Ghosts of the Shadow Market Review
At first, I wasn’t too excited to read Ghosts of the Shadow Market, which is why it took me so long to read it. I just couldn’t bring myself to read it. But I was surprised, although not all the stories marked my attention the majority of them did. No going to lie Cecil Montclaire I was not excited to read about, but I stan now.
Cast Long Shadow:
● I had liked Matthew from the first time we meet him in Nothing but Shadows and I had heard the rumour that he was Gideon’s bastard, which in my mind the only way that happened is if both Henry and Charlotte knew they wouldn’t be able to have more children and were willing to try other ways. I did not, however, envision that he would go that far to have answers.
● I loooooooooove Jem.
o I was so happy to see him being protective of his friends’ children.
● Matthew, unlike our other heroes, is extremely naïve when it comes to the hate downworlders have towards Nephilim or at least that is the impression I got. Especially for the time, he lives in, which is still only about a decade after the Accords are put in place. It kills me though to have seen his innocence killed the way it was, trusting the wrong faerie.
o Also, that old fairy can take her potion and drink it. I did not, however, realize how important she was. Which is what I love in the end about this book, how the plot in every story is linked.
Every Exquisite Thing:
● This was definitely the hardest one for me to read, maybe because the character of Anna that we were being given was so different from what we knew about her. She had none of the confidence and swagger we had heard or seen before.
● However, I loved Cecily and Gabriel in this one, maybe more than I ever had. Mostly because we get to see them as adults and how supportive they are of their children: Christopher likes to blow stuff up? let’s help him, as long as it’s not our house he blows up; our daughter is a lesbian who wants to look good in pants Gabriel and Cecily argue over what colour of pants would look better on her.
o Although I liked Ariadne, and can understand her point of view, I am happy that Anna refuses to hide who she is and simply marry a man that will try and understand her.
● I can’t help but wonder however what happened to these Lightwoods, rebellious and accepting to turn them into Robert Lightwood and his parents.
● Now about the bigger plot, it did intrigue me that we at this point know more than Jem about what he is looking for, but still know very little in actuality. We don’t know much about Kit’s mother or his ancestor.
● Overall, this one had very little to do with the First Heir storyline and we instead find Jem chasing Tessa’s mysterious father, which probably means said demonic father will be important to the Last Hour storyline. But this is just a guess.
Learn about Loss:
● I think the title has a bit to do with the fact we find out about the lost Herondale and the first Heir that were, at that time using, the last name Loss.
o Might also have to do with Jem coming to terms with Will’s imminent death.
● Looooooved Sister Emilia and I hope we see her again, maybe her meeting Jem with Tessa and little Mia and Kit. But I just want to see how badass she became.
● I hate that Will is close to death and Jem can’t be with him like he wants, although I knew he would eventually die, I am firmly staying in denial.
● That last scene of them together was beautiful though.
● Overall, this is when we are really introduced to The First Heir plot before Jem was chasing for Tessa’s father, but now he starts looking for the lost Herondales. This one and Deeper love is kind of an ending the the ID and LH Crew.
A Deeper Love
● Jem and Tessa!!!!!! Together!!!!!
o But also mourning Will which makes me sad.
● This story is maybe a couple of years after Will’s death, Tessa is trying to move on, but can’t stay in London and watch the rest of her family die, so she enlists.
● Tessa and Catarina getting to have a friendship and help people at the same time is awesome.
● Jem is reckless and gets hurt, but then we get to see him and Tessa, so it is worth it.
● Jem knowing, he can’t be with Tessa right now is heartbreaking, but true.
● Jem and Tessa find out the story about the Lost Herondales from Catarina.
● Overall, I am going, to be honest, this one I did not really like, maybe because it is just after Will’s death, I don’t really know why. But it is kind of a transition from Will and Tessa as a couple to Jem and Tessa.
The Wicked Ones:
● First Off, this is the first one where we read about Jem not understanding feelings or remembering them and it gutted me.
● Meeting Céline was beautiful. I had never had a good opinion of her before and finally getting inside her head was worth it. I apologize for never giving her a second thought before, she is such a strong and sad person who deserved the world, who deserved finding someone who would have loved her, and I saw some of Jace in her. Their absolute love and bad sense of morals, their weakness for a place to belong and their empathy towards downwolders.
o Good riddance with her parents.
● The way Valentine manipulated her and used her is sickening. Far more than with any of the others.
● Stephen Herondale how are you a descendant of Will and James??????!!??!?!?!?!?
● Meeting Rosemary was… enlightening. She loved fiercely, her distrust of shadowhunters is understandable.
o She is definitely not someone I would want to cross.
● Overall, I loved this one, more than the ones before. Meeting Céline and Rosemary, two women willing to do evil for their love is a beautiful parallel. Two strong women who were almost saved, but eventually chose love over anything. It is even more heartbreaking by Jem trying to remember the feeling because he had it once.
Son of the Dawn:
● This is really the story where we only see Brother Zachariah at the beginning, until the institute where we finally see Jem surface. We really get to see how being a silent brother is killing Jem.
● Raphael and Lily are awesome and deserved better.
o I didn’t realize how much I miss Raphael and him refusing to admit to having friendships.
o I wish I had Lily Chen’s ability to come up with nicknames, which is a superpower.
● Yin fen…. How is that shit still around??? Why hasn’t someone destroyed it???? You have to have no morals to sell that shit.
● Baby Lightwoods!!!!!!!!!
o The fact 12-year-old Alec had a crush on Raphael is awesome.
o Baby Max is adorable and so beautiful
o Little Isabelle is as fierce as her older self.
o Tiny Jace deciding on his parabatai the moment he saw him makes me happy.
● I love the fact that Jace was able to remind Jem of Will and Tessa, bring him back from the emotionless state of the Silent Brothers.
● Suddenly my dislike of Robert and Maryse returned. The way they spoke to Raphael is disgusting.
● Overall the story is not that important to the plot of the First Heir and Kit, but it does give us an insight into Jem having to fight to remain human and remember why he became a Silent Brother, to in the end be saved. We also get to see the old crew (minus Simon, Clary, and Magnus) as they were still innocent children.
The Land I Lost:
● I loved this story, mostly because we get the Lightwood-Banes, and Alec being the badass he is.
● Lily Chen is a hilarious and beautiful person and I sooooo wish we had seen more of her during the Mortal Instruments and can’t wait to see more of her in Wicked Power and The Eldest Curse.
o Alec and Lily’s friendship is wholesome and deserves more pages honestly.
o Alec understanding, he has privileges and using it was awesome.
o The fact that Lily totally knew Alec once has a crush on Raphael.
o I think that almost every downwolder has one Nephilim that makes them see Shadowhunters in a different light. For Magnus there was Will, Tessa had the London Institute, Kieran had Cristina, Gwyn had Diana, and Lily has Alec (and kind of Cordelia Carstairs).
● Feral Rafael!!!!!!!
● The fact Alec did not realize he had adopted Rafael warms my heart
● Max being soooooo happy to have a sibling filled my heart.
● Magnus having his moment with Rafael where he just knew, the same way Alec did with Max.
o I do like the parallel with both.
● We finally learn about the old Faerie that gave Matthew the potion that hurts his mother and let me tell you: she can cram her Herondale-anger down her throat and choke on it.
● Jem and Tessa!!!!!! Finally, happy!!!!!!
● Juliette is a queen and not just of the Shadow Market.
● I really love how the storylines and the books are converging more and more. With Juliette and her daughter from the Eldest Curse, Mother Hawthorn and Kit’s storyline.
● Overall, I loved this story not only because we had Alec and Jem with Tessa, but mostly because we get to really see Alec as the man that would move heaven and hell to make the world a better place for his family.
Through Blood, Through Fire:
● This one was not that interesting other than for the details we got about Rosemary since it centers on a story that we already know the ending too. We simply get the final details of Kit’s background.
● As a character I loved Rosemary, someone who would do anything to be free and at the same time would lock herself up for her son. If only Johnny/Jack could have loved his son as much.
● Getting Rosemary’s backstory does let us understand her distrust of shadowhunters and how much she loved Johnny/Jack.
● Overall, we finally get the last bits of detail of the First Heir storyline.
The Lost World:
● Baby Mia.
o I really just want to talk about baby Mia, but other than her almost getting possessed, she is not really the focus of this novel.
● Livy, I fear will become a problem in the future, I feel like she might lose control at some important moment, but that just might be me being negative.
● I really want to know what the Dimmet Tarn is and what it can do.
o I can’t help but think it’s some kind of passage to the afterlife and that’s why Livy is going towards it.
● I already love Irene and can’t wait to see more of her in the future. The fact that she can feel ghosts and other creatures will be useful.
● Poor Ty, I feel like he is trying really hard to punish himself and he can’t understand the emotions he is feeling, so he is just assuming he did something wrong.
● Idris News: I honestly thought that locking themselves up in Idris was the stupidest thing the Cohort had ever done. They can’t hunt demons; they can’t get imports of food and they are totally cut off from the world. How exactly are they going to survive??? The fact they actually have a plan and want to wreak havoc makes sense, but I feel like they are still outnumbered and outgunned.
● Good to see Magnus being the most adult adult.
● Overall, I liked this one, didn’t love it, but it was nice to see the characters. I feel like some points here will be important in Wicked Powers, like the Idris’ News and Dimmet Tarn. Also, Mia.
Forever Fallen:
● Probably the one I was the most excited about reading other than the Land I Lost.
● I love the idea of Thule and the characters having to be brought into the canon universe to fight Janus.
o I can’t wait to see Thule Simon. I mean this is a Simon who has pretty much lost everything and is trying to kill someone who could have once been his friend.
● The fact we got to see a day in the park for the Lightwood-Banes was probably my favourite part.
● I got scared when Max was talking to Janus.
● I feel like Lily Chen and her deal with Janus is going to end horribly, I want to think she is smarter than that, she was taught by Raphael after all, but love makes idiots of us all. So, there might be a plan there, but I am not sure.
● The way Janus thinks reminded me of when the group was shown their deepest desires but twisted when they went to Eden. He lost everything and more than anything wants to protect those he considers family but isn't capable of understanding emotions anymore or morals.
● The Carstairs-Gray household is wholesome and loving and I adore them.
o The fact Kit finally has parents that love and support him.
o I love how much Jem and Tessa consider Kit their son.
o Mia and Kit!!!!!!!!!!!!
● However, I do feel like the ending was ominous towards the fact the Kit will eventually have to become or do something because of being the descendant of the first heir. They said he wasn’t an heir technically, but he did throw the Riders across a field in QOAAD, therefore I think he has more power then they imagine but it's locked inside of him.
● Overall, I loved it, it leaves us wanting more of the MI and AD crew, for which we will have to wait and foreshadow that the First Heir storyline will be important to Wicked Powers. I love the way it ties the plot of the entire book, which was finding and protecting the First Heir into Jem and Tessa finally getting their happy ending with their two beautiful children.
Overall:
I love pretty much anything Cassandra Clare writes especially in the Shadowhunter world. I would recommend this book, mostly because it ties into the storyline we will be reading in Wicked Powers and gives us an insight into Matthew and Anna, as well as the fact that Tessa’s demonic father will be important.
It is a nice between while we read The Last Hour series and wait for the Wicked Powers.
In cases like this series you pretty much have to read all the books, because sometimes there are small details that are important to the whole storyline in every book and novel, however, individually I would recommend:
● The Wicked Ones:
● The Land I Lost
● Forever Fallen.
For the Last Hour Storyline:
● Cast Long Shadows
● Every Exquisite Thing
For the First Heir Storyline (The reason I separate this one from Wicked Powers is that it doesn’t foreshadow anything about the storyline it just explains the First Heir, but the First Heir will probably be important to the Wicked Powers Storyline):
● Learn about Loss
● A Deeper Love
● Wicked One
● The Land I lost
● Through Blood, Through Fire
The Wicked Powers Storyline:
● The Lost World
● Forever Fallen
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