Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
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.
Join Simon on his journey to become a Shadowhunter, and learn about the Academy’s illustrious history along the way, through guest lecturers such as Jace Herondale, Tessa Gray, and Magnus Bane. These ten short stories give an epilogue to the Mortal Instruments series and provide glimpses of what’s in store in the Dark Artifices.
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.
Join Simon on his journey to become a Shadowhunter, and learn about the Academy’s illustrious history along the way, through guest lecturers such as Jace Herondale, Tessa Gray, and Magnus Bane. These ten short stories give an epilogue to the Mortal Instruments series and provide glimpses of what’s in store in the Dark Artifices.
I'm not going to lie, I was waiting to read these novellas until they where in a bindup because I'm impatient! I was so intrigued by this novella collection, after how the final TMI book ended, I think we where all left with questions and needing to know what happened next! I did wonder if Cassie might do a Shadowhunter Academy book series, but she gave us a novella collection instead! As it stands, I ended up reading Lady Midnight before I read this, which was fine, but I think it would have been a bit more exciting if you'd read this before Lady Midnight, as it'll get you excited for it with all the tidbits and hints! As it is, it did give me a huge urge to re-read LM plus it made me excited for Lord of Shadows, not to mention The Last Hours trilogy. After reading a couple of the novellas in this collection, I AM SO HERE for The Last Hours! I can't even begin to explain my excitement for this trilogy now!
I loved the layout of this book, the quotes from the upcoming novella, the comic style pages at the beginning of each story...it added a nice sense of intrigue. As I started to read, everything came flooding back from the last TMI book and from Lady Midnight. I will admit, I do find it hard sometimes to keep all the family trees straight in my head, especially with the gap between books and how long it's been since I re-read some of them, so once or twice I got confused and had to google something to remember who someone was.
Jace still cracks me up, he and Simon in this collection make me chuckle. I felt for Simon, and his predicament and I really had missed Simon's nerd humour. I loved George Lovelace! He was my new favourite character as I was reading! I will admit, I was worried for a moment and thought he was going to be a douche, but then he was just awesome! Following Simon to the dregs track and everything! Brotp right here! I really liked some of the other characters, Beatriz, Juliet, Marisol, Jon I just wanted to punch most of the time though! I genuinely lost count of how many times I wanted to sock him one.
One of my favourite moments was Isabelle guest lecturing purely to threaten the girls away from Simon and George being like "We're just bros!". I cracked up so much! I really needed the doses of humour scattered throughout the stories! My favourites where usually the ones written with Maureen and Sarah though! Like for instance....The Whitechapel Fiend...WESSA! So much Wessa! And we got to see some of the other TID characters and oh my God....Jessamine! My feels...I can't even. I miss TID. I need to re-read so badly! We got to meet James....little bookish James. I'm so going to love him! Also....WHO'S GRACE JAMES? *wiggles eyebrows* We also got to meet the other TID children....Henry and Charlotte's, Gabriel and Cecily's, Sophie and Gideon's....I loved Matthew and James. I'm so genuinely excited to see more of them in TLH! GIVE IT TO ME NOW.
So much happens in these novellas, there's Sizzy angst. There's Malec. My lord the Malec feels! The blasts to the past are authentic and vivid. I remembered how much I loved Jace and between him and Simon had many a chuckle while reading! Jace and Tessa...we don't get to actually SEE the scene which disappointed me greatly, but we did get to know it happened! There's more background to characters and events, like Mark and Helen and what happened with their father and the faerie. I can't even. All this time I thought the story was true, but then at the end....well...you'll see!
I really hated Robert Lightwood but this book made me see him in a different light and made me feel a tiny bit sorry for him. I'd warmed up to him, basically! There where new ships to ship! Like Marisol and Jon...her interactions with him cracked me up so much! Definitely one of my favourite parts! But that ending. WHY CASSIE WHY. I can't even. I'd laughed my way through this book, through the feels. I was excited for a satisfying ending. But it all ended in tears. Of course it did. I should have known better!
All in all Shadowhunter Academy is a brilliant collection of novellas that brings TMI to a close and sets up nicely for The Dark Artifices and The Last Hours! I loved getting to see more of the history of the world of the Shadowhunters and getting to see the TMI gang one last time...well..properly anyway!
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