Book: Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
Author: Cassandra Clare Page Number: 655 Pages Genre: Fantasy Novellas Rating: 4 / 5 stars “Simon knew if he looked up he could meet Isabelle’s ees, or Clary’s and draw strength from them. He could silently ask them if this was the right path, and they would reassure him. But this choice couldn't belong to them. It had to be his, and his alone.” Only Simon, Izzy and the Blackthorns could force me to read yet ANOTHER shadowhunter book by Cassandra Clare. Surprisingly, I do not regret it. While this book of novellas was a bit too long for my taste, I was glad to be able to read about Simon and Izzy (aka the second best shadowhunter couple of all time.) Although if I’m being honest, this book kind of ruined Sizzy (Simon and Izzy) for me in the middle of the book. I don’t why or how but it just wasn’t the same. However at the end of the book, it was all good. Simon, being my second favorite character in the Mortal Instrument series got annoying after a while and it pains me to say this since I really did like him in the original series. Synopsis: This book takes place right after the City of Heavenly Fire. Simon Lewis, previously a vampire is now a human who has been stripped of his memories. The past few months have been tough for Simon because everybody expects him to be his old self but without his memories, Simon is having a hard time connecting with his friends. In order to gain some sense or normality, he decides to become a shadowhunter at the Shadowhunter Academy. Here Simon will embark on a journey to join the depleted Shadowhunter forces. This book consists of ten novellas inside. Without further ado, here are the ratings of the ten different novellas: Welcome to the Shadowhunter Academy: 4.5/5 Summary: Simon says goodbye to Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Alec, etc and leaves for the Shadowhunter academy. I thought this was a solid start off to the book and it was interesting. Simon, with his natural charm, made me laugh. The tension between Izzy and Simon in this chapter really pulled on my heartstrings and I was all here for it! In this chapter we meet Julie (don’t like her), Beatrice (don’t like her), and Jon (don’t like him). We also meet George Lovelace and he is so sweet! The Lost Herondale: 4 / 5 The novella part of this chapter was really boring but the Sizzy part of this chapter is honestly one my favorite parts in this whole book. Summary: Catarina Loss tells the story of Tobias Herondale to Simon. Meanwhile, Izzy makes a surprise visit to the academy. Ok since I already read “Lady Midnight”, I already knew this story so not much surprise there. What really captivated me in this chapter was Sizzy. Spoilers: When Izzy showed up at the academy and told everyone to back off, I was mentally screaming with delight hehe. The Whitechapel Fiend: 3.5/5 Summary: Tessa Gray visits the academy and tells the shadowhunter version of the story about Jack the Ripper in the 1800s At the beginning of the novella I was bored because I’ve never actually read the Infernal Devices, therefore I didn’t care about the people in this novella. As it continued, it became more and more interesting and I found myself actually enjoying it! I’ve only read this short novella but I feel like I already know a lot about these characters! Nothing but Shadows: 4.5/5 Summary: Catarina Loss tells the story of James Herondale coming to the Shadowhunter academy and finding his parabatai: Matthew Fairchild. Same with the Whitechapel Fiend, initially I couldn’t care less about James. Boy I was wrong! How is it that in a short 20 some pages, I already love characters and I find myself wanting to read more about them? I told myself I was not going to read “Chain of Gold” by Cassandra which follows the story of James, but now I’m not so sure. The Evil We Love: 3 / 5 Summary: This novella is from Robert Lightwood’s perspective about his time with Valentine and the Circle. Meanwhile at the academy, Isabelle riles up Simon’s classmates to go break Academy rules To be completely honest, I was dreading reading about this novella. I always found the flashbacks of the Circle to be super boring. At the start of this novella, it completely proved me right and I was practically falling asleep. It did progressively get better and I actually enjoyed seeing Robert Lightwood’s backstory. Pale Kings and Princes: 4/ 5 Summary: Helen Blackthorn is pulled away from her banishment and is brought to the Academy to tell her the story about how her father was trapped and brainwashed by faeries. I was so happy when I found out this story was about Helen! It was a fairly good read. The only thing that ruined it was Sizzy. I love Sizzy and this chapter pained me because here is where Sizzy went downhill. Somewhat Spoiler: It was really out of character for Izzy to just show up at the academy and give Simon fifty million more chances. The worst part was that her sarcasm and attitude had vanished. Izzy would never let her guard down this easily. The way she was all smiling and talking to Simon was very out of character. I felt like I missed a whole chapter…. Because in the last chapter she was still mad at him and now she brings out this smiling attitude. Did I miss something or…….? Bitter of Tongue: 5/5 Summary: Simon meets Mark when he gets trapped in the Faerie world. I gave this 5 /5 solely for Mark Blackthorn. Oh my gosh this novella literally made me want to jump through the book and hug poor Mark. I could imagine his sad face when he heard the news that no one was coming for his rescue. What I didn’t like about this book was the way Izzy saved Simon. Ok so this was very weird because they were in Faerie, surrounded by dangerous members of the hunt and instead of quickly escaping when they had the chance, they started flirting with each other?! To save them, Mark had to take the brunt. Poor Mark probably got beat up by the Hunt after Izzy and Simon left. I’m giving this novella 5 stars just for Mark. The Fiery Trial: ⅖ After an amazing novella like “Bitter of Tongue” I have to read through this? The only reason this novella gets two stars is because of Julian and Emma (even if they barely had lines, them just being there makes everything better). Summary: In this novella we see Emma and Julian’s parabatai ritual (Yay!!!). We also see Simon and Clary decide to become parabatai. Ok what even was this novella? Wow Simon and Clary are meant to be parabatai! Everybody saw that coming and it was very obvious from the start. Yet they still made some huge deal over this and made them take some dumb test to see if they were parabatai when it was clearly obvious they were. I don’t even know why this novella riled me up this much but I could find myself rolling my eyes at various parts in this chapter. Especially the part where Simon inexplicably could feel any pain that Clary did. That’s such a cliche. Also why are Julie and Beatrice becoming parabatai? At this rate why doesn’t Cassandra Clare just give everyone a parabatai? It sure feels that way. I remember reading that becoming parabatai was a rare and special thing. However, by the overuse of parabatai and Cassandra Clare making the whole shadowhunter universe have one, the meaning of parabatai has been washed down. At this point, two shadowhunters who barely know each other are becoming shadowhunters (cough cough Julie and Beatrice). Come on! They’ve known each other for what? A year? And they don’t share some special bond or whatever so why are they becoming parabatai? Born to Endless Knight: 5/5 Summary: A warlock baby appears on the doorstep of the academy. Alex and Magnus take him in and name him Max Lightwood. I love this story! It was so precious seeing the whole family excited over the new baby, particularly Robert and Mayrse’s reactions! It was so cute! Beyond that, this was the novella where I felt Sizzy had finally returned to normal. Whatever I said before about Sizzy going downhill, I disregarded those emotions after I read this line: “‘I wasn’t aware,’ said Simon, ‘that there are any other girls in the world but you’” (Clare). Someone pinch me to see if I’m still breathing…… Angels Twice Descending: 4.5/5 Summary: Simon and the rest of his class assends Am I the only one who really ships Marisol and Jon? Ok this last chapter was a rollercoaster and I’m sad to part with the characters in this book! I actually ended up really liking Julie, Beatrice and even Jon. Spoilers: WHAT WAS THE REASON CASSANDRA CLARE?!!?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!! “‘But there’s something else I’ve never had,’ Simon added. ‘At least until now.’ ‘What’s that?’ ‘A brother.’” Be right back….sobbing right now. George’s death was so heartbreaking that I’m just going to pretend it never happened. What I didn’t like:
What I did like:
Overall, this book is pretty good! If you love the shadowhunter world, this book is a must read!
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