Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy

This is a re-read, because I originally read these as shorts when they were first released in 2015. But it's also my first time reading these stories together in one book.

This book/series was one of my favorites when it was released. I love the character of Simon, and the Shadowhunter Academy setting was really fun. I also enjoyed all of the “flashback” stories. The stories feel more tied together than the Bane Chronicles(I liked those too, but they felt more standalone). It was also nice reading about young Julian and Emma now that I've read their series as well. The cast of additional characters felt more cohesive to me on this reading.

I read this as part of my “chronological-ish” reread of Shadowhunter books. I had just finished reading The Mortal Instruments. One very important thing happens in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy that didn't happen much in all of The Mortal Instruments books. Time passes. That's right. School years go by and the characters age! It's just really satisfying, after reading a six book series over the span of years which all took place within the span of three months. Simon turned 19? How did that happen? Time passed, characters developed, and it was amazing.