TALES FROM THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY
by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson & Robin Wasserman
Pages: 651 paperback
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: May 4th 2017
ISBN: 1406373583
Received From: Walker Books
Received From: Walker Books
Ten illustrated stories following the adventures of Simon Lewis, star of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments, as he trains to become a Shadowhunter. Simon has been a human and a vampire, but after the events of City of Heavenly Fire left him stripped of his memories, he isn't sure who he is any more. When the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. Whomever this Simon might be... Join him 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. The series features characters from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices, Dark Artifices and the upcoming Last Hours series.
Holy Moly this collection of short stories makes me so happy I'm struggling to put it into words. Simon Lewis is my favourite character from The Mortal Instruments series and after the way in which City of Heavenly Fire finished I didn't know what to do with myself. Even though this is a book consisting of 10 short stories, when read together it feels like one and I was enthralled from the very first page... reading about simon packing for Shadowhunter Academy was just hysterical!
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy is set over the course of two years. In these years Simon enrols at the Shadowhunter Academy, his name known by pretty much everyone (not that he remembers what he did), as he is taken on the path to Ascension. Each story reveals a little bit more about some of our other favourite characters as well as keeping us up to date with all things Simon. From learning about Jace's family past to really seeing how the circle began to discovering what happened to Helen and Mark Blackthorn after the Dark War. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy is a fangirls dream and not one story disappointed!
With a new book comes new characters and the students of the Academy was just as entertaining as our pervious protagonists. I instantly fell in love with George, Simon's very Scottish and very muscular roommate who is, in short, the Scottish version of Simon. Their little sarcastic conversations made me smile throughout every story and the way in which they made each other better shadowhunters warmed my heart.
Each story had a cameo from characters we've gotten to know over the course of previous books and my favourite had to be Born To Endless Night where we see Mangus and Alec appear at the Academy. These stories fill in some of the blanks and was probably one of my favourite Shadowhunter books to date. It was funny, it was full of adventure, it had love and friendship. In short it was pretty much everything I could have possibly asked for.
Overall Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy has a very special place in my heart. It seems my favourite character's story resolved and made me smile the whole way through. The ending, much like City of Heavenly Fire did break my heart. In fact it torn it into a thousand little pieces and then stomped all over it again and again but the fact that it coursed so many tears (no exaggeration) meant that the writers did their job perfectly. They made me care for these characters as if they were my friends and that in my opinion is what a great book is all about.
**I received this book as an ARC from Walker Books to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**
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