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.

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

age 12+

Based on 4 parent reviews

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
age 10+

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.

Book Details

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