do not have syphilis," Mark said angrily. "There are no sexually transmitted diseases in Faerieland!" ”Sorry," Jules said. "You know how syphilis is. Attacks the brain.
Laws are meaningless, child. There is nothing more important than love. And no law higher.
Life is short, and wisdom long to learn.
Nobody calls me 'blondie' and keeps their kneecaps.
A gentle boy with a gentle soul, but every soul contains its own opposite, and the opposite of gentleness was ruthlessness—the beautiful wreckage of mercy.
I wasn't planning on dumping Cameron. We were here, and he called, and his face showed up on my phone- well, actually a llama came up on my phone because I don't actually have a picture of him so I just used a llama- and the llama made me so angry I just couldn't help myself." "Bad time to be a llama." "Is there ever a good time, really?
She soared above the ground, and he kept her tethered to the earth. Without him she would be lost among the clouds.
How long have you been drawing me?” He sighted. A moment later his hand came to rest in her hair. His fingers twined in the strands. “My whole life.
He can touch your soul. And there is a difference between having your heart break and having your soul shatter.
You are all that exists on the earth and under the sky that I do love.
Emma —“ “I’m calling.” Emma lunged for her phone. “No!” Julian said, forcefully enough to stop her. “You know we can’t tell anyone. About Mark —“ “You’re not going to bleed to death in a car for Mark!” “No,” he said, looking at her. His eyes were eerily green-blue, the only bright color in the dark interior of the car. “You’re going to fix me.
When you love someone, they become a part of who you are. They’re in everything you do. They’re in the air you breathe and the water you drink and the blood in your veins. Their touch stays on your skin and their voice stays in your ears and their thoughts stay in your mind. You know their dreams because their nightmares pierce your heart and their good dreams are your dreams too. And you don’t think they’re perfect, but you know their flaws, the deep-down truth of them, and the shadows of all their secrets, and they don’t frighten you away; in fact you love them more for it, because you don’t want perfect. You want them.

Did you know?

  • It is the first book in The Dark Artifices trilogy, set within Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles.
  • The story takes place at the Los Angeles Institute, five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire.
  • The central mystery draws on lines from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Annabel Lee."
  • It was a number one New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
  • A key plot tension is the Shadowhunter law forbidding parabatai from falling in love.

About Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare is an American author best known for The Mortal Instruments series and its many companion works set in the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Her books have been number one New York Times and USA Today bestsellers and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

More about the author →

About the book

"Lady Midnight" is the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices trilogy, set within her larger Shadowhunter Chronicles and unfolding at the Los Angeles Institute five years after the events of the Mortal Instruments finale. Emma Carstairs, a fiercely skilled young Shadowhunter, is determined to uncover what really killed her parents, and she pursues the case alongside Julian Blackthorn, her parabatai and closest friend. When a string of murders among faeries and mundanes echoes lines from Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee," Emma and the Blackthorn family are drawn into a bargain with the Wild Hunt, whose return brings Julian's long-lost half-faerie brother Mark back into their lives.

The novel braids a supernatural murder mystery with the slow-burning tension of forbidden love, since Shadowhunter law forbids parabatai from falling for one another. Clare uses the investigation to explore themes of family, loyalty, and grief, as Julian quietly holds his orphaned siblings together while Emma wrestles with vengeance and the danger of the feelings growing between them. The Los Angeles setting, the politics of the faerie courts, and a hidden cult give the story a distinct texture from Clare's earlier New York-set books.

As a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller, "Lady Midnight" expanded the commercial success of Clare's Shadowhunter world and launched a trilogy completed by "Lord of Shadows" and "Queen of Air and Darkness." Its blend of urban fantasy, romance, and interconnected lore helped cement Clare as a defining voice in young-adult fantasy, rewarding longtime readers with returning threads while opening the series to newcomers.

Key characters

  • Emma CarstairsTeenage Shadowhunter protagonist investigating her parents' deaths
  • Julian BlackthornEmma's parabatai and best friend, quietly raising his younger siblings
  • Mark BlackthornJulian's half-faerie brother, returned from the Wild Hunt
  • Cristina RosalesVisiting Shadowhunter from Mexico City and Emma's friend
  • Malcolm FadeHigh Warlock of Los Angeles and the book's antagonist
  • Ty and Livvy BlackthornJulian's teenage twin siblings who aid the investigation
  • Diana WrayburnThe Blackthorn children's tutor and a supporting Shadowhunter

Book details

First published
2016
Genre
Fantasy
Goodreads rating
4.35 (248k ratings)

Series & reading order

  1. 1 Lady Midnight
  2. 2 Lord of Shadows
  3. 3 Queen of Air and Darkness

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    City of BonesClare's original Shadowhunter series that this world is built on
  2. 2
    Clockwork AngelAnother Shadowhunter Chronicles series blending romance and fantasy mystery
  3. 3
    Daughter of Smoke & BoneLush YA urban fantasy with forbidden romance and hidden worlds

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