Review: She Waits for You Beyond the Dark (Death Games #2) by Kristen Simmons

Title: She Waits for You Beyond the Dark

Series: Death Games #2

Previous book in this series: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

Author: Kristen Simmons

Genre: YA, horror, Japanese mythology

Publication date: March 11th 2025

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: eARC for review from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis: "Death is not an ending, it’s simply the next chapter. Do not be afraid to turn the page..."

It’s been one month since Ian’s reunited friends escaped the hellish game of Meido and saved him. The survivors may have sealed the gate to the world of the dead shut and destroyed Empress Izanami, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still reeling over the challenges they endured. Trying to relax back in the world of the living, they take solace in the fact that they rescued Ian from the nightmare that tried to steal him away. But there’s just one problem—Ian didn’t come home alone.

The empress—now possessing Ian's heart—hitched a ride into their world and the only way to free Ian from her grasp is to find three artifacts for her, sacred objects which have been hidden across many realms. Unwilling to leave Ian behind a second time, his friends dive into a new deadly game, with terrifying challenges that not only test their mettle, but demand sacrifices—including their very lives.

If they don’t retrieve the empress’s artifacts, Ian will be lost forever, but if they do, it could be the end of their world as they know it.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I finished the previous book (that cliffhanger!), but my mood was not cooperating. Hence why we are here now, almost a year after I got this book 😅 But I enjoyed it... once I got to it. Lol.

Review: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Death Games #1) by Kristen Simmons

Title: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

Series: Death Games #1

Author: Kristen Simmons

Genre: YA, horror, Japanese mythology

Publication date: September 2023

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Four years ago, five kids started a game. Only four survived.

Now, at the end of their senior year of high school, the survivors—Dax, Maddy, Emerson, and Owen—have reunited for one strange and terrible reason: they’ve been summoned by the ghost of Ian, the friend they left for dead.

Together they return to the tunnel where their friendship ended with one goal: find Ian and bring him home. So they restart the deadly game they never finished—an innocent card-matching challenge called Meido. A game without instructions.

As soon as they begin, they're dragged out of their reality and into an eerie hellscape of Japanese underworlds, more horrifying than even the darkest folktales that Owen's grandmother told him. There, they meet Shinigami, an old wise woman who explains the rules:

They have one night to complete seven challenges or all of them, Ian included, will be stuck in this world forever.

Once inseparable, the survivors now can’t stand each other, but the challenges demand they work together, think quickly, and make sacrifices—blood, clothes, secrets, memories, and worse.

And once again, not everyone will make it out of Meido alive.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I enjoyed this book more than I was anticipating! Listen, horror books can be hit or miss, but this one was definitely a hit!

Review: Beautiful Demons (The Shadow Demons Saga #1) by Sarra Cannon

Title: Beautiful Demons

Series: The Shadow Demons Saga #1

Author: Sarra Cannon

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: October 2010

Published by: Dead River Books

Source: Amazon freebie

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Synopsis: Harper Madison isn't like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home for Girls is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs.

At first, life appears to be looking up for Harper. She's making new friends and is strangely drawn to the guy next door. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆

This book was, uh, something. I liked the premise, I’ll give it that. I love protagonists with cool powers and mysteries... all that stuff is interesting. But this book? Yikes. I mean it started off okay, and quite intriguing. One of the cheerleaders at Harper’s new school was murdered and someone is framing Harper for it.

Review: How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

Title: How to Survive a Horror Movie

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, horror, satire

Publication date: May 2011

Published by: Quirk Books

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

From ghosts, vampires, and zombies to serial killers, cannibalistic hillbillies, and haunted Japanese videocassettes, How to Survive a Horror Movie shows how to defeat every obstacle found in scary films. Readers will discover:

-How to Perform an Exorcism
-What to Do If You Did Something Last Summer
-How to Persuade the Skeptical Local Sheriff
-How to Vanquish a Murderous Doll
-How to Survive an Alien Invasion
-How to Tell If You've Been Dead Since the Beginning of the Movie

and much, much more. Complete with useful instructions, insane illustrations, and a list of 100 important films to study, How to Survive a Horror Movie is essential reading for prom queens, jocks, teenage babysitters, and anyone employed by a summer camp.

My rating: ★★★★★

I’m a huge horror movie fan so when I discovered this book I knew that I needed it in my brain immediately! The thing about me though is that, honestly, I would probably be that person who dies in the first 5 minutes of a Supernatural episode 😆

Review: The Nightmare Charade (The Arkwell Academy #3) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Charade

Series: The Arkwell Academy #3

Previous books in this series: The Nightmare Affair (#1) The Nightmare Dilemma (#2)

Author: Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: August 2015

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: It’s her junior year at Arkwell Academy, and Dusty Everhart just wants to be alone with her boyfriend, Eli Booker. But fate is literally keeping them apart. See, Dusty is a Nightmare, who can enter Eli’s dreams to find clues to the future, but an ancient curse predicts that any romance between them is doomed to end in tragedy. Dusty and Eli are willing to take that risk, but the authorities disagree—and have assigned a chaperone to make sure their relationship is strictly platonic.

As if that’s not bad enough, they’ve been recruited by the Department of Intelligence for Magickind Secrecy (D.I.M.S.) to use their dream-seer bond to help recover the most powerful object of black magic known to magickind. The Animus Mortem can raise the dead by stealing the souls of the living... which makes tracking it down a genuine matter of life and death.

To make matters worse, one of Dusty’s friends is accused of murder and is counting on her to clear his name.

Dusty has too many dreams, too many commitments, and too many people looking over her shoulder, but a Nightmare seldom plays by the rules. Curse or no curse, chaperone or not, she has to go deep into Eli’s dreams if she’s going to find the truth—and discover a way for them to truly be together at last!

My rating: ★★★★☆

I first started this series ELEVEN years ago, and I’m only completing it now...

Review: The Nightmare Dilemma (The Arkwell Academy #2) by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Dilemma

Series: The Arkwell Academy #2

Previous book in this series: The Nightmare Affair

Author: by Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: January 2014

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Won paperback ARC in giveaway

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Synopsis: Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn’t make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school’s jokester, Lance Rathbone, is accused of the crime, Dusty’s as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that’s easier asked than done. Eli’s dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies.

To make matters worse, Dusty’s ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, to discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty’s heart.

As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they’re connected to something bigger. And there’s something very wrong with Eli’s dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have ever imagined.

My rating: ★★★★☆

It had been a while since I read the first book in this series, I think almost 10 years, but despite that, I decided to not re-read it before going into this book. I love re-reading books but I have actually read The Nightmare Affair twice, so I thought I would be okay. And I was! I had a vague memory of what went on in the last book, but this book also did a pretty good job of touching on the important things that happened in The Nightmare Affair, so I was very happy about that.

Review: Curse of the Evil Librarian (Evil Librarian #3) by Michelle Knudsen

Title: Curse of the Evil Librarian

Series: Evil Librarian #3

Previous books in this series: Evil Librarian (#1) | Revenge of the Evil Librarian (#2)

Author: Michelle Knudsen

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: August 2019

Published by: Candlewick Press

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Will it finally be curtains for the demonic Mr. Gabriel in this climactic chapter of the Evil Librarian series?

After sending the evil librarian, Mr. Gabriel, back to the demon world once and for all at theater camp last summer, Cynthia is ready to enjoy a completely demon-free senior year of high school, especially once she learns the fall musical will be Les Misérables. She can’t wait to create the most incredible barricade set design in all of high-school theater. And her boyfriend, Ryan, is sure to land his dream role of Javert. But down in the demon realm, an epic mishandling of Mr. Gabriel’s essence leads to his escape — and soon he’s gathering strength, bent once again on revenge against Cyn and everyone she loves.

My rating: ★★★★★

If Cynthia thought she was through with Mr. Gabriel, boy was she wrong. It turns out the demon librarian is gathering his strength in the demon realm to come and exact his revenge on Cynthia. Oh, and on top of that, there's a curse abound! 😬

Review: Revenge of the Evil Librarian (Evil Librarian #2) by Michelle Knudsen

Title: Revenge of the Evil Librarian

Series: Evil Librarian #2

Previous book in this series: Evil Librarian

Author: Michelle Knudsen

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: February 2017

Published by: Candlewick Press

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: The stage is set for a fiendishly dramatic summer at theater camp for Cyn and Ryan. With NO DEMONS.

Last fall, Cynthia Rothschild saved her best friend, Annie, (and everyone else in her high school) from the demon librarian, Mr. Gabriel. But now all that demon stuff is over, and Cyn is ready to have the best summer ever -- at theater camp (!) with her former crush and now boyfriend (!!) Ryan Halsey.

Once she gets to camp, though, the Best Summer Ever does not seem to be following the script. For one thing, there is Ryan's very talented and very female lifelong camp best friend, whom he has somehow failed to mention before now. For another, it appears the demon stuff is not as entirely over as Cyn had hoped. Also, there are some secrets that perhaps she should not have kept from Ryan for quite this long.

At least any new demons that show up to ruin her summer can't possibly be as evil as Mr. Gabriel, who is, thankfully, very dead now. It's not like he could somehow come back to life to seek his terrible revenge or something. Right?

My rating: ★★★★★

She defeated the evil librarian at her school, and now there are demons at the summer camp. Poor Cynthia can't catch a break. Lol.

Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Title: The Keeper of Night

Series: The Keeper of Night #1

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical, Japanese mythology

Publication date: October 2021

Published by: Inkyard Press

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death… only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task—find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons—and learns how far she’ll go to claim her place at Death’s side.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I really enjoyed this book! One of my favorite things about it was the mythology. I liked how every region's reapers served different deaths: Ankou in Britain, Yanluo in China, Santa Muerte in Mexico, and so on. Our main character Ren is half reaper, half Shinigami, and she's never really fit in with the London reapers. In fact, she was always being bullied by a couple of mean-girl-type reapers, who also happened to be High Reapers, so she was never able to defend herself because that would mean trouble. However, after an incident with these girls and her controllable Shinigami powers, Ren is forced to run away from London. So she sets out to Japan with the support of her little brother Neven, not only in hopes of finding her mother and learning more about her Shinigami side but also to find herself.

Review: Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours #3) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Thorns

Series: The Last Hours #3

Previous books in this series: Chain of Gold (#1) | Chain of Iron (#2)

Prequel short stories: The Penultimate Hours

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: January 31st 2023

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: James and Cordelia must save London—and their marriage—in this conclusion to the Last Hours series from author Cassandra Clare.

Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.

After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.

Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.

For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.

My rating: ★★★★★

We all carry a light inside ourselves. It burns with the flame of our souls. But there are other people in our lives who add their own flames to ours, creating a brighter conflagration.

Review: Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Iron

Series: The Last Hours #2

Previous book in this series: Chain of Gold

Prequel short stories: The Penultimate Hours

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: March 2021

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend, Lucie Herondale, and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn, whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

My rating: ★★★★★

I thought I was prepared for the angst this book was going to deliver, but boy was I wrong! 🙃

Review: The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) by Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu

Title: The Lost Book of the White

Series: The Eldest Curses #2

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

Previous book in this series: The Red Scrolls of Magic

Authors: Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: September 2020

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.

Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.

Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.

Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom?

My rating: ★★★★★

I know I’ve said this before, but it makes me really happy that Magnus and Alec have their own series. I just had the best time reading this! This book takes place after The Mortal Instruments and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (Simon has only been a Shadowhunter for about 4 months at this point) but before the events of The Dark. Artifices, just FYI. The prologue takes place during City of Glass, just before Clary goes to look for Ragnor and finds out that he’s dead. This scene was a lot of fun but really set the scene for the entire book and for Ragnor’s reasoning behind him faking his death.

Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Chain of Gold

Series: The Last Hours #1

Prequel short stories: The Penultimate Hours

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: March 2020

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: An inheritance of shadows. A love in chains. An unconquerable foe.

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.

But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia's friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.

My rating: ★★★★★

I loved this book! But then again, going into it I knew I was going to love it, as I do all Shadowhunter books. But at this point we all know what a huge fan of the Shadowhunter Chronicles I am.

Review: The Penultimate Hours (The Last Hours #0.5) by Cassandra Clare

Title: The Penultimate Hours

Series: The Last Hours #0.5

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, historical

Publication date: January 2021

Published by: Cassandra Clare

Source: Author's newsletter

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Synopsis: Welcome to The Penultimate Hours! A collection of short stories covering the various characters in The Last Hours, originally released monthly in the leadup to Chain of Gold. The Penultimate Hours also contains two special extras: a letter from Lucie to Cordelia and a letter from Ragnor to Magnus. All collected here for your reading delight!

My rating: ★★★★★

We start off this fun novella with a letter to Magnus from Ragnor! I love that grumpy warlock. Lol. He’s telling Magnus about how Wills' children are running wild around London and how the city is overly blessed with Lightwoods.

Review: The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) by Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu

Title: The Red Scrolls of Magic

Series: The Eldest Curses #1

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

Authors: Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: April 2019

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation.

A lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who, against all odds, is finally his boyfriend. It doesn’t seem like too much for the centuries-old High Warlock to ask for. But no sooner have they settled in Paris than an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

The first book in the Eldest Curses series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Cassandra Clare and award-winning science fiction author Wesley Chu, The Red Scrolls of Magic is a fast-paced adventure bursting with magic, humor, and (if demons stop getting in the way) romance that offers a fresh look at the world of the Shadowhunters.

My rating: ★★★★★

A warrior chosen by angels and a well-dressed demon's child, in love and intent on adventure through Europe. What could go wrong?

I was gonna say that this is a book I didn’t know I needed in my life, but that is a complete lie because I have loved Malec since City of Bones 😆 And this book was everything I could’ve ever wanted, and more! Right from page one I knew I was going to love this!

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:

Review: Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Lord of Shadows

Series: The Dark Artifices #2

Previous books in this series: Lady Midnight (#1)

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: May 2017

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Would you trade your soul mate for your soul?

A Shadowhunter’s life is bound by duty. Constrained by honor. The word of a Shadowhunter is a solemn pledge, and no vow is more sacred than the vow that binds parabatai, warrior partners—sworn to fight together, die together, but never to fall in love.

Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?

Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile, rising tension between Shadowhunters and Downworlders has produced the Cohort, an extremist group of Shadowhunters dedicated to registering Downworlders and “unsuitable” Nephilim. They’ll do anything in their power to expose Julian’s secrets and take the Los Angeles Institute for their own.

When Downworlders turn against the Clave, a new threat rises in the form of the Lord of Shadows—the Unseelie King, who sends his greatest warriors to slaughter those with Blackthorn blood and seize the Black Volume. As dangers close in, Julian devises a risky scheme that depends on the cooperation of an unpredictable enemy. But success may come with a price he and Emma cannot even imagine, one that will bring with it a reckoning of blood that could have repercussions for everyone and everything they hold dear.

My rating: ★★★★★

Let me just say that the fact that this book started off with a Jace cameo made me extremely happy 🥰

Review: Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Lady Midnight

Series: The Dark Artifices #1)

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

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: March 2016

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

My rating: ★★★★★

Lady Midnight takes place 5 years after the end of The Mortal Instruments, and about 3 years after the end of Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. In this series we follow the new characters we met in those last two books of TMI, the Blackthorn kids and Emma Carstairs, who is a distant relative of Jem! There are some sketchy murders going on in LA. that Emma thinks might be connected to the murder of her parents, who were killed all those years ago during Sebastian's attack on the institutes.

Review: Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

Title: Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy

Stories in this collection: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (#1) | The Lost Herondale (#2) | The Whitechapel Fiend (#3) | Nothing but Shadows (#4) | The Evil We Love (#5) | Pale Kings and Princes (#6) | Bitter of Tongue (#7) | The Fiery Trial (#8) | Born to Endless Night (#9) | Angels Twice Descending (#10)

Previous series: The Mortal Instruments

Authors: Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: November 2016

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Source: Own hardcover

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Synopsis: Simon Lewis has been a human and a vampire, and now he is becoming a Shadowhunter. But the events of City of Heavenly Fire left him stripped of his memories, and Simon isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows he was friends with Clary, and that he convinced the total goddess Isabelle Lightwood to go out with him…but he doesn’t know how. And when Clary and Isabelle look at him, expecting him to be a man he doesn’t remember…Simon can’t take it.

So when the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. His new self. Whomever this new Simon might be.

But the Academy is a Shadowhunter institution, which means it has some problems. Like the fact that non-Shadowhunter students have to live in the basement. And that differences—like being a former vampire—are greatly looked down upon. At least Simon is trained in weaponry—even if it’s only from hours of playing D&D.

Join Simon on his journey to become a Shadowhunter, and learn about the Academy’s illustrious history along the way, through guest lecturers such as Jace Herondale, Tessa Gray, and Magnus Bane. These ten short stories give an epilogue to The Mortal Instruments series and provide glimpses of what’s in store in The Dark Artifices.

My rating: ★★★★★

When I first got this book I had still only read the first 3 books in The Mortal Instruments and probably The Infernal Devices, so I was not the biggest fan of Simon. But then I finally read the remaining of TMI and I fell in love with the guy! The way he sacrificed himself City of Heavenly Fire and lost his memory to save everyone from the demon realm... he’s such a stand up guy. How could I dislike someone like that? It made me so sad that this happened to him, but I am so happy we got more of his story here! It was such a great journey and I loved following him through his 2 years at the academy!

Review: Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Title: Summer of the Mariposas

Author: Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Genre: YA, magical realism, Greek mythology retelling

Publication date: October 2012

Published by: Tu Books

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero’s journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer’s original tale.

With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and a bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them?

My rating: ★★★★☆

I don’t tend to read a lot of books from my own culture. I love urban fantasy, it’s my favorite genre and I have found that there are not very many Hispanic books out there... none that have caught my attention, anyway. A lot of the ones I do see tend to be contemporary, which I am just not super into. But I loved reading this and seeing my culture reflected back at me. All these little things and phrases and omg food I’m familiar with. Not to mention how relatable the main character Odilia was. The unfair burden on the eldest to care for the younger siblings is something that is common in this culture, and something I resonate with.