Cassandra Clare strikes again with her beautiful novel, “Lady Midnight,” marking the start of her newest series, the Dark Artifices. “Lady Midnight” is a novel of fine balance between romance, suspense and action.

Many may be daunted by the massive size of the book, but it is worth the read. The characters are created with a great depth. In her previous novels, the main characters were too “perfect” and were legends from the very beginning. Emma Carstairs and her parabatai (partner), Julian Blackthorne, are two regular Shadowhunters whose family was greatly hurt in the Dark War. Their older half-brother, Mark, was taken by the faeries during the Dark War due to his half-faerie background. Their oldest half-sister was exiled to an island in the Arctic Circle because of her half-faerie blood and bisexuality.

Set a few years after the Dark War, Emma, Julian, and the rest of the Los Angeles Institute are facing a gigantic problem: humans and faeries are being murdered. With these mysterious deaths occurring, the faeries come to the Los Angeles Institute to get to the bottom of these massacres. This opens another window for the Blackthorne children, bringing Mark Blackthorne back to the Shadowhunters. Emma, Julian and Mark must solve the murder mystery before they become the next victims. While doing so, Emma unveils many secrets between her and Julian as well as secrets of forbidden love between parabatai.

Cassandra Clare wove an intricate web of secrecy, action, forbidden love and friendship in this fresh start of her latest series. Through her character development, she was able to show the need for a family and love. Clare was able to show the kind of trust a family must have in one another in order for them to survive in this harsh world. Through this novel, the complex and secretive world of the Shadowhunters was developed into another level, highlighting its horrible actions and connections with the faerie world. The book also illustrates the consequences of a strict government, one that is hiding valuable information from their citizens. The Shadowhunter government frowns upon any slight disobedience to the law and also looks down upon nontraditional situations such as bisexuality and hybrids between the different downworlders, people who are part human and part demon includes the werewolves, faeries, vampires and warlocks.

Cassandra Clare’s tale of the Shadow World starts with the Infernal Devices trilogy, and is followed by the The Mortal Instruments series and the current Dark Artifices. The size of this fantasy world might seem daunting, but it is absolutely worth the read. Delving into a well-developed land of secrets and shadows opens up another dimension to every reader.