Parents' Guide to

Lady Midnight: The Dark Artifices, Book 1

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Shadowhunter fans will love, but the romance is nothing new.

Book Cassandra Clare Fantasy 2016
Lady Midnight: The Dark Artifices, Book 1 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Sally V.
Sally V. Parent of 15-year-old
April 21, 2023
age 12+
This 750 page book looks intimidating, but it really isn't. I flew through it in four days, it was that good. My face was literally superglued to the book and I can't wait to read the next 2 books! Super intriguing and the sex scene is not graphic. This book is great for 13+ or mature 11-12 year olds. My daughter and I both loved it and they both finished it in 3 days! This books has helped my daughters come to love poetry. The violence is really not bad, my 11- year old daughter says it wasn't too violent for her, and there were so many shocking twists and turns. Read it!! :)

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Dixie Athena
Dixie Athena Adult
November 6, 2019
age 10+
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

When a dead body turns up in Los Angeles, Emma Carstairs is anxious to investigate. It's soaked in seawater, burned, and covered in a demon language she can't read -- looking just like the bodies of her parents, found years before. Her parents' deaths had been considered casualties of the last big Shadowhunter war, case closed according to the Clave (Shadowhunters' governing body), but Emma always knew someone else killed them. At a secret Shadow Market, she gets a hint about where another body will be found, leading her to a secret LA cult filled with Downworlders. So much of what she's investigating is forbidden by the Clave, leading her parabatai Julian and his whole family at the L.A. Institute on a precarious path. It's a path made more dangerous when a convoy of faeries shows up, offering Julian's half-faerie brother, Mark, in exchange for them handing over the killer. While Julian wants his brother back at any cost, two problems arise: Contact with the faerie world is also forbidden after they sided with the enemy in the war, and Emma will not be handing over the killer to anyone. She's determined to have her revenge.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (24 ):

Fans of the series who want more forbidden love with a demon-hunting backdrop will adore this start of a new series; those out for something fresh will be disappointed. LADY MIDNIGHT is part of a larger, highly successful formula where love is taboo and almost as dangerous as fighting demons. Emma and Julian make a great star-crossed pair, just like Jace and Clary and Tessa and Will, but spending thousands of pages getting those other two couples together (finally!) makes the whole Emma and Julian forbidden love tale feel a little tedious -- especially when they start keeping secrets from each other as an easy way to drag out the tension.

Lovelornness aside, there's also a big reveal about Julian's real role at the LA Institute that doesn't quite work. Most readers will suspect this big secret much earlier -- and will wonder why they put the clues together before Emma did. Cutting that part out would make Lady Midnight a more digestible length and get us all to the fantastically culty-creepy climactic action faster. That's when the book is finally full of surprises.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the representation of LGBTQ characters and an autistic character in Lady Midnight. Is it a surprise to see these characters depicted? Why, or why not? Do you think the books you read represent most people in society?

  • What do you think about the level of gore in this series? Is it essential to the storytelling? Have you grown used to all the demon battles? Are there scenes you wouldn't want to see in a movie or on TV?

  • With a TV show and many books, this franchise is well-established. Would you like the series to go on and on? Do you think having a ready-made audience affects the way the author writes?

Book Details

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