Review of Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

“Some lights were never meant to burn for long.”

For the past 30 hours (give or take a few), I have lived and breathed Queen of Air and Darkness. I feel like I conquered the Great War: very little sleep, possible insomnia from PTDAD (post traumatic dark artifices delirium), even my muscles muscles were sore from the sheer power it took to sit in one position for hours at a time. Yes, hard work. 

Alright, I am so excited to talk about Cassandra Clare’s latest Shadowhunter masterpiece. I have so much to say and I don’t know where I should even start. Oh and remind me to talk about the epilogue, I’m still coming to terms with that.

My Thoughts

Let’s start with Emma and Julian: the forbidden parabatai duo. By the way, this is the book where everything ignites into a catastrophe of epic proportions. It’s wild. Of course, there’s also Robot Julian. After a few pages, I was over that persona. Julian with emotions is so much better. All in all, expect the sparks to fly between these two when Julian isn’t being stupidly realistic about certain issues.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever loved like this, and I know you’re the only person I ever will. And I’m not myself without you, Emma. Once you dissolve dye in water, you can’t take it back out. It’s like that. I can’t take you out of me. It means cutting out my heart, and I don’t like myself without my heart, I know that now.”

Unfortunately, Emma is without Cortana for the majority of the story. It honestly irritated the hell out of me. Emma and Cortana are a package deal. Zara can’t just go wielding it like it’s hers. There was one point in the book where I wouldn’t have minded sucker punching her (actually, there were a lot of moments like that) for being such a wicked wench who is the scummiest scum. Such a disrespectful and hateful bigot. She should be imprisoned.

Anyway, enough of Zara. Let’s talk about what was going on. Basically, the Clave is pushing for a civil war and wants downworlders to be put in a register where they will each be assigned a number that they must carry with them everywhere. Mhm, the Clave went there.

Then, we had Julian and Emma traveling to Faerie which could have gone worse. Although it did lead to Thule and we all know how that went (unless you haven’t read it yet, then I’m sorry).

Now, let’s take a closer like at each character (and yes, there are a lot of characters, but I’m doing it anyway).

My Thoughts On Each Character From Queen of Air and Darkness

Church – Honestly, if you need answers, go to Church.

Emma Carstairs – Emma is a freaking warrior, hands down one of the best. If I was a shadowhunter, she would definitely be one of the few I looked up to. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing a mock fight between her and Jace. Who knows, she might just win.

Julian Blackthorn – Julian, I love you, but why did you go and destroy your emotions? Ugh, I know why, but why?!!? Anyway, you without emotions is scary. I feel like you’d kill anyone who got in your way (that wasn’t family/friend). I mean, what’s his face, Dane. That guy never saw it coming.

Mark Blackthorn – Mark. Oh Mark. You half fae shadowhunter, you. So, it’s finally happened. Kieran, Mark and Christina, they are a thing and I ship them all the way. They’re honestly the best. I know they’ll make the cottage work somehow. I hope they start a family. I’d love to see that happen.

Kieran – I love Kieran. I love how he doesn’t understand the human world. He’s so innocent, yet not and I just want to eat him up (in a non kelpie or weird fashion; by the way, I never want to die near a kelpie). Also, when he was asking Dru for advice, ugh, I could’ve died happy (of course, that would’ve also sucked since I would never finish Queen of Air and Darkness).

Cristina Rosales – Cristina is another awesome character. She’s grown so much since Diego (so happy they didn’t end up together). Also, I love how headstrong she is when it comes to people she cares for. Also, when she killed that sad excuse of an unseelie king and he said “what are you” (or something along the lines of that) . . . Foreshadowing maybe??? Then again, I may just be looking into it too much. She’s just a kickass shadowhunter.

Dru Blackthorn – Dru has gone from caterpillar to butterfly since the first book. I loved seeing her with Ty and her complex feelings for Helen (which is completely understandable). But honestly, that moment when she released the prisoners with her cool lock-picking skills (shout out to Kit), perfect.

Ash – Alright, people. I am officially shipping Ash and Dru. Yeah I know Jaime seems like a pretty big contender, but did you read that passage where Ash found Julian’s picture of Dru?!?! I can already see the sparks flying and they haven’t even met. Of course, he’s around 17-18 now, so 5 more years. I hope they meet. Plus, Dru likes scary movies. I’m sure Ash would gladly watch some slasher movies (I mean, who wouldn’t?).

Kit (Christopher) Herondale – Oh. My. God. Kit literally has claim on the Seelie and Unseelie thrones. He could rule all of Faerie. Imagine that for a second. Also, I’m happy for him. Not only does he deserve Tessa and Jem, but he has really needed a family. I also have faith that he and Ty will reunite one day.

Tiberius Blackthorn – That moment when Ty climbed the pyre was heartbreaking. I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him things will eventually be better. Of course, then he went and tried his hand in necromancy. Not the smartest idea, but grief does that to a person. I just have a bad feeling about the price. Especially after what Magnus said.

Livvy Blackthorn – Now, we didn’t see Livvy much except for her ghost who I honestly feel bad for. No one wants to be brought back from the grave to a weird in between. Also, her alternate reality version . . . Gotta say, she was killing it in Thule. I just wish she went back with Julian and Emma. I know why she didn’t, but ugh. It would have been amazing if she and Ty could see each other even though they’re from different worlds.

Octavian Blackthorn – We don’t really know Tavvy and because of that, he’s kind of left on the sidelines. I do hope I’ll get to know him better in an installment.

Helen Blackthorn – Oh Helen, trying to feed people a frittata who want pancakes…never works.

Aline Penhallow – Alright, I’ve gotta give it to Aline, she is freaking fierce. Especially about that frittata.

Diego Rosales – I remember when I hated Diego (especially his nickname, ‘Perfect Diego’). However, he redeemed himself by helping Kieran and I enjoyed seeing a new side of him that kinda joked around. He needs to loosen up sometimes.

Jaime Rosales – I kinda like Jaime. He seems like a good guy. I just wish I knew him better because he’s still somewhat of a mystery to me. I have a feeling he and Dru will be friends (maybe more), but I’m still banking on Ash.

Diana Wrayburn – Diana, you go girl! I’m happy for her. Everything is out in the open and she doesn’t have to hide anything anymore. Of course, Horace can go jump off a bridge.

Gwyn – I like Gwyn. I love how he’s always flying in to save the day. Literally. And that moment when he put his cloak down as a picnic blanket for Diana . . . Ugh, the feels. They are the cutest couple.

Zara Dearborn – How I hate Zara Dearborn. She just so smug and hateful with a very bigoted view of the world. The fact that she laughed at Ty when he was climbing Livvy’s pyre was disgusting. Such a disrespectful termite. I absolutely despise that she won that final battle, but at least she’s holed up in there. Maybe she’ll go crazy (not that she isn’t already).

Horace Dearborn – Yeah, jump off a bridge.

Cameron Ashdown – Poor Cameron, his own cousin shot him. Talk about awkward holiday dinners.

Dane Larkspear – He won’t be missed.

Alec Lightwood – My heart, that moment when he proposed. Perfect. He and Magnus made me smile so hard. Gotta love them. Also, he’s going to make a great leader.

Magnus Bane – Thank the great warlock they found the cure. If he died, I don’t even know what would happen. Riots probably. I mean, he’s Magnus Bane.

Ragnor Fell (Shade) – Ragnor Fell Lives! Honestly, my favorite part, Shade coming to battle in a ‘Ragnor Fell Lives’ t-shirt. He’s awesome. I can only strive to have that kind of grand entrance.

Catarina Loss – When she walked Magnus down the aisle, I just wanted to slow clap.

Annabel Blackthorn – Annabel was a bit of a letdown. She was in, maybe, 25-30% of the story and she was literally the cover of Queen of Air and Darkness. I just feel like she should’ve had a bigger role.

Tessa & Jem – Jem and Tessa are such adults. They’re going to be great parents. Especially for Kit. I’m so happy for them.

Simon & Izzy – Nothing really happened with Simon and Izzy. They were really minor for this book. I wish I saw more of them.

Clary Fairchild – Clary will always be the one and true original. I remember her and Simon at that cafe with this biscotti and then that demon in her apartment. So much has happened since then. I wonder how she’ll approach Thule Jace since it’s him, but not him at all.

Jace Herondale – Ahhhh, I love Jace. I have loved him since City of Bones. He always manages to make me laugh. If I could change places with Clary, that’d be pretty cool. But you know, I don’t know how he’s going to approach his evil doppelgänger. I mean, he’ll literally be fighting himself (that is if he does fight him).

Thule Jace Herondale – Thule Jace is a complete pushover with no thoughts of his own (at least when Sebastian was controlling him). Of course, he is still pretty evil even though Seb is no more. I mean, you can’t take back all the terrible things he’s done. I’, curious about what he plans to do with Clary!?!? Does he want to kidnap her? Kill her maybe (I can’t see him doing that). Ugh, I just don’t know.

Wow, Cassandra Clare seriously knows how to create a large ensemble, yet still manages to make them all memorable. Still, writing about each character took much longer than I expected.

Extra Jace Moments

Now, here are some of my favorite Jace moments from Queen of Air and Darkness. Enjoy.

This is probably a bad idea,” Jace said. “Like, a record-breakingly bad idea. Like a go-down-in-history bad idea. But—”

Clary bounced to her feet. “What he means is, we’re in,” she said. “We love bad ideas.”

“That’s true,” Jace admitted, a smile breaking over his face. Suddenly he looked seventeen again.

And this….

“He’s a filthy pervert. Jace should stand for Consul instead.”

“I am also a filthy pervert,” said Jace, “or at least I aspire to be. You have no idea what I get up to in my spare time. Just last week I asked Clary to buy me a—“

Oh and one more thing . . .

“Sometimes when you start a war, you want to make pancakes.”

Queen of Air and Darkness had some funny moments, but there were also some rather heavy times in the beginning. It was especially annoying when we had some character(s), *ahem, Julian* who thought it would be a good idea to go to a warlock for a potion…

Recommendations After Queen of Air and Darkness

If you already read Queen of Air and Darkness and enjoyed it, here are some recommendations I have for you.

• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Check out my review of A Reaper at the Gates which is the third book in that series).
• Angelfall by Susan Ee  (This is one of my favorite action-filled fantasy series with some forbidden romance…kinda)