Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy, by Cassandra Clare et al

Hello, Dragonflies! 

I just finished reading all of the Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy novellas! This review will be spoiler-free and quite short, so easy to read :) 

Simon Lewis has been a human and a vampire, and now he is becoming a Shadowhunter. But the events of City of Heavenly Fireleft him stripped of his memories, and Simon isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows he was friends with Clary, and that he convinced the total goddess Isabelle Lightwood to go out with him…but he doesn’t know how. And when Clary and Isabelle look at him, expecting him to be a man he doesn’t remember…Simon can’t take it.

So when the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. His new self. Whomever this new Simon might be.

But the Academy is a Shadowhunter institution, which means it has some problems. Like the fact that non-Shadowhunter students have to live in the basement. And that differences—like being a former vampire—are greatly looked down upon. At least Simon is trained in weaponry—even if it’s only from hours of playing D&D.



I haven't read a Shadowhunter book in a little while now, but it was so refreshing to go back into this world! 

In this series of novellas, we follow Simon as he goes through his training to become a Shadowhunter, while learning life lessons from various people from various eras. This helps him grow immensely, and proved to be a true emotional rollercoaster! 

These novellas were written by Cassandra Clare with the help of 3 other authors - Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman. I really liked the fact that you could hear the style of the other authors just as much as you could hear Cassie's voice. Now I didn't like each novella equally - some were a drag to read while others caught me in such a way that putting the book down for any reason felt like a betrayal - but all together, they formed an awesome whole that is a true to-read for any fan! 

However, I think it's best to read this after TMI and TID, but before TDA. TDA definitely spoils these Novellas! 

The Shadowhunters series has some characters that mean the world to me - the TID trio, Jace and Alec (and of course Simon!) are all ones that I particularly liked reading about, and having them back in all of their glory was incredible! A story centred on Alec and Magnus made my heart absolutely melt, I was so happy for them! 

When I read a book - old or new - by Cassie Clare, there's a feeling of homecoming. It's super comfortable to know the characters inside-out, to know their stories and to be able to feel the emotions they do. I don't have many authors that have this effect on me, one other is Rick Riordan, but most other authors don't have the same effect. I thought authors like Sarah J Maas might be like that, but for now the closest competitor is, for sure, V.E. Schwab! 

I'm going to leave this review here, I hope all is well and that 2019 started off the way you wanted it to! 

I gave this book a 4/5 feathers! 

Stay Bookish,