Book Review: Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy

Synopsis:

Simon Lewis has been a human and a vampire, and now he is becoming a Shadowhunter. The events of City of Heavenly Fire left him stripped of his memories, and Simon isn’t sure who he is anymore. So when the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. 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. At least Simon’s 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. Written by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman, these moving and hilarious short stories are perfect for the fan who just can’t get enough of the Shadowhunters.

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Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Synopsis

Although I knew the stories in this book took place before Lady Midnight I wasn’t a dedicated enough fan to buy each digital short story so I was very happy when this book came out. Of course, once it did come out I took forever to finally get around to reading it but I’m incredibly glad I picked it up before reading Lord of Shadows because there’s a few references in there from Tales that are way more interesting to read if you’ve read Tales.

Now to my actual review. I loved this book. It was so great to be back in the Shadowhunter world and to see another aspect of it. I was really interested in the Shadowhunter Academy and seeing how Shadowhunters’ prejudices against Downworlders and Mundanes were so strong. It’s so upsetting, honestly.

The Mundanes that attend the academy were called “Dregs,” which was so incredibly rude. What I loved about these stories was seeing things from Simon’s perspective. Simon went from being a mundane to a rat (briefly) to a vampire to a mundane again before learning his memories were taken by a demon and going to the academy.

Essentially, Simon has a very interesting world view. Naturally, he doesn’t like how the Mundanes are treated at the academy and he sticks up for them and stands up against the Shadowhunters, which was just a constant reminder of why I always loved Simon. Also, he’s just as nerdy as he always has been. I loved his references to Mundane culture and how the Shadowhunters didn’t get them at all. I thought that was incredibly funny. Additionally, I also loved the other characters especially George, Jon, Caterina, and Marisol.

I also liked how these stories gave perspective into some of my other favorite characters. “Born to Endless Night” was in the point of view of Magnus when he goes to the school with Alec and that story was so incredibly cute and perfect for my Malec shipper heart.

In “The Evil We Love,” we get to learn more about Robert Lightwood’s history with Valentine, which was really interesting and didn’t make me sympathetic towards him but definitely made me understand him more.

My favorite story was definitely “Nothing but Shadows,” though. The Infernal Devices are my favorites out of all the Shadowhunter books so getting to see Tessa, Jem, and Will again was great but I also loved getting to know Will and Tessa’s son James. He attends the Academy and goes through a rough time at first, similar to what Simon was going through when he first went to the Academy. I also loved getting to know the kids of my other favorite ships in TID. They were all interesting and funny in their own ways.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were definitely some stories that I felt were a bit slower than others but the ones that were good were really good and made up for any slack in the other stories. I definitely recommend reading this book if you love the Shadowhunter series. It’s kind of essential, anyway.

Also, my giveaway is still going on, so if you haven’t entered yet you can enter here!

Borrow or Buy: Buy!

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“You are a flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough.”

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