Review: The Midnight Heir

Another installment of The Bane Chronicles, another Herondale boy, another review.

Today is the release date of The Midnight Heir, book #4 of The Bane Chronicles. The Midnight Heir was written by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan and I’m not sure whether I want to hug or strangle these two ladies.

But let’s have a look at the synopsis first:

In Edwardian London, Magnus Bane discovers old friends and new enemies—including the son of his former comrade Will Herondale. One of ten adventures in The Bane Chronicles.

Magnus thought he would never return to London, but he is lured by a handsome offer from Tatiana Blackthorn, whose plans—involving her beautiful young ward—are far more sinister than Magnus even suspects. In London at the turn of the century, Magnus finds old friends, and meets a very surprising young man . . . the sixteen-year-old James Herondale.

I’m sure you all know this feeling when you have been looking forward to a book for so long and now that it’s over, you need to know more! If you have read Clockwork Princess and have seen the family tree, you will be confused – just like Cassie had predicted – and you will want to read her mysterious TLH series right this instant!

Once again Cassie and Sarah take us on another amazing journey. We are back in London but things have certainly changed. Magnus is back for a visit and he meets James Herondale. Magnus compares him to his father Will and since we know how handsome Will is (I know I know, I am biased), I don’t consider the following quotation a real spoiler:

This boy’s face was a face to recall the past. This was a face from the past, one of the most beautiful faces Magnus could ever recall seeing.

Another handsome male Herondale? Check! (Get in line James, there already are your father, your grandfather and your descendants Stephen and Jace!).

It’ll be hard to not spoiler you so let’s just say that we meet quite a lot of characters from The Infernal Devices which was incredibly lovely to read! I’ve missed them and I’m glad we will get to read more about them in TLH.

Now to the slightly spoilery part of my review:

Thanks to Cassie’s posts on her tumblr, we know that James Herondale is miserable  and wants to die. I think we all know the number 1 reason for a Herondale to feel tortured. James is an incredibly interesting character, he is a lost young man whose life has been turned upside down and no one really knows why! His parents are concerned and also Magnus – who has only just met James – wants to help him. James truly is Will’s son, in looks and in certain character traits, and I cannot wait to find out more about him! Waiting for TLH will be agony!

You cannot have a Bane Chronicle without our favourite green warlock Ragnor Fell and a reference to a previous The Bane Chronicles installment (*coughs* Peru *coughs*).

There’s a ‘villain’ in this ebook and it makes you wonder why this person is in need of Magnus’s services. This part is so completely mysterious and sneaky, because it leads to a lot of questions!

Another topic that is like a golden thread in The Bane Chronicles is Magnus’s immortality, it is described as a “burden” and it always makes me feel for Magnus. Yesterday, Cassie shared a quote on immortality on her tumblr, the main message was “Immortality is stupid. Think before you wish” and I think that Magnus would probably wholeheartedly agree.

The problem of the Shadowhunters’ arrogance and superiority was already addressed in Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale, but it’s revived in this ebook. Magnus is considered inferior by many which makes the following quote so touching and sweet:

Being remembered, and remembered so kindly, touched him more than he would have thought possible.

When Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan (and of course also Maureen Johnson) team up to write an ebook together, you can expect a lot of funny lines – it’s not only despair and tears!

One of my favourites were:

“Do stop flirting with my husband” –  “I shall not”

“Ducks, embrace me as your king!” – You cannot not have ducks when there’s a new male Herondale! 😉

“I have a shocking memory for Lightwoods.”

And now to the completely spoilery part of my review – highlight the text to read it:

Seeing Will and Tessa as a loving couple and as caring parents as well as having James call Brother Zachariah “Uncle Jem” made me cry like a little baby – I’m not ashamed to admit that! The love these characters have for each other is so stunningly beautiful that I could tear up again. I loved seeing Will, Tessa and Jem together and their relationship blew me away! It was only descibed in a few sentences, but it was incredibly powerful. My favourite sentence of their whole interaction: “Now Jem was there, all was right with the world.”

My heart skipped a beat and it made me once again realise that I am not over Clockwork Princess yet!

I could write more about The Midnight Heir – I’m very tempted to write down every single sentence that I loved or that I found interesting – but I’d rather you buy this ebook, read it and then come back here to tell me what you thought of it!

The Midnight Heir is a dark and mysterious book so let me – to bring some light in the dark – give this Bane Chronicle 5 out of 5 glass chandeliers.

Thank you for the feels, Cassie and Sarah!  I’ll now sit here and wait for TLH.