Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare - ADVISABLE

Lord of Shadows (Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare, 699 pages.  Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon and Schuster), 2017.  $25.  

Content: Language: PG-13 (17 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.   

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Emma and Julian are reeling from the betrayal of Malcolm and the consequences of their feelings for each other.  Since Emma and Julian have a forbidden love, Emma is pretending to date Julian’s brother, Mark, so that Julian will hopefully move on.  Also Julian is trying to protect his siblings from the evil that Malcolm unleashed when he brought Annabelle back from the dead, while at the same time trying to get the Black Volume of the Dead from Annabelle.  On top of all of their problems, there is racial tension among the larger community of Shadowhunters, nephalim and the seelie court.  Tensions rise in this second book of the series.  

I enjoy reading about the lives of the characters in this series and care that they succeed and are happy.  I like the arching story line between books, but feel as though this book had repetitive parts and could have been about half the length, without all the relationship drama.  That said, I will continue to read to find out what happens to everyone and hope that it has a satisfying ending in the third book.  The content includes gruesome violence and heavy make-out sessions.  The only complaint I have about this series is that it’s confusing unless you have read the whole Mortal Instruments series, but if you have, this is essential.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson