Spoiler-Filled Review: Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

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Warning: 

The synopsis and review all contain spoilers for previous books in this series, do not continue on unless you wish to be spoiled for the entire Dark Artifices Series.

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Synopsis:

    Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare is the third and final novel in the Dark Artifices Trilogy. The story begins almost immediately after Lord of Shadows as Emma, Julian, the Blackthorns, and the Clave have to deal with the aftermath of the events at the Council Hall. In a race against time, Emma and Julian have to retrieve the Black Volume of Death and save the Shadowhunter world before the parabatai curse takes effect and destroys everything in its wake. 

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    Before diving into my review, please note that it is based on my opinion of the book. As you consider my thoughts, remember that you are allowed to have different feelings about this book. If you haven't read it yet, feel free to pick up a copy and form your own opinion on it. 

Content Warnings: Violence, Death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Sexual Content, Xenophobia, Confinement.

Note: This book contains some mature and sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers, please proceed with caution.

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Review:

    This story begins where Lord of Shadows left off with lots of chaos happening in the Accords Hall in the aftermath of the tragic cliffhanger the second book ended with. At this point, I just remembered the abject shock and horror I felt with the cliffhanger of the last book. Things quickly de-escalate and all the Blackthorns are left to deal with their grief. I love how every character's grief manifests in a different way, this is very realistic. As people, there is no one way to process loss and I liked that the beginning of the book really explored this concept. 

       Before too long, the very real threat of the parabatai curse comes surging back and I felt anxiety over what would end up happening with this throughout the entirety of the story. Julian, as always, has to make a rash decision without considering the consequences to deal with the issue of the parabatai curse. It was all extremely frustrating to see him go to such desperate, idiotic measures, these decisions and his outright cruelty made me despise him throughout the trilogy, with Queen of Air and Darkness being no exception. I really loved the reunion between Helen and her siblings, despite how bittersweet the entire beginning of the story was. I also loved all the blooming romance between Diana and Gwyn and I ABSOLUTELY loved Kieran, Mark, and Cristina trying to navigate their relationship. The romances really brought some ADORABLE moments of levity to the otherwise serious, high-stakes story.

    A large amount of the story felt pretty slow-paced as it was building to its climax, but I can definitely say that the parts of the story I enjoyed best were the parts that did not take place in Los Angeles. The information they discover in the faerie courts and alternate universe was very compelling and I can't wait to see what consequences the actions in those places will have in The Wicked Powers. It definitely spent much of the middle of the story preparing for The Wicked Powers in the way that City of Heavenly Fire really prepared readers for The Dark Artifices series. 

    Honestly, I found much of the story to be quite dull and anticlimactic especially in comparison to its predecessor, Lord of Shadows. I wish that the story had been a few hundred pages shorter just so that there would be less filler content which definitely would have elevated the quality of writing in the story. It just felt like a step down in comparison to the other two books in this series. I will say that the story did pick up for the climax and took an unexpected twist. I'm so curious to see what will happen next in this world and where things will leave off in The Wicked Powers. 

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Romance (subplots)

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon and Schuster)