The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare Review

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5/5

β€œπ‘±π’–π’π’Šπ’‚π’ π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Œπ’Šπ’π’… 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 π’˜π’‰π’ 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅 π’Šπ’π’•π’ 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’„π’π’Žπ’† 𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’†π’—π’Šπ’ π’‰π’Šπ’Žπ’”π’†π’π’‡ π’π’˜π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‰π’Šπ’Ž 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓.”

With the Los Angeles Institute as a backdrop, The Dark Artifices follows the secretive and smart Julian Blackthorn, his lovable siblings and his fearless parabatai, Emma Carstairs, as they struggle to keep the relationship between Shadowhunters and Downworlders from falling apart.

But faeries, the undead and traitors aren’t the only demons Julian and Emma must face; a dark internal battle is bubbling between the parabatai and they’re struggling to remain in control.

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A slow start with Last Midnight but it’s worth the wait as Lord of Shadows catapults you head first into an emotional vortex of pain, politics and passion which comes to a spellbinding end with Queen of Air and Darkness.

As always with Cassie Clare’s work the characters are the allure of her books and The Dark Artifices features it all from gay faerie lovers, a teenage Shadowhunter on the spectrum, an orphan out for revenge and of course our favourite warlock.

The Blackthorn family are an inclusive, relatable mΓ©nage and you are guaranteed to fall in love with at least one of them.

The romance for all the characters is both explosive and intimate with every relationship bringing something different to the table.

Unlike Clares other series The Dark Artifices features a heavy amount of Fae elements which elevates the trilogy. The underlying sinister themes of torture, loss and betrayal falls perfectly into the twisted world of faerie and brings a darkness that The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices lacks.

Edgar Allan Poe quotes are featured and you can feel the terror meddling it’s way through the characters – and not just with horror film obsessed Druscilla.

Clare truly stepped it up when she created The Dark Artifices and with every haunting, harrowing cloud of corruption a softness manages to spear its way through.

No bond is quite as strong as a Shadowhunter family – be it through blood or not – and it’ll take more than hatred to rip them apart.

But take heed, when you’re reading a Cassandra Clare novel for nobody is safe and The Dark Artifices is without exception.