Queen of Air and Darkness--"That’s what it means to be human. We lose, we suffer, but we have to keep breathing."

Title: Queen of Air and Darkness

Author: Cassandra Clare


LGBTQ+ Representation: At least 4 (and a couple more implied) bisexual (or sexually fluid or pan) characters; 1 gay male character; 1 lesbian character; trans feminine character; m/m romance; f/f romance; m/m/f romance.


This story is so complicated, has so many characters, and so many plot twists that I found it very difficult to summarize in 75 words, but here ya go:

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): The Clave is a mess, fighting more among each other rather than for the safety of the Shadow World. Emma and Julian are trying to break the Parabatai Curse. The Lightwoods are grieving the death of their father while trying to figure out what is making the warlocks so sick. Ty is obsessed with bringing Livia back (with help from an apprehensive Kit), and the Seelie Queen is hiding someone who could become very powerful.


What I think: I finished Queen of Air and Darkness two days after it came out, so I've been thinking (and processing) everything that happened for over two months now.

I very much enjoyed this book and am a big fan of the series--that being said, I am going to be extremely nit-picky because that is what I do when I really like a book. I'm also going to spoil most all of the big stuff that happens (but not all, probably).



In my Lord of Shadows review, I listed what I wanted and didn't want to happen in QOAAD. So for this review, I am going to review what I said Then and what I say Now:


Then I said: I want the characters to have some time to grieve . . . I still have issues with the way the Lightwoods hardly grieved the death of Max. Shadowhunters are human and with their Angel blood they should be more compassionate, not less.

Now I say: The characters definitely show some grief, so props to CC for this. I was teary-eyed throughout the first three chapters and sobbed at the end of chapter three when Kit sees the ghost of Robert's parabatai. Ooh boy, that was rough.


Then I said: I do not want Alec to take over his father's job. . . . He needs to be there with his babies and Magnus and not get involved in all of the yuckiness that is the Clave.   

Now I say: Alec does not take over his father's job, but he takes over the ENTIRE CLAVE. He is elected as Consul, causing the more conservative members of the Clave to freak out, causing the Clave to split in two. Hopefully, the bigoted a-hole members of the Clave will hide in their little Alicante prison--the rest can thrive under Alec's leadership. This is not what I was expecting nor what I would have wanted, but I'm sold on it.

Also, Alec and Magnus's happy-ever-after is PERFECTION. I have read so many fanfiction versions of their proposal and marriage, but they all pale in comparison to what CC writes for them. It was so beautiful. (As an aside--I remember reading that Shadowhunter wedding attire is gold, but when has Magnus ever mentioned that warlocks get married in royal blue?)

Then I said: I want the Cohort members to face some consequences for what happened in the last scene. . . Dangit. They will not be held responsible. Somehow, it will be positive for them, I'm sure. 

Now I say: Positive for them? Well, I am sure they will spin it as something positive, but I am not sure the ending is what they would have wanted either. They had been planning to publicly kill themselves if they did not get their way, but Alec (as the new leader of the Clave) is all like, "Fine. Keep Alicante. We don't need to be here anyway" and then takes all of the "good guys" with him. Now the bigoted Clave members are a fringe hate-group hiding behind their "conservative values." Ha ha ha. 

Maybe they can start their own Shadowhunter news network? I mean, if they need a model for one . . .

Then I said: I do not want the Cohort to be easily defeated. You can't destroy a political ideology. . . I want this group of Cohort members to be humiliated, intimidated, and generally thrown out of power, but should everything be all tied up and pretty with the good guys getting all the power at the end?  Nope.  Plus, I'm not exactly sure who the good guys with the power SHOULD be.  I don't even want Alec to have the power because I don't want him to become a jaded jerk.

Now I say: The Cohort is not defeated. Are they weakened? Yes. Do they still have any power? Yes, they have some, and I am sure they will pick up some followers. Hate groups always do. I stand by my statement of not wanting Alec to become a jaded jerk, however.

   
Then I said: I want Jace and Clary to live happily-ever-after AND off-the-page. . . Let them have their happiness someplace else. They've had their stories. They need to go away now.

Now I say: HA! Based on the end of this story, Jace and Clary aren't going anywhere. In fact, there are now TWO JACES! However, I really enjoyed the alternate timeline/dimension storyline--I found it fascinating, the description reminding me of Escape from LA so much, I was picturing Sebastian Morgenstern with an eyepatch. 

Speaking of . . . I could find NO reason why Jonathan Morgenstern of Thule would refer to himself as Sebastian. He was never actually Sebastian; he just temporarily borrows Sebastian Verlaac's face. And with Clary gone, why would he need to take on that pseudonym? He should be Jonathan.

Then I said: I don't want any of the warlocks to die! 

Now I say: None of the main character warlocks died. Thank goodness. However, they were on their way to becoming full demons, which is terrifying. By the way, the cure for the warlock sickness is super easy and logical but not too obvious. I was not disappointed with that.

     

Then I said: I want more Ty and Kit. 
   

Now I say: Ty and Kit were definitely featured in this book, mostly from Kit's point-of-view, which leads me to my next point--

Then I said: I do not want my Kitty babies to do anything stupid.  Based on a snippet I swear I read off of this Tumblr but can't find now, I am terrified that Kit and Ty (my Kitty babies) are going to use the Black Volume to attempt to raise Livvy and NO. Didn't the situation with Annabel teach them anything?

   

Now I say: Sigh. I felt terrible for both of them. Throughout the book I kept yelling at Kit, "Stop! What are you doing? Quit encouraging Ty's necromancy!" But of course, they did not listen to me. Kit's tearful confession and attempt to stop at the very last minute broke the hearts of CC #kitty fans all over the world.

I do have some perspective now, more so than right after I read the book. First of all, Ty and Kit are only fifteen. They need to grow up a bit before they embark on a great love affair. (It's quite creepy that I ship them so hard, actually. Ew?). They need to pursue their dreams and mature and blah blah blah. Also, they have their own trilogy in the works, so we know their story is not over.

What CC writes on her Tumblr regarding #kitty is a must-read (emphasis mine):

It’s totally normally when something happens between two people in a book that’s sad — like two people breaking apart when you hoped they’d get together — there’s a desire to blame one of them. But no one is at fault in this situation. These are two people who are not in the same emotional place at a crucial time: that doesn’t mean they never will be, or that either of them did anything wrong.

   

Then I said: I want to see Julian kick some total ass. 

Now I say: Well, I supposed he kicks some butt, but this reminds me of my least favorite part of the whole book, which is the manifestation of the Parabatai curse. Everyone talks about how it is so bad, and so mysterious, and even Magnus is afraid of it enough to put a powerful, emotion-numbing spell on Julian. Magnus alludes to a story of Eloisa Ravenscar whose parabatai commits suicide, but you are telling me no one knows why this happened? I call BS. I do not buy the "something so bad will happen that we must keep it a secret forever" nonsense.  

What does happen? Well, the heavenly fire fills them both (I think it's the heavenly fire) and they become giant, mindless-Godzilla-Shadowhunters, literally squashing and destroying all in their paths. How are they defeated? By the Blackthorn children, reminding them of "the love deep in their hearts," like a care-bear-stare. 

That is the curse that everyone keeps secret?  Really? And NO ONE wrote anything like that down? Again, I call BS. Shouldn't there be Shadowhunter cave man drawings or something?

 
Then I said: I want Emma and Julian to have a happy ending. Yes, I am a sappy romantic at heart, okay? I'm sorry if y'all thought I was a bad-a**.  I'm not. Maybe they'll have to quit Shadowhunting and Emma will sell used cars and Julian will teach art lessons to underprivileged children, but I want them to be happy together.
  

Now I say: They did get their happy ending, and are so IN LURV that they will undoubtedly hump like bunnies for years to come. Aw, yeah. 😎     

Then I said: I don't want Ash to be the Seelie queen's son with Valentine. Please no. Valentine is dead. Let's move on the next politician bad guy.
  

Now I say: I am a complete moron for not realizing that Ash's father was Jonathan Morgenstern. DUH. But in my defense, Jonathan-Sebastian-Morgenstern would have been 17 at the time, and I am kind of grossed-out by a beautiful immortal(ish) being, the Seelie Queen, wanting to have a child with a 17-year-old human. Ew.  

I realize I just directly contradicted myself with that last statement, considering I just said "Aw, yeah" to Julian and Emma's sexy times. I have no excuses for my hypocrisy.  

Then I said: I want more of Diana and Gwyn. After, of course, some serious awesome heroic fighting from Diana. 

Now I say: 😍 I'm so glad that the trans feminine character kicks some serious booty and gets a super-happy ending with Gwyn.

   

 
Then I said: Kieran and Cristina? Cristina and Mark? Mark and Kieran?  . . . I am all about a hot faerie threesome idea. Is the YA world ready for polyamory? . . . I have a feeling Kieran will die.

Now I say: I am still surprised by how this storyline resolved itself. Props once again to CC for showing that relationships don't always have to be between two people to be fulfilling. But for a while, I was really confused because we would get scenes between two of them without the other, and I think we had all three possible combinations before the "off-page" threesome occurs, and although Kieran does not die (and must become the Unseelie king), they create a solution for all three of them to be together. I find this SUPER HOT (to read about. In reality, I'm much too asexual for this type of relationship). 

 
Then I said: I want to know why the Mortal Sword . . . broke?  How is that possible?

Now I say: If this was explained, I don't remember it, which makes me think it was kind of glossed-over. The characters do bring back the Mortal Sword from the alternate dimension, which I found a bit too convenient, but acceptable.

   
Then I said: How/why do the Wild Hunt fairies recognize Kit?
     

Now I say: I have only read three of the short stories that are part of the Ghosts of the Shadow Market series. I am holding out for the rest of them when the print version comes out later this year. Anyway, apparently Kit is the descendant of the First Heir, which means he has some powerful faerie blood.

Then I said: I'd be okay with more Jem and Tessa. 

Now I say: They are going to have a baby together! Also, they have a story in Ghosts of the Shadow Market that I have yet to read.
           

Then I said: Some more back story for Johnny Rook?  More Dru and Jaime? 

Now I say: Chill out, Jennifer. More books are forthcoming.
       

Then I said: So who gets to re-kill Annabel? That has to happen, right?
    

Now I say: You'd think . . . but it didn't. She is working to protect Ash, but I don't trust her. I still wish my vengeance upon her.

  
Then I said: I just realized that a lot of the story was from Emma's point of view, but I don't have a lot of . . . interest in her, I guess?  I don't want her to die, and I know she'll totally fight and win. I will, however, stab her with Cortana if she breaks Julian's heart.
     

Now I say: Emma is a good choice for a narrator because even though she does have a large part of the plot, she is also an observer for the others. I do not have to do any Cortana-stabbing.

Okay, y'all, here it is:  I'm sorry for all of the fanfiction writers that I've doubted and scoffed at through the years. Ragnor is alive. You were right. I was wrong. 😉

Although, Ragnor, DUDE. Why didn't you STOP TY???

My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): Do I even need a final takeaway? Maybe I do.

For the CC haters out there, this last trilogy is AMAZING. Clare's writing has come such a long way since the original Mortal Instruments trilogy. I encourage you to give her books another chance if you gave up on them years ago.


Memorable quotes/passages from the book (from Goodreads):

• “Grief can be so bad you can’t breathe, but that’s what it means to be human. We lose, we suffer, but we have to keep breathing.”
     
• “I just want to make it clear that I did not engineer the interruption of the Harpyia demon," Mark said, "and was indeed quite eager to continue with our sexual congress.”
       
• “Horace reminded him of politicians shouting on TV, red-faced men who always seemed angry and always wanted you to know there was something you needed to be afraid of.” 
     
• “It might have a slight hallucinatory effect, though."
  "That explains why I can see seven of you," Magnus said to Alec. "My ultimate fantasy."
  Dru covered Tavvy's ears, though Tavvy was playing with a Slinky Alec had given him and appeared deaf to the world.
  Magnus pointed. "That one of you over there is extremely attractive, Alexander. "
  "That's a vase," said Helen.
  Magnus squinted at it. "I'd be willing to buy it from you.”
     
• “And when one day people look back on me and what my life meant, I don’t want them to say, ‘Alec Lightwood fought in the Dark War’ or even ‘Alec Lightwood was Consul once.’ I want them to think, ‘Alec Lightwood loved one man so much he changed the world for him.’ ”

Other reviews: Better Reading and TMI Source


This book is available from the Greensboro Public Library.