I need a minute. This is the type of book that needs to be put in the freezer for a while.

This has probably been one of my favourites in the Shadowhunter world since I read Clockwork Princess a few years ago. This book had so much going for it, and it just kept me hooked and thrilled the entire time!

I feel like this book is the pinnacle of Cassandra Clare’s writing so far. Her writing and storytelling has improved with each book and Lord of Shadows definitely showcases how far she has come. The descriptions, the way the plot and sub-plots all weaved and intermingled was fantastic.

This book left me with so many questions still about so many characters which means I’m dying to read the next book. Who is Kit really? What kind of special power is he going to have in the next book if he turns out to be special? And Ash? We saw him for a second but i was left thinking about him for the rest of the book. And what’s the deal with Cortana?

I hate Julian and Emma, and it’s the only thing about Lord of Shadows that irks me. The way they go on about each other seriously does my head in and I don’t understand why they can’t be like normal people and just control themselves. I did feel like there was a lot of repetition of feelings and emotions whenever either were around each other and it just got SO BORING. On the other hand, I’m living for Mark, Cristina and Kieran’s strange three-way relationship. They all just fit together really, really well and I loved every single scene where they interacted with each other.

I found the scenes with the Cohort in Idris, and all their signs EXTREMELY relatable to some of the going-ons in America at the moment with the alt-right and white supremacists. I’m not sure if Cassandra Clare based some of her ideas on the Cohort on the current state of affairs in her country but it was interesting to read for sure (the day after I finished this book, the terrible Charlottesville car ramming incident happened and it just made me think even more about the Cohort’s similarities to the neo-nazis.)

The end of this book was terribly sad, and I did see it coming a few pages before but DAMN, my heart.