Review: Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Queen of Air and Darkness

Series: The Dark Artifices #3

Previous books in this series: Lady Midnight (#1) | Lord of Shadows (#2)

Other series in the Shadowhunter Chronicles: The Infernal Devices | The Mortal Instruments

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: December 2018

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave 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 in the Courts 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 Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

My rating: ★★★★★

This book was a rollercoaster ride. If I had to pick one gif to describe my experience reading this book, it would definitely be this one:

😆

As much as I loved this book, it took me a long time to get through it, and not only because it’s 800+ pages long. And it actually took me a while to realize why it had been taking me so long to read this, and why I was finding it so hard to get through. But once I did it was obvious: the Cohort. They are absolutely awful! I could not stand them! I read about them and what they're doing and I just wanted to cry. This is a work of fiction, but it is SO real. What they want to do to Downworlders... this has happened before in the real world and it was horrid. I just couldn’t with these bigots and the way they treated Downworlders. I know Shadowhunters are not into mundane stuff, but come on! Have they not heard of the fucking Holocaust?! And on top of that, I read this book at the beginning of 2021, and the way it paralleled to things that were happening in the real world was just a lot. That's not to say that the book was bad, because it definitely wasn’t. It’s just that the subject matter was too real and the situation the Downworlders were in made me mad! Especially because throughout a lot of the book the Cohort seemed to have the upper hand. Everything just seemed so bleak. But again, I don't hate this book. I love this world and the characters (the ones NOT in the Cohort), and I really appreciate that Cassie Clare explored this very important issue in this book.

One moment of levity among this mess that I really appreciated was Jia encouraging Downworlders to undermine the registration mandate. They were using names like Elton John and Taylor Swift and I loved it 🤣

Onto more pleasant things (sort of lol), somewhere in the middle of the book Emma and Julian end up in a very interesting place while escaping a situation, and that’s all I’ll say about that. More in the spoiler tag below if you want to know. Lol. But I really liked this because it felt like a book within a book. We met some very interesting characters and I just really liked this entire section of the book. Plus, it was just intense! There was a ton of action and I loved it!

So Emma and Jules went through a freaking portal and ended up in another realm, Thule. This is basically an alternate reality, but in this reality Sebastian won 😨 (Sebastian saying that he still preferred redheads made me almost throw up 🤢) It was such a bleak world taken over by demons. Tessa was apparently the only warlock still alive in this world! That’s how bad things were! Raphael was alive though, and that was fun.

"In our world, you're a hero. You sacrificed your life so Magnus could live," she said.
Raphael looked horrified. "Tell me you're not talking about Magnus Bane. Tell me you're talking about a much cooler Magnus. I would never do that. If I did do that, I would never want anybody to talk about it. I cannot believe Magnus would shame me by talking about that."
Julian's mouth twitched at the corner. "He named his child for Rafael Santiago Lightwood-Bane."
“That is revolting. So everybody knows? I am so embarrassed," said Raphael.

And then Raphael told Emma and Julian to tell Malec to rename their kid 🤣 It was amazing! But yeah, I really enjoyed exploring this messed up world with its different-but-the-same characters.

You guys know how much I love the Shadowhunter world. One of the reasons why is the rich lore and mythology, and you bet your ass we got some interesting lore in this book. Especially in relation to the blight and the warlock sickness. Oh, and don't even get me started on the parabatai rune, cause that was wild!

The blight and the sickness were connected and were being caused by Ash. Oh, who is Ash, you must be asking. Well, he is the son of the Seelie Queen... AND FREAKING SEBASTIAN MORGENSTERN! He was the one spreading the blight (well, him and the Unseelie King... but the King wanted him to spread even MORE of the blight)! And the funny thing is, Clary and Jace were looking for this person spreading the blight. Little did they know it was Clary’s nephew 👀 Talk about awkward 😅

Then we learned about someone called the First Heir, which was very interesting. Years, and years ago the Unseelie King and the Seelie Queen had a child together to unite the kingdoms... and to destroy the Shadowhunters of course. However, things happened and they lost track of the girl. WELL, let me tell you, the First Heir married the lost Herondale!! It’s hilarious because she unknowingly married a Shadowhunter who didn’t know he was a Shadowhunter. Lol. Anyway, Ash was meant to be a replacement of the First Heir and finish what had been started all those years ago.

Guess who's descended from the First Heir? KIT HERONDALE! That’s why Jem and Tessa were looking for him and why his lineage of Herondales was always hidden! So not only does the poor boy have faerie blood and magic, but he is technically the heir to the entire faerie kingdom!! It is insane!

As for the parabatai curse, well it turns out that it’s no curse at all! I mean, they turn into giant nephilim that burn everything in their path and then they die 🙃 But apparently that’s what’s supposed to happen?? Anyway, all of that was really interesting as well, but the thing I want to talk about is how they brought Emma and Jules back from that state and prevented them from dying. It was Julian’s siblings and it was the sweetest thing ever! Everyone was telling them to come back and they did! I love their relationship so much! Basically the love the Blackthorns have for Emma and Jules is what saved them 😭

Another thing I love about this series is the characters and their relationships, which I talked about a little bit in the spoiler tag. But I just love the Blackthorns and their close knit family. The way Julian cared for his younger siblings and is so protective of them 😭 I love it!

One relationship I was kinda iffy about was the whole Cristina/Mark/Kieran situation. I think one reason is because I was afraid there was going to be a love triangle, but this wasn’t that! This is my first foray into the polyamory territory, and at first, I’m not gonna lie, it was a little weird, but I kept an open mind and you know what? Yes! You do you! I much prefer this to a love triangle. I ended up really liking this relationship. I do have to admit that I feel like the romance between Cristina and Kieran happened a bit too fast. But I really did end up liking them all together! And I’m just really surprised at how much I loved Kiernan in this book! Especially considering that I hated him back in Lady Midnight for what he did to Mark and what happened to Emma.

And then one relationship I found really endearing and could not get enough of was the one developing between Kit and Jace. Jace’s excitement when Kit expressed interest in weapons was the cutest!

Jace's mouth curled up at the corners in a cheeky grin. "I never doubted you, kid." He ruffled Kit's hair. "You don't have any training, so I'd say archery and crossbows and throwing knives are out for you. I'll find you something. Something that says Herondale."
"I could slay with my deadly sense of humor and wicked charm," said Kit.
"Now that says Herondale." Jace looked pleased.

Their bonding warmed my heart... I loved it! 😍 And you guys know I just love Jace in general, so any appearances he makes I eat right up 😆 We got a couple Jace POVs and I could not be happier! No, that’s a lie because at the end of the book there is a short story featuring both Jace and Clary and I was, in fact, even more happy 😆 The entire ending of this book made me extremely happy!

You guys, Magnus and Alec finally got married!

We got to see their wedding and it was amazing and I might have cried a little.

"When I found you, I didn't know what I was finding," Alec said. "Words about things that are beautiful and precious to me don't come easily. You know that. You know me better than anyone." He licked his dry lips. "And when one day people look back on me and what my life meant, I don't want them to say, 'Alec Lightwood fought in the Dark War' or even 'Alec Lightwood was Consul once.' I want them to think, 'Alec Lightwood loved one man so much he changed the world for him."

It made me so freaking happy! AND THEN, after all that, Jace and Clary sneak off, and in the short story at the end of the book, A Love That Never Tires, Clary PROPOSES to Jace and they reminisce about the old days and I was crying again! 😭 I mean, Clary seeing the boy Jace used to be...

The one who did not expect love, only a raised hand or a sharp sword.

And then she proposes to him with a SWORD in the greenhouse where they had their first kiss😭😭 It was just perfect! I loved every minute of it!

I just loved this book. It was heartbreaking and sweet and sometimes it got real. But I really enjoyed this rollercoaster of a ride. I loved the characters we met in this series, and I love that old favorites made an appearance. While things wrapped up pretty well in Queen of Air and Darkness, there is still a lot of work for our Shadowhunters to do, and I cannot wait to see where things go from here!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊