The Laughing Listener
April 2019
*I miraculously won an advanced copy of this book in an online contest and promise to share my honest thoughts and opinions.*
Format: Paperback ARC
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars

**SPOILERS FOR THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS AND DARK ARTIFICES AHEAD. SERIOUSLY. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU. I’M JUST SAYING.**

Well kids, it’s finally happened. After a decade of wanting Alec and Magnus in the spotlight, our prayers have FINALLY BEEN ANSWERED.

HALLELUJAH

Malec has been my OTP from the moment I read City of Bones a decade ago (sorry Jace and Clary, I love you but…) and now they’re FINALLY getting their moment. This was the first LGBTQ+ relationship I ever read about as a teen and I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see it highlighted so spectacularly in this novel.

MY HEART!

I’m not gonna lie, it took me a hot minute to get into this book. First of all, I’m weird about prequels. This is completely a me thing and I have no idea why I’m like this, but I have a hard time getting into a story that I already know the ending to. Which is a weird comment coming from someone who spoils books for herself on a regular basis, but it’s true. It’s like I already know the end result, so there’s no urgency to read and I definitely suffered from that a little in the beginning. Plus, it was SUPER weird to shift my mindset back in the shadowhunter timeline to the middle of The Mortal Instruments. Both Magnus and Alec were so unsure and hesitant with each other and it was just so odd! I’m so used to the current Malec being confident and strong in their relationship. I mean, they have two kids and just got married for god sakes. For the first several chapters, I had to remind myself of the events in [b:City of Glass|3777732|City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369452339s/3777732.jpg|3443248] and remember they had literally JUST gotten together when this took place. Thank god I did a reread of the series not long ago.

HOWEVER. Once it gets going it was was easy to work out the kinks and get into the story. It was kind of like reading a little treasure hunt, picking out the things or people that eventually play a bigger part in this universe down the road. I absolutely LOVED all of the cameos and I think Raphael was my favorite. He is literally me at any and all social gatherings. Seriously, that boy is a #MOOD. And we get to see how Aline and Helen meet!!! Aline became one of my favorite lady shadowhunters during [b:Queen of Air and Darkness|13541056|Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1510447136s/13541056.jpg|19104298] and it was great seeing their relationship up close and personal.

And Malec guys. Oh my god. MALEC. I can’t tell you how completely and utterly delightful it was to read about them. Soooooooooo many adorable moments.

Squealing

The arcs their characters AND relationship go through is awesome and I loved watching the transformation as they learned to trust one another. It’s also really interesting because this book adds a layer of complexity to their relationship that wasn’t there in the last three books of The Mortal Instruments. It all happened so quick during those novels and as devastated as I was over their break up in [b:City of Lost Souls|8755776|City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460477703s/8755776.jpg|13629058], they had only been dating a few months. It didn’t seem like THAT big a deal in the grand scheme of things. But after reading this, it’s obvious that they were a lot closer and more in love than I realized. And now I’m even more shocked and appalled at Alec’s actions going to Camille behind Magnus’s back!! Alec seemed so confident and sure of their relationship by the end of this book that it’s difficult to match it with who he becomes later on. I’m super curious to see how the next two books play out in this series.

Any book that makes me want to reread [b:City of Fallen Angels|6752378|City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369452302s/6752378.jpg|6948844] is a miracle because it’s my least favorite and kind of a trainwreck. I’m just saying.

FINAL WORD

This book is FREAKING ADORABLE AND YOU’LL LOVE IT!! Malec is the best and I didn’t think it was possible to love them any more, but HERE WE ARE. WOW.

#1 ↦ The Red Scrolls of Magic ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#2 ↦ [b:The Lost Book of the White|34605974|The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses, #2)|Cassandra Clare|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|50775338] ↦ ?????
#3 ↦ [b:The Black Volume of the Dead|30295305|The Black Volume of the Dead (The Eldest Curses, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|50775348] ↦ ?????

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