A to Z Book Review: Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, etc.

My letter “T” pick for the A to Z Challenge was Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman.

I’ve been meaning to read this for years, especially since I generally adore the Shadowhunter universe. I have never read a bad Cassandra Clare book, and this one did not change my point of view. That being said, I wasn’t crazy about the way the stories hopped all about on the timeline and followed various characters, interspersed with the linear story arc of Simon Lewis, Shadowhunter-in-training.

I would have greatly preferred to have this as a collection of novellas since the parts of the book that I enjoyed the most were Simon’s chapters. I’d just be settling into a chapter when it would end and the next chapter sends me to London in the 1800’s or New York in the 1980’s, etc. I would have preferred to keep Simon’s chapters together so I can savor and sink into the narrative, then everyone else’s stories (Robert Lightwood, the Merry Thieves, etc.), also kept intact instead of being pieced out the way they were.

Having four different authors writing in the same universe can seem a little disjointed (due to variety in writing styles and voice), but hacking the stories up and weaving the chapters in and out of each other left me irritated despite the fact that the stories were good. I’ll give this three stars, just for poor execution.