Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

It’s been a very long time since I read Lady Midnight so it may not even be a five star read for me anymore, but The Dark Artifices is possibly my favourite Cassandra Clare series (it’s very hard to pick a favourite though). It’s one I would love to re-read at some point, but they’re pretty long and I only have the entire series as physical copies.

Emma Carstairs very quickly became one of my favourite Shadowhunters. There’s something about the Carstairs women that I just love. Also, this entire cast of characters is my favourite out of every series. Found family is something that features heavily in all of Cassandra Clare’s books, but this one is about an actual family and their dynamic is interesting to say the least.

This book also features a new way of looking at the Parabatai bond. We’ve seen how strong it can be for those in platonic love, but The Dark Artifices explores what happens when Parabatai’s are in romantic love. Sorry that is a slight spoiler but this series has been out for quite a long time now.

Maybe I should re-read this soon because I’ve never really put down my thoughts and feelings towards this series. I love looking back at my reviews to see what I was feeling in the moment of reading a book, it’s why I have this blog. Plus, I haven’t done a single re-read this year and these are something I wanted to do more of.

Synopsis: 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?

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

A couple of years ago I would have nothing but good things to say about this book. Sadly, the second book has dampened my love for it a little bit. I adored Liz in Better Than the Movies, she was sweet, hopeful and caring. This completely changed in the second book. Which I think I overhyped so my expectations were far too high. Anyway, this post is about the first book, which I loved.

This book is my go-to clean romance recommendation. Wes and Liz are just too cute. I love the mean banter that slowly moves its way into flirting and having them be childhood best friends that drifted apart makes this even better. Friends to lovers has become a favourite trope of mine recently, which I think was because of this book.

As a lover of romcoms, this book is perfect. There are so many film references and I loved Liz’s playlists. I’m a big playlist maker myself, I make individual playlists for each genre I read, so I found Liz to be a very relatable character.

I may need to also re-read this book so I can get the second one out of my head. I need cute Wes and Liz back, not the absolute sad fest that was book two.

Synopsis: Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar – and maybe snag him as a prom date – even befriend Wes Bennet.

The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic-comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love – and rethink her own ideas of what happily ever after should look like.

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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Review: The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore