Cecilie

4.5 stars!
HOLY JESUS CHRIST
THIS WAS AMAZING
I can't even comprehend how much I loved these stories, it was just absolutely amazing to read about Celaena's past and what she went through and holy crap, I understand so much!
The only thing that knocked it off the five star rating was because in the end I wanted to be like this

I was really like this

And this time I actually know that it wasn't just my lack of emotional display, but because it was written in a way that it didn't really reach me, which I found odd considering that everything else SJM writes is amazing.
But I love, love, looooooooved it so much!
AND SAM CORTLAND IS BAE AND THE MOST AMAZING HUMAN ON EARTH I WANTED SO MUCH MORE OF HIM IN ALL OF THE STORIES, I NEEDED MORE

Holy Shit.
That ending though. That broke me. I felt my eyes watering several times. No tears. But there were definitely an INSANE AMOUNT OF FEELS BECAUSE OH MY GOD DECLAN
I LOVE SYDRIAN SO MUCH
I LOVED SEEING ROSE AND DIMITRI AGAIN
I JUST LOVED IT ALL
cries I CAN'T! BELIEVE! IT'S OVEEEEEEEERRRRRRR! violently sobs

An absolutely wonderful and insightful read, and the audiobook is fantastic! I can highly recommend listening to it.
I really enjoyed the insight of a Black woman and her personal experiences, and I loved how she didn't shy away from talking about how white supremacy and its roots can take hold even in Black people.
I would have liked a longer chapter on cultural appropriation, but alas one book can only do so much, and Oluo really dives into a lot of different topics within racism, so I understand that some things were more “superficial” than others. So informative, and the narration is engaging and easy to follow, which I thought was great. Just very good, overall, you know?

Oh, I really really liked this. Having Brother Zachariah and Jem in the same book is always a blessing, this collection of stories simply confirms what City of Heavenly Fire and Clockwork Princess already knew. It's a fantastic journey, and is more similar to that of The Bane Chronicles, in that we move chronilogically through 150 years or so, and not so specifically set in one place and time frame as Shadowhunter Academy (which is arguably the best of the story collection books). Seeing Jem living through these historical things, either from the mundane world or in the shadowhunter world, he has so much wisdom, and he reads people so well, he's just an absolute wonder to follow.
There is so much information in the first eight stories that is essential before going into both The Last Hours as well as Queen of Air and Darkness, the 7th and 8th story are particularly VERY important when it comes to QOAAD, like you want to know this before reading QOAAD.
The 9th and 10th stories spoil the entire plot of QOAAD, so I would defer from reading them until after finishing it. It's very important to do this.

Individual ratings:

Cast Long Shadows - 5 stars
I love Matthew Fairchild. This story will rip your heart out. Good luck. RIP to you.

Every Exquisite Thing - 4 stars
Anna Lightwood is an absolute treasure and we must cherish her. I love parents Cecily and Gabriel, and aaaah this one just oozes family love and I diiiiiiiig.

Learn About Loss - 3.5 stars
It goes a bit slow and is interesting and fascinating, but not particularly exciting. Amelia, the Iron Sister, is really awesome, and I wish we saw more of her. I hope to see more of her, of Iron Sisters in general. Give me more of the Iron Sisters. Also, the Lost Herondale.

A Deeper Love - 3.5 stars
Just Jem and Tessa pining for each other because they can't be together. Also there's WWII and the Lost Herondale and all that crazy stuff. Someone almost dies, you know, just how things usually go with Shadowhunters.

The Wicked Ones - 5 stars
This one is just SO INTERESTING. We honestly know so little of The Circle, and getting this insight into Valentine and how he manipulated the people around him is so jarringly fascinating. The Mortal Instruments gives us little of the old members of The Circle, and I love getting to know more. We meet Stephen Herondale and Céline Montclaire, we see Robert Lightwood in his youth after the shit we found out about in Shadowhunter Academy. This one is just really good, you know. Also, the Lost Herondale. (are we noticing a pattern perhaps?)

Son of the Dawn - 3 stars
Alternatively, The One Where Jace Learns About Family, but I digress. It's a sweet little story on Jace. It was nice.

The Land I Lost - 5 stars
The Land I Lost is soooooo gooooooood I wanna scream about this story forever. LILY CHEN IS SO WONDERFUL AND I LOVER HER. Honestly, the Malec stories always manage to bless us to the heavens, like I can't. Alec is so oblivous and grown up, and I love him and his stupid ass. It really lays out the changes that have happened since Sebastian and it's a welcome thing to see the downworlder side of the entire ordeal, since we always follow shadowhunters. Just fucking great. Must be read before QOAAD.

Through Blood, Through Fire - 4.5 stars
Can I hear you say JEM! Can I hear you say TESSA! Can I hear you say JESSAAAAAA!!!!!!!! Much The Lost Herondale. Ties into Lady Midnight. Should definitely be read before QOAAD.

The Lost World - 4 stars
Spoils QOAAD. We get to see Tyyyyyyyyy! And a little of Kit, and some Jem and Tessa and it was real wonderful and also hella fucking sad. The Wicked Powers is too far away. I need, I NEEEEEEED.

Forever Fallen 4 stars
It is so nice to see Kit settled like this. Or at least, fairly settled. My heart just blossomed by reading those parts. Less excited about the more overpowering part of this story, Janus has me very very very very very very very worried. Actually, the entire concept of him as a character has me worried for The Wicked Powers, but I must trust Cassie. She has not disappointed me yet. And I am more excited than worried. SO PLEASE GIVE ME THE WICKED POWERS VERY SOON I AM DYING OF SUSPENSE HERE, DYING I TELL YOU.
Overall, I totally dug it. Need more, please. The family life is too good, I want three books of it.

Watch me freak out at nearly 5am because I just read this book in five hours and it was absolutely AMAZING??? Not that I'm surprised at its quality but I am surprised at the speed with which I read it.
Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh my fucking god!!!!!!
I mean, to everyone who read this book on the day it came out and the following two(????) weeks and kept it a secret that it was a middle book (which it very obviously is), is just fucking awesome of you! With the announcement of a third installment I don't have to worry, but damn, everyone else did so good on not spoiling that!
There were just so many moments, and feelings, and Simon, and Baz, and Penelope, and Baz, and Agatha, and Baz!!!!!!
MY ENTIRE REVIEW OF THIS BOOK COULD LITERALLY JUST BE EXCLAMATION POINTS AND THAT WOULD BE ENTIRELY FUCKING TRUE.
Our beloved characters are so out of their depth here and it brings forward the most wonderful qualities. Simon shines, his seven years of getting alive out of every life or death situation ever is so obvious in this, I mean his skill!! How can this dude even be thinking he's any kind of worthless when he can literally do THAT.
And OH THE FEELS. First of all, I love our friend group. Secondly, I was CONSTANTLY wondering who the fuck I could trust in this entire book because everyone in America is SO. SUSPICIOUS. ALL. THE. TIME.
The humor was on point at all times, so many absolutely hilarious moments! Baz getting a suitcase dropped on him?? I LITERALLY NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT- just, there was so many funny moments and lines. The way Baz so dryly delivers ‘I am every sort of under the weather.' gives me liiiiiiiiiiiife.
I'm very much having a hard time really expressing my feelings about this book but know that I really really really really really really REALLY loved it, okay, I REALLY LOVED IT, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY THIS ENOUGH, IT WAS JUST SO WONDERFULLY GOOD AND I ABSOLUTELY NEED THE NEXT ONE ASAP.

Second read, 2019

I think this is such a wonderful collection of short stories giving insight into the happenings after City of Heavenly Fire. And I honestly think everything that happens here is absolutely essential knowledge in moving on to the next books, it's crazy that it's marketed as ‘bonus material' when it literally gives you information you should know not only before reading The Dark Artifices, but also before reading The Last Hours! The academy stories gives insight into The Circle, who we mostly know as parents, and Valentine as a young adult. It tells us about Tessa and Will and James and Matthew and so many more things that you want to know.

Individual ratings

Welcome To Shadowhunter Academy - 3 stars
Feels like an introduction because it is. Too long to be entirely interesting but at the same time neccessary.
The Lost Herondale - 3.5 stars
An alternative title for this could be ‘The Clave is a bitch'. Things start picking up a little more, but we're still not entirely into it yet.
The Whitechapel Fiend - 4 stars
A flashback! Wonderful, we love going back to the TID characters and also gives way to some detective work we don't often get to see Shadowhunters do.
Nothing But Shadows - 5 stars
Fucking amazing. Babies James Herondale and Matthew Fairchild. You don't want to miss it. SO GOOD. (Features daddy Will Herondale).
The Evil We Love - 4.5 stars
Valentine is manipulative and cruel and I hate him. Gives great insight into Robert Lightwood.
Pale Kings and Princes - 4 stars
Sizzy!!!!!!! Faries shit!!!!!!! Sizzy!!!!!! In the running for the alternative title ‘The Clave is a bitch 2.0'.
Bitter of Tongue - 4.5 stars
Also in the running for ‘The Clave is a bitch 2.0'. Simon gets trapped. Mark Blackthorn. A wedding! Makes me cry with every mention of a Blackthorn.
The Fiery Trial - 3.5 stars
Parabatai stuff. Foreshadowing. It was good.
Born To Endless Night - 5 stars
MY HEART IS BURSTING I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH.
Angels Twice Descending - 4 stars
My girl Marisol stole the show until she didn't.



First read, 2016
This was so great! Started out a bit slow, but I loved seeing all my beloved characters after City of Heavenly Fire happened. And I adored the flashbacks, oh my goodness!!

I adored this so much. Such amazing and wonderful characters in this story who I just love.
Cordelia is such a wonderful main character! (James is also a main character, but I like Cordelia more, leave me alone). She's so smart and she never makes rash decisions, she always thinks about it so that when she makes a decision things don't go WRONG! What a refresher! I've gone through three series of main characters who do not think before doing, and god I love Cordelia so much!
Alastair, also, like, can we talk about Alastair????? The snippet we got before the release told me about as much as I needed to know - he will get a redemption arc - AND CAN WE JUST- I JUST- I NEED SOME CLOSURE HERE- WITH MATTHEW- AND ALL THAT- APOLOGY TOUR, PERHAPS? ALASTAIR, I LOVE YOU, BOO, PLEASE DO THE TOUR. IT IS NEEDED. Also, hello Thomas. THOMAS!
Anna is just wonderful in every single aspect and I really wish there was more of her! I loved how she was kind of the collected older sister everyone goes to when they need help and can't ask the adults, lmao. I think I know what her role will be in the next book (or next two) AND I CAN'T WAIT. 
Charles.... And Grace..... I fucking can't. I need them both to just leave. Mostly Grace, but Charles, fuck, you're such an asshole. And Grace is literally on an entirely different level. Charles is like level 2 assholery, and Grace is like level 57. I cannot with this girl, she aggravates me to no end and I need her to sit the fuck down and STOP. Regain her conscience. Apologize. And move on. 
LUCIE IS SO ADORABLE, I LOVE HOW EVERYTIME SOMEONE IS FOCUSING ON JAMES SHE'S LIKE “I'm here too, hi!”, AND I LOVE HOW SHE RUNS TO CORDELIA AND HUGS HER AND YELLS OUT HER NAME EVERY TIME SHE SEES HER, AND I LOVE HOW SHE TAKES NO FUCKS AND TELLS MATTHEW OFF, AND I JUST FUCKING LOVE HER SO MUCH, OKAY, PLEASE DON'T HURT THIS PRECIOUS BABY, CC, PLEASE! 
Now, the parents.
Seeing our previous mains as parents, I was dying! It was amazing! Will is the jokester dad (as expected ofc), and Tessa is the common sense, I love. Cecily is such a feminist, and she shuts down Gabriel and Will for trying to disagree, I love. Henry is Christopher's mentor and I LOVE. I just love, I love all the love, I LOVE. (unfortunately, there was not enough of Gideon and Sophie, nor Charlotte). 
Matthew is a character who I adored in the short stories, but was slightly annoyed with here. It is probably mostly because he's drunk all the time, but I really just need him to step the fuck up occasionally. 
Generally, I adored the absolute shit out of this book. My only gripe with it is actually the plot. In general, the book feels like a starter book in terms of character introductions and period setting, which means the plot gets pushed to a later time, just a bit. I really loved seeing all the bits of Cordelia navigating this posh world she has landed in, it was so entertaining. But the plot felt smaller than I've become accustomed to with CC's books lately, yet at the same time it felt like it wanted to be larger than it was.... does that even make sense? Idk. But it did feel a little bit lackluster at times, you know, it feels like a book whose purpose is to set up the next book (as books in a series obviously should, but I hope you know what I'm getting at.)
It was so aggravating at times BECAUSE FUCKING GRACE, and often I got so blindsided I was like wha- did you jus- but I thought- it's- but- wut. Other times, I was simply very confused about the decisions that were made, like HELLOOOOOOOO. 
Overall, this first book is very much character-driven, and thankfully I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEE the characters, which made it very easy to love the book. There were so many good character moments, like I get happy just thinking about it. Gah! I want more! Ahhhhh! Closer to the end I was worried I was gonna chuck the book across the room when it was over, but I actually was VERY happy with what happened at the end and the outcome it leads into for the next book, like I AM SO EXCITED OH MY GOD. THIS TROPE. 
I can't. Like I fucking can't. Yes. All the yesses.

So fucking adorable, and a really great ending to the trilogy. Still don't really like Margot. Maybe it's because I'm a middle child like Lara Jean, who knows. Margot just annoys me. Peter is just so 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻, you don't really notice the difference between book Peter and movie Peter until you're back in the book universe, but it's there, and book Peter is just so wonderful, and Lara Jean is so wonderful and their love story is the cutest thing in the entire world and I will totally miss them.
Also I ADORE the dynamic Trina brings to the family, she's so wonderful.

It's easy to forget how grand this book is. I know it's a big one, but it's also a bit old by now. I first read it five years ago, and much has happened in the Shadow World since. But this one just kind of knocks all other Shadowhunter books (so far) out of the park with its grandeur, the overall epicness of the story. Whether it's the best conclusion is up for discussion, but it is undoubtedly the most epic of the conclusions so far. I suspect that The Wicked Powers will be even grander, since QOAAD is already in its own VERY GRAND but has a few aspects to it where it falls short next to CoHF (mainly being that it feels more like a middle book rather than a conclusion - because it isn't.)
The first half of this book is the best half. It sets up the end incredibly well and gives a lot of needed character moments (all though many more important ones happen in the second half) and overall the first half of the book is just so incredibly good. And the only reason why I find it better than the second half of the book, is because in the second half, the setting has changed, which can sometimes distract the reader, who is now trying to familiarize themselves with new surrounding. But that is also it, the only reason why I personally find the first half better. Although, when I say better, we're talking very minor things anyway, like it's really not something that matters that much.
The book is fantastic overall, an incredible conclusion to this six book story. I know it is sort of its own trilogy, but I think this also counts as a conclusion for all of them, just like I believe the conclusion of The Wicked Powers will feel like the conclusion of The Dark Artifices too.
There is so much of Emma and the Blackthorns in this book, so much more than I remembered there would be, and so much more context for me to absorb, context I hadn't picked up on as much the first time I read it. It's of course easier to spot because I've already read TDA, but it still gave me so much joy as well as despair to see Emma and the Blackthorns as such small children, setting them up so well for TDA, as well as setting up the rest of the books to come.
The epilogue was just wonderful. We finally got that goddamn wedding we've been waiting for, and I'm so incredibly excited to go into Shadowhunter Academy so soon after this. I have so much love and fondness for this world and its characters, and I applaud Clare endlessly for continuing to write them simply because she wanted to, and ignoring the people who told her to stop.
I loved it, loved it, loved it. So, so, so good.
With hope.

4.5 stars!
Absolutely adored this! It was so cute and romantic, and I loved seeing the way they handle the baby and just awww! I love how Christina Lauren makes these novellas about the characters instead of a whole sequal. A sequal would have to have drama and a real storyline, but these novellas are just there for the readers to get a glimpse into what happens after the book ends and it. is. wonderful.

My favorite Colleen Hoover book, this one. Definitely. Like, I literally can't, I loved it so much. It was just so so so so so so so so so so so amazing. And I fucking love that these two characters have both been through shit but they just pick themselves up and they keep going and they get over it (as much as is possible) and they did it all on their own, like, they were fine with their past before they even met and I LOVED that, because they did it without leaning on anyone but themselves.
I just fucking loved this book so much.

I found this to be a surprisingly light read. I enjoyed all the characters involved and found them really sympathetic. The novel is very 21st century in a way that I'm not actually used to reading, but I enjoyed how much of it was really just the world as it is, with no excuses on how terrible people and the world can be but simply stating it as how it is. 
I did have a bit of a problem with the way this book was written, but it didn't mean that I was unable to enjoy the story. But it is written in a way that with every meeting comes a new story/tale, and sometimes these stories just felt too much like plot points rather than organic storytelling. I also found some issues with the dialogue, but overall it was good, enjoyable. 
I honestly think my biggest gripe with it has to do with Tipu's stubbornness. He's in a distinct situation where he can ask for help from people who care about him, instead of doing things the hard way, but he doesn't make use of it, and risks his life (and Rafi's) several times because of it. That was really annoying and unnecessary in my opinion. 

I know who my ship is now lmaooo. I'm way too much of a sucker for the fall-at-your-feet-in-service-and-love to go any other way.
I have a great time with Alex in these books! There are times when it gets a little ridiculous in terms of how things just happen to fall into place.
The magic also goes full swing in this one. If I thought the end of Ninth House was just bordering on the line into too much magic, this book definitively crossed it. I still had a great time, but that's why it doesn't reach the same height as the first.
I still can't get over the fact that these characters will simply quote a million different authors and scriptures without batting an eye as if it's normal for a whole group of people to simply have that kind of memory.
That aside, I love the dynamic between the characters. I love the way Dawes loves so easily, and the way Alex protects so fiercely. I love women <3

The amount of time I spent unaware that Lethe was not a ~Society~ but actually the equivalent of Campus Cops is embarrassing.
But oh did I really enjoy that! It took a while to pick up - about 160 pages, in fact. But when it did I was so there for it. And I can't for the life of me figure out if I ship Dawes&Alex or Alex&Darlington. I think I'm leaning towards Dawes, but whenever I think that my mind goes “but Darlington will serve her forever!” So yeah. Pretty ambivalent. Maybe the second book will make my feelings clearer. 
The end goes full on magic, to the point that I do wish the book was a bit more contained in that manor. This is why it's not rated closer to five.