The Wicked Ones

Ghosts of the Shadow Market #6

by Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman

Celine Montclaire goes to the Shadow Market to escape. She would go anywhere in Paris, or the entire world, to escape the suffering she experiences at the hands of her family. She did not expect to meet Valentine Morgenstern there, or to have him promise her freedom and the heart of the man she secretly loves. On one condition, of course. At the Shadow Market, nothing is for free.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Short Stories, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook, Novella, Paranormal

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2018

About the author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel. Sword Catcher is her most recent novel.

Reviews

[Emma Giordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely spectacular. A MUST READ for fans of the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Certain novellas from this series have fallen flat for me, but it’s stories like The Wicked Ones that steal my heart and remind me why these novellas are such a gift to us fans. So nuanced. So valuable. So tragic. I’m entirely enchanted.

CW: child abuse

I adored to opportunity to get to know Celine a.k.a. Jace’s birth mother. Through Yhe Mortal Instruments/Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy, Celine is extremely one dimensional and no attention is paid to her. In The Wicked Ones we are exposed to the never-ending depths of her character. She possess so much more strength than I think anyone involved in this series could have imagined - It feels impossible to capture all of her layers in this short review.

I also appreciated the added development for other members of the Circle, Robert Lightwood, Stephen Herondale, and even Valentine Morgenstern himself. It was a real surprise to see the raw manipulation and cruelty Valentine was capable of at such a young age in action. Cassandra Clare has a talent for creating extremely well-rounded characters and developing them through additional novellas, but The Wicked Ones stands out to me as one of the most valuable and complex.

I was also EXTREMELY shocked and satisfied to find this novella is also FULL of information setting up for The Dark Artifices. I loved how seamlessly this book merged the experiences of Brother Zachariah, Celine, and also the history of Herondales (that’s all I’m saying until y’all READ THIS NOVELLA). It was extremely cohesive and kept me engaged the entire time. There’s so much spoilery goodness I could dive into, but alas, all I can say is it is FANTASTIC.

My review of this novella honestly cannot do it justice. It was so fantastic in every way and I’m so desperate for more. The Wicked Ones will definitely remain one of my top favorite novellas not only from Ghosts of the Shadow Market, but that Cassandra Clare has ever written.

[~Calliope~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I sometimes think there is nothing more painful than love denied. To love someone you cannot have, to stand beside your heart’s desire and be unable to take them in your arms. A love that cannot be requited. I can think of nothing more painful than that."

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“They’d both given a piece of their hearts to a Herondale. And they both loved someone they could not have.”

Oh, boy. So, this story is set in 1989 Paris, where we meet a young girl named Céline and get to see the uprising of Valentine. Céline has constantly run away from her abusive home, and the parents that torture her and call it love. And when she was eight years old, she ran away and felt safe and at home for the very first time – at the Paris Shadow Market. But in this story we see her almost ten years later, and she is desperately trying to feel welcome with Valentine and his elite crew. And she is also realizing she is completely and utterly in love with Stephen Herondale. But while this is going on, Brother Zachariah is in search of a lost necklace and a lost child. This story really dives deep into how manipulative people can gaslight to get what they want, and will always try to isolate people and convince them that what they are doing is in their best interest. It is always really interesting to see the rise and fall of Valentine Morgenstern, but this story just made me feel really sad for Amatis and for another child who has yet to be born.

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(I read this in Ghosts of the Shadow Market!) ✨

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Even if one half of her heart was gone forever, the other half was still here”.

En The Wicked Ones nos encontramos con la historia de cómo Celine Montclaire, la mamá real de Jace, se unió al Círculo de Valentine y cómo este nefasto personaje fue manipulándola para que creyera en la causa y trabajara en pro de sus objetivos. Además, en este relato nos cuentan un poco de cómo fue la infancia de Celine creciendo en un ambiente abusivo y lleno de dolor. Y, por otra parte, tenemos al siempre presente Hermano Zacariah, Jem, investigando sobre la línea perdida de los Herondale en París.

Lo que más me impactó de leer este relato fue ver esa capacidad de manipulación que tenía Valentine para reclutar a Cazadores de Sombras que tenían dudas, traumas o que, incluso, habían pasado por diferentes situaciones que habían dejado sus mentes muy susceptibles a los engaños. Valentine es un maestro de las mentiras, de los planes retorcidos y, sobre todo, un gran conocedor de cómo funciona la mente humana. Me daba escalofríos leer cómo le decía a Celine exactamente las cosas que necesitaba escuchar. ¡Y lo peor era que ella le creía! Pensaba que era la única clase de afecto que iba a conseguir, así que escogió estar del lado de Valentine. Uf.

¿Y qué decirles de Jem y su misión de encontrar al Herondale perdido? Es tremendo lo mucho que, a pesar de ser un Hermano Silencioso, Jem sigue conectado a sus sentimientos humanos, a la lealtad y el amor que sintió por Will, su parabatai, o por Tessa. Cada que aparecen Jem, Tessa o Will en las páginas de estos relatos mi corazón es extremadamente feliz. Por cierto, me fascinó el plot twist que se revela en esta historia sobre el Herondale perdido. ¡Fue muy sorprendente!

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yikes

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wicked Ones by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman is the sixth novella in the young adult paranormal fantasy Ghosts of the Shadow Market series. This series is another companion set of novellas that are brief glimpses into events set in the Shadowhunter world of the Mortal Instruments series.

This sixth book in the series takes place in 1989 with Celine Montclaire looking to escape and getting an offer from Valentine Morgenstern to join him for his help. Obviously Valentine isn't the most likable of characters in the series so this one was just an OK read to me in this era, still fun to go deeper into the series though.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Cory Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has just become my new favorite Shadowhunter short story. THE FEELS. THE REVELATIONS. 😭😭

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I swear anytime the name Will Herondale pops up, my little heart just breaks.

1. I love all the love for Jem, Tessa and Will
2. Damn Herondales!
3. We get to see the start(ish) of Valentine and that was interesting to see how calculated he is
4. Low key felt sorry for Celine and you can see she's the way she is for many many reasons.
5. A Salty Robert was great :) :)

Son of the Dawn - 5 Stars
Cast Long Shadows - 3.5 Stars
Every Exquisite Thing - 5 Stars
Learn About Loss - 5 Stars
A Deeper Love - 4 Stars
The Wicked Ones- 4 Stars
The Land I Lost - 5 Stars
Through Blood, Through Fire - 5 Stars

[Līga Sproģe · Rating 4 out of 5]

F yeah, we will finally have a decent Jace's mom backstory!

Not that I'm desperately trying to remember the facts we already know about that group of friends! I have everything under control! *nervous laughter*

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating but sad walk through Paris with some of the Circle and Jem. I’m so glad I’m reading this series chronologically; I’m picking up on so much that I missed the first time around.

[sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm literally only reading these because I have no other shadowhunter books to read. These novellas are okay so far and this one is the same. We get to know more about the herondale bloodline and if you have already read queen of air and darkness then there's spoilers in that one for this novella.

[Reem Ghabbany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story centers around Celine, Jace’s mother, I loved reading about her. Even though she’s a bit crazy lol
Also a big revelation is there. One that I did not anticipate!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

In this novella we learn more about Céline’s life. I was never really interested in her story and this novella was no exception. Now we know how Céline and Stephen came to be but I could have done without this bit of information to be honest.
The thing I always like about the novellas of the series is Jem. I love seeing what he's up to. This time he made a very interesting discovery that I did not expect. I read online that this discovery (Rosemary, Kit's mother, is the Herondale Jem and Tessa were looking for) will be discussed in QOAAD and also in the Wicked powers series.
Every time Will is mention feels like a stab in the heart, so nothing new there.

[Joanna (wordsrmyweapon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this one. It’s really interesting to see how the circle came to be and the mentality of the members, and how things that were just talked about in the moral instruments actually went about

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these novellas. Only have one more to read for the Shadow Market series but I greedily want more. First off, as my GR peeps know, I’m a sucker for any mentioning of Gem and/or Will. This one had Gem playing a small role but was more about Celine (Jace’s mom) and how she fit into the circle and how It came about that Valentine got her Stephen Herondale (Jace’s father). It was nice to finally have the backstory.

My quick and simple overall: quick and amusing like the other novellas.

[Bontix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questa novella mi ha ricordato per quale motivo la mia opinione su Céline, Stephen, Robert, Valentine e compagnia bella sia così bassa. No, scusate, di Valentine in quanto cattivo ho un'opinione molto alta, perché è sempre stato geniale, sono gli idioti di cui si è circondato ad essere idioti. Geniale.
Ma tornando a Céline, l'ho sempre trovata una debole, senza spina dorsale e non le ho mai perdonato il fatto di essersi suicidata alla morte di Stephen, incurante del bambino che portava in grembo. Perché semplicemente non lo fai se quel bambino hai deciso in precedenza di tenerlo. Piuttosto, se proprio voleva farlo perché senza il suo uomo non poteva vivere, avrei accettato di più il suicidio dopo il parto. Mi dispiace, ma io non riesco ad essere comprensiva nei suoi confronti, nonostante il suo passato ecc. Non ce la faccio, perché questo è non avere rispetto per la vita degli altri, la sua e quella di suo figlio in primis. C'è un motivo se amo le badass e lei non lo è proprio, quindi non c'erano possibilità che potesse piacermi come personaggio.
La novella arriva alla sufficienza grazie alla svolta sulla ricerca dell'Herondale scomparso e, perché nonostante tutto, vedere come Valentine sia riuscito a far fare agli altri esattamente quello che voleva mi affascina, da un certo punto di vista.
Però adesso basta, basta ritornare sul passato di Valentine, perché ormai questa storia è un trita e ritrita, la si tira fuori quando non si hanno altre idee lì sul momento.

[Enne · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But who would she be, without pain? What was strength, if not the endurance of suffering?" 

3.5 stars
Characters: Celine Montclaire, Brother Zachariah, Valentine Morgenstern, Robert Lightwood, Stephen Herondale, Rosemary Herondale, Jack Crow
TW: references to child abuse, manipulation

I have learned that I love Celine Montclaire. I wish Jace had gotten to grow up with her instead of Valentine because he would have had such a better childhood and hiiohtih it makes me sad. I loved learning about her backstory with her abusive parents and I found myself just wanting to give her a hug because she did not deserve any of the pain that she was going through. I also found it fascinating how Valentine was able to manipulate Celine so easily. I mean, it was horrifying, but it was also fascinating because we got to see why so many people chose to follow Valentine. All of the charisma that he possesses and is able to use in his favor is,,, frankly quite horrifying. In this novella, we also get to follow Brother Zachariah while he's on the search for the lost Herondale. And Jem finally finds her!!! We learn that apparently, Kit has faerie ancestors??? And maybe that's why the riders of Mannan "know his face"??? Anyways, this was a thrilling development ptehihettih i am shook.
~~~
The common trend here seems to be that I want more of the characters we see in these novellas.

[Souma BookAddict · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story in this novella quite interesting. It showed a lot about human nature especially with regards to Celine Montclaire. Getting insight into her life and her feelings was very interesting and heartbreaking.

[The Story Girl (Serenity) · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Son of the Dawn (takes place in New York City 2000) ★★★★★
2. Cast Long Shadows (takes place in London 1901) ★★★★
3. Every Exquisite Thing (takes place in London 1901) ★★★★
4. Learn about Loss (takes place in Chattanooga, TN 1936) ★★★★
5. A Deeper Love takes place in 1940 with Tessa ★★★★

“She would have rhapsodized about gothic spires spearing the clouds, cobblestone streets shimmering with rain, sunlight dancing on the Seine, and, bien sûr, the infinite varieties of cheese. She would have pointed out that Paris had been home to Baudelaire and Rimbaud, Monet and Gauguin, Descartes and Voltaire, that this was the city that had birthed a new way of speaking, seeing, thinking, being—drawing even the most mundane of mundanes a little closer to the angels.

In every way, Paris was la ville de la lumière. The City of Light. If you ask me, Céline would have said, nothing could be more beautiful than that.”

It's Paris, 1989, and Céline Montclair (age 17), Stephen Herondale (age 22), and Robert Lightwood are on a mission for the Circle/Valentine. He wants the Shadow Market shut down because he doesn't want people mixing with Downworlders, and this is where Celine's path crosses with Jem. She sees that he is in search of a silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a heron, which he finds at a booth run by a kid. He wanted it in order to track down Jack Crow, to tell him who he really is. Jack is newly married to Rosemary, and it turns out dangerous people are looking for her, but Jack has done his best to make sure people think they're looking for him instead. Including taking a potion that made him look 10 years older for some reason. He plans to go do something at the LA Institute and wants Rosemary to meet him there once the job is done.

The greater storyline is Celine's and a choice she has to make in this that will define her character and her future. She has a heart-breaking story with abusive parents, no friends, and no one to love her. But when she made the wrong choice of what to do with her life, it was extremely disappointing and sad. We all know she ends up pregnant with Jace and then murdered. Her story is just heart-breaking from start to finish. But this story was so beautifully written all the same.

“Under the midnight moon, it came alive with Downworlders, a bacchanalia of faerie fruits and wines, gargoyles enchanted by warlock magic, waltzing werewolves, vampires in berets painting portraits in blood, an ifrit accordionist who could make you weep yourself to death. It was the Paris Shadow Market, and from the moment Céline first saw it, she felt herself finally home.”

Below, I'll summarize what we learned about every character, so it will include spoilers for this short story.

➽ Céline Montclair had a rather unpleasant childhood: her parents used to lock her up in a basement; whip her; set demons on her; leave her for the night in a werewolf-ridden wood. So it's no wonder she's so easily taken in by Valentine, who is the first person in her life to tell her that she is exceptional. She is 17 now and in her last year of Shadowhunter Academy. After that, she can finally leave her parents' house.

➽ Stephen Herondale has now become Valentine's right hand man as Luke has become a vampire. Stephen is married to Amatis, but Celine has a crush on him. However, he views her as childish, says she will always needs someone to look out for her, and laughs at the idea of him ever being with Celine, which hurts Celine so badly.

➽ Rosemary is actually the lost Herondale, not her husband Jack, and she warns Celine that Valentine is not who she thinks he is. This leads Celine to spying on Valentine, and she finds out that he had paid the warlock they were hunting to lie and give a false confession against two Shadowhunters that Valentine wanted dead.

Valentine gives Celine a choice: she can leave and try and warn the Consul (who have never believed her when she's gone to them about her parents), or she can stay with him, and he will make sure Stephen falls in love with her. She knows if she chooses Stephen, that two innocent Shadowhunters will be murdered. But she makes that choice anyway.

➽ Jem, besides what I mentioned above, he also meets up with Tessa at the end of this one and tells her about the Lost Herondale.

See Cassandra Clare's explanation for Celine and Stephen's actions in this here.

The next story will be The Land I Lost and will be about Alec. It takes place after The Mortal Instruments and will be released on October 9.

EDIT: Jack Crow has been seen in The Dark Artifices, but he goes by a different name now. (x)

[Previous update]

"But do you know why you prefer it? Why you chase the pain?"

We get to meet Jace's mom, Celine, in this one, and it takes place in Paris!! Read a snippet here. The cover has also been revealed in her newsletter.

Blog: The Bookish Expedition and Instagram: @moonspree.

7. The Land I Lost by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan
8. Through Blood, Through Fire by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman
9. Ghosts of Old Loves
10. Forever Fallen

[areti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella restored my faith to the Shadowhunter books. Interesting, fast paced and with amazing plot twists, this short story redeemed the two previous novellas.

We follow Celine, Jace's mother, before she married Stephen Herondale. This novella informed about her life before the Circle, her crush on Stephen and her relationship with the other members of the Circle, especially the very manipulative Valentine Morgenstern. Celine is a tragic figure, an Eponine, who was abused by her parents, had no real friends and the only person she loved never loved her back. Her story is was so sad and knowing what happened to her at the end made her story even sadder.

We also learn more about Brother Zachariah's journey to find the lost Herondale. He meets Celine for the first time but he also meets the mysterious couple, Jack Crow and Rosemary. It was a nice surprise to learn that the lost Herondale was a woman and now we finally know who Kit's mother is. I would like to know what happened to her and I believe we will learn in the next and final book of The Dark Artifices.

This may be my favorite novella so far. I always wanted to know about Jace's mother and this short story fulfilled my wish in the best way.

[dia💋 · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was about valentine’s rise and fall, but do you know about whom i need a short story? sebastian morgenstern, my favorite character from TMI and my favorite villain overall.

[kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

“I sometimes think there is nothing more painful than love denied. To love someone you cannot have, to stand beside your heart’s desire and be unable to take them in your arms. A love that cannot be requited. I can think of nothing more painful than that.”

The Wicked Ones follows Celine Montclaire, who goes to the Shadow Market to escape. Celine would go anywhere in the world to escape the suffering she experiences at the hands of her own family. However, she didn't expect to meet Valentine Morgenstern there, and she really didn't expect him to promise her the freedom she craves and the heart of the man she secretly loves. This isn't without a cost, of course, and Valentine requires one serious condition—because, after all, nothing at the Shadow Market comes for free.

My main thought through this entire novella: James Carstairs deserves so much better than this. Which, to be fair, was my main thought through The Infernal Devices trilogy, as well as City of Heavenly Fire. Because there's nothing more Cassandra Clare loves than making me and Jem suffer, apparently. In all seriousness, as much as it hurts me, I love seeing the development Jem goes through as a Silent Brother, which we don't get to see much of in her other books. I can rest easy knowing what comes of Jem's life after The Mortal Instruments ends, because after reading about what he goes through in these novellas, and how he loses himself little by little, he deserves to have his happy ending.

It was also really lovely getting to know Jace's mom, Celine. My heart broke for this poor woman, but I did love reading about her and getting to know her story a little better. I love seeing the connections to what'll happen later in The Mortal Instruments, and Cassandra Clare does a wonderful job at connecting all of her stories together. It was also super interesting to see just how evil and manipulative Valentine really was, even this early on. Valentine has been one of my favorite villains for a very long time, so it was interesting to see his role here.

“They’d both given a piece of their hearts to a Herondale. And they both loved someone they could not have.”

In order to stay on brand, we all know I have to mention Jem and Tessa, because wow, this one hurt. I mean, it all hurts, but Cassie really went in on the parallels between their points of view. Jem's love for Tessa (and Will, of course. It's always Will, isn't it?), is what keeps him going, and it's such a lovely thing. At this point, Jem believes he'll always be a Silent Brother, so it's heart breaking to see him constantly having to come to terms with the fact that he won't be able to be with the woman he loves. It's a beautiful thing to see that no matter who he turns into, no matter who being a Silent Brother turns him into, he will always be hers. I'm in a lot of pain right now and I don't know how to properly express that. Let my children (who are much older than I am) be happy, please.

So far, I have loved all of the novellas Cassie has put out, and The Wicked Ones is no different. I do wish they were longer, though, because I can never have enough of Jem and this world. Not to be incredibly dramatic, but I need full length books of Jem's point of view as much as I need to breathe. So.

“Brother Zachariah’s love was a pale imitation of the real, raw, human thing.”

[jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aaaaand we don’t read about TID characters anymore. At this point, the anthology have come to the TMI phase and I’m not too excited about it. This is one hell of a thick novella and there’s actual plot where things went down. Despite my initial feelings for the TMI characters, I actually like this one. It’s nice being reminded about Valentine and reading this novella actually reminded me how dangerous and sly he was. I feel sorry for Céline, I can’t help but relate to her in some parts (especially with her heartbreak bc my love life is hopeless). Though I don’t like her decision to take Stephen all for herself there’s no excuse for that. I have zero tolerance to women who don’t think about other women’s feelings. (Look I know this review doesn’t make any sense but it’s 7 am and I’m going back to sleep bye.)

[Lia Carstairs · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We always have a choice. It's not always the choice we would want, but it's a choice nonetheless. The past happens to us. But we choose our future."
-The wise words of Jem Carstairs😉

Seeing the story of Celine was interesting and also sad. She had a rough childhood.
As always, Valentine was cruel, but at least I got to see more Jem and Tessa!🥰

[Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my gosh. This was so unexpected.

RTC

[Ludodreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questa novella mi è sicuramente piaciuta molto di più rispetto alle ultime due!
Di solito adoro sempre le novelle incentrate sul Circolo, e questa non è stata da meno.
Infatti, l'ho apprezzata proprio perché si concentra sulla mamma di Jace, figura che rimane abbastanza marginale nei romanzi, in cui viene narrata solo l'ultima parte della sua storia. Invece, è stato interessante capire come sia arrivata a quel punto.
Devo ammettere che, oltre alle novelle basate sui personaggi di TLH, l'intreccio con il Mercato delle Ombre e Jem è riuscito molto bene.
Certo, per me lui continua ad essere inutile quanto Dan Humphrey di Gossip Girl, ma questo già lo sapete.
3 stelline, perché per me il senso di queste novelle continua a non esserci, considerato che già sappiamo quello che accadrà in Città del fuoco celeste e Lady Midnight/Lord of Shadows.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a feeling I say this every time, I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t help myself—I feel like this novella is the best one in this ‘series’ so far!

We met two of the very interesting female characters who each made a huge impact on the whole Shadowhunter chronicles—Jace’s mother and Kit’s mother.

Céline was one of those characters that I had kind of passively hated, mostly because the only other way we’ve been told about her was through Amatis’ eyes (and she, of course, greatly disliked her). But now that we actually got to meet Céline, I have to admit she is much more complex a character than I thought and I kind of really liked her. It doesn’t mean I approve of all she did, but still I find her intriguing and well characterized.

Regarding Rosemary, I kind of guessed the “twist” the moment her appearance was described, but I still think it was an interesting way of approaching the “mystery” of Kit’s mother and I hope we find out more about her fate.

The only issue I have *some spoilers* *also this is me ranting so you can just skip it if you’re not interested* concerning both this story and the whole TSC, which is also the thing no editor or anyone else ever seems to point out for whatever reason, is that there is no possible way that two branches of the same family who have been apart for more than 200 years could show any amount of resemblence to each other, and especially not to the lengths Cassie describes it. It’s not even science, but common sense. I literally have first and second cousins that resemble me way less than Herondales 200-hunderd-something years apart resemble each other and you are trying to convince me that five generations of Herondales have the exact shame shade of dark blue eyes? Sorry, but I ain’t buying it.

Sorry for the rant, this was just something I had wanted to get off my mind for months now. Since it doesn’t have much to do with the actual novella, I’ve decided not to lower my rating because of it.
I still enjoyed reading this short story and I’d definitelly recommend to all TSC fans to read it, as well as the other novellas from GotSM series.

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

How far will you be willing to go in order to have the love of your life even when that sentiment is unrequited???
Well this book is about Celine Montclaire and her unrequited love for Stephen Herondale, about the decisions she has to make in order to have him even at the highest price.... I really enjoyed this companion novella set in the Shadowhunters World.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We learn more about Celine in this novella and while her story was interesting I was not at all thrilled at having to read about Valentine.
There were also some important reveals about the lost Herondale. Finally! Jem’s had quite the journey over the years and I’m hoping that it’ll all come into play in QoAaD!

[stefansbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was too long. Too many unnecessary details. I also hated Céline. She was simply sooo annoying and dumb. She deserved not being loved by Stephen, as Stephen deserved losing Amatis for following Valentine so blindly. Valentine is so cruel, but at least he is smart. At least meeting Kit’s mother was interesting, even tho Rosemary is simply too arrogant and that cost her her life. Oh well🤷🏽‍♂️