Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy. Queen of Air and Darkness is a Shadowhunters novel. What if damnation is the price of true love? Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred … been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. Their society now teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find there is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of the Shadowhunters before a deadly curse destroys them and everyone they love.
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Another incredible Shadowhunters installment. This was so very sad, but ultimately, a lot of impossible situations are resolved, and of course, there is a cliffhanger for The Wicked Powers. This was such an emotional rollercoaster for me (and probably everyone else reading it!), and I felt so sorry for the Blackthorn children because of their losses, and Ty in particular for what he tries to do throughout the book. I can’t wait for The Last Hours next year!
This book was as incredible as all of @cassandraclare ‘s other titles! I adored the characters and the fascinating story arcs, and there is no denying the world-building remains top-notch. While this is a young adult title and different than my usual genre of romance, there was nothing I didn’t love about it. I absolutely cannot wait for her next release!
This is a hard review for me. I’m actually giving this book three and a half stars because it was a strange one. This is not the first time I say this about this series; there were way too many characters taking the main stage. Sometimes the transitions from one character’s POV to another worked beautifully, others not so much. At times it felt as if the story was told in chunks that didn’t quite connect all the time. I loved the resolution of Emma and Julian’s problem but hated what happened to Kit and Ty. The threesome in the story gave me the creeps just because this is YA lit and as beautifully as it was written it just felt as something that didn’t belong in an young adult book. Maybe it’s just the mum and teacher in me. And I’m super confused about the ending. For the first time ever since I began reading and loving Clare’s books, I actually skipped parts of the long-drawn-out ending. Parts of it were beautiful (nice touch with Malec) but again, I think the problem was that Clare was trying to offer some kind of closure to ALL of the characters. There were so many, it broke the flow of the story. To me it felt as if the author was setting the stage for many other spin-offs, which is all fine and dandy but left this long time fan a little disgruntled. I expected better of Clare. That said, will I read her next book? Yes, absolutely. I already have the new one on queue in my Kindle.
Great 3rd book in The Dark Artifice series. Love her characters and her world building and her ability to totally wreck me with fictional characters.
I thought (obviously mistakenly) that this was the finale. Honestly, Im dying for more. i will never stop reading these books.
This book was amazing, I couldn’t put it down… That end was unexpected, the only problem is that I will count the days until the last hours is published.
In this book a lot of things happen, there’s action and so many changes in the lives of the shadowhunters and Downworlders….
And Emma and Julian are in despair because their love seems like a curse…
This book is a must read if you love fantasy, action and romance.
I absolutely love The Shadowhunter Chronicles, Cassandra Clare is by far my favorite author, and this book is my favorite out of all of them.
Wow. This was probably the most intense and heartbreaking Clare book I’ve read to date. I can’t even begin to unpack all my emotions from reading this, so many highs and lows! I can’t wait for her next series to find out what happens to the rest of these characters because the ending will gut you. If you loved the Mortal Instruments, definitely keep going with the world because this trilogy is fantastic!
This is the third book in the Dark Artifices series and is filled with action, adventure, and romance. The characters are amazing, full of great characteristics and unique personalities. The number of paranormal characters adds so much to the creative nature of the storyline. The story explores good versus evil. The myriad of emotions and motivations that influence the characters actions are explored. The romance and the complicated situations and obstacles the characters face are really inspiring. The inclusion of individuals who have unique relationships, including same sex, transgender, three way relation and different species, helped to bring in the concepts of prejudice and acceptance. This book is an emotional rollercoaster as the various characters deal with their individual histories, past experiences and external obstacles. The storyline is fast paced filled with action, fighting, danger, grief and suspense. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more stories from this author.
Is there anything Cassandra Clare writes that isn’t AMAZING? NO!! LOVED this series and this book especially. It is SOOOO GOOD!!! There are so many twists n turns you’ll be spinning like a tilt a whirl!
I’ve been going through a Cassandra Clare kick for the past few months with the Mortal Instrument series and the Dark Artifaces series. Cassandra is a master of great writing, amazing characters, and spellbinding stories. I absolutely LOVED Queen of Air and Darkness (as well as all the books in the series). The romantic subplots had me glued to the pages (all 850+ of them!!!!). I read the book faster than expected because I couldn’t put the it down.
This is one series I will definitely be re-reading.
Takes things too far
ALL TIME FAV BOOK!! highly recommend to everyone, it is so amazing
What an excellent novel! The final novel in the Dark Artifices novels spans multiple points of view to give the novel the abundant scope that is characteristic of Clare’s writing. As a long-time reader of Clare, it is impressive to see how her style of writing has grown so much. I wish I had read this novel back when it came out, but alas, work got in the way. Nevertheless, I finally made time for it and boy was I not disappointed.
What made this novel so great were the characters. Clare has such a talent for bringing her characters to life by giving them dimension. These are multifaceted characters who not only have to contend with supernatural and paranormal obstacles but real-world issues too. Take Diana for instance. She is transgender, she was born a male but is now a female. First, Clare deserves her respect for not only including a transgender character but also respectfully showcasing what it means to be transgender. It was a beautiful moment for Diana to come out despite all the fear she felt by being rejected, but the love she found in coming out was a beautiful moment.
It is moments like that that fill the novel and make it so enjoyable. At over 900 pages, it would be easy for the story to drag, but for a talented writer such as Clare, she closes almost every door while leaving room for more stories to be told. She keeps the momentum of the story steady, the energy high, keeping the reader engaged from beginning to end. The story moves so fluidly and deals with other vital issues like bigotry and racism. The commentary was terrific, and Clare integrates it into the story so wonderfully, further making it an incredible novel.
Queen of Air and Darkness is an incredible novel. It has excellent artwork included throughout the story that, when combined with the complexities between the characters and growth in their dynamics, make the plot even more engaging for the reader. Once again, the pacing of the novel is incredible. Clare has grown as a writer and it shows on every page.
Oh man. This book stressed me out. There are few authors who can stress me out the way Cassandra Clare does. The characters in this book just own my heart. Julian especially wormed his way in there. And Emma is a fierce badass who I adore. Kit and Ty are so great. And Kieran is one I have such a soft spot for. And just all of this expansive cast of characters. And man oh man when Cassie said this book would change everything about the Shadowhunter world she seriously wasn’t kidding. I truly cannot wait to see where the world goes from here. This book was so good and a great wrap up to the trilogy.
I recommended this book series in the review for City if Bones. These are great to read after that series and the clockwork angel series.
Better 2 books than 1
I’m gonna be real here. By the time I got to the end, I barely remembered what had happened at the beginning of this book, let alone anything about the plots of the previous books. So rating this was hard, but I wasn’t annoyed or let down by the time I was done, so that’s a good enough ending for me.
I definitely had a few questions about where this left off, but given that we know we’re going to get The Wicked Powers some day to follow up on these characters, I’m not too stressed right now (except that I really want to strangle Kit and Ty with my love).
That said, TDA is definitely the least of the Shadowhunter series for me. There’s a lot of great characters and story lines…like enough for twice as many books in the trilogy. It feels like a silly thing to complain about, but I think I would have cared more about this if I hadn’t felt like I needed a cheat sheet to keep track of it all. For this same reason, I’m a little apprehensive about the upcoming The Last Hours trilogy, though I’m still hopeful it goes a little more smoothly than this one for me.
I loved this book! It had amazing characters and great world-building! It is the third book, so I already knew the characters, but Cassandra took the characters and she made you feel for them, and feel like you were there with them.
The last book in this series was okay for me. Took me a couple hundred pages to re-engage and after that I was more motivated to finish it, but still not super thrilled about the fact that I just spent 900 pages of my life reading it.
In all, there was just too much going on. Too many POV’s and too many love stories (at least 6 when you count pre-existing couples), and enough characters to cause competition with who the story is really supposed to be centered around.
There are obvious set ups for future book opportunities especially with Kit. Then there is the Epilogue… I’ve gotta say at this point Cassandra, I’m out. This world is turning into a daytime soap opera. Three “seasons” of Shade of Vampire was about all I could take and it seems three series for Cassandra is my limit as well.
as a P.S. If you’ve already read the first 2 books, obviously you’re going to finish the series.