brianna_c's review against another edition
5.0
It took me forever to get to this book because of work but I'm glad I finally decided to make the time to read it. I loved reading from Jem's perspective and seeing his and Tessa's relationship warmed my heart. I loved the stories of Alec and Magnus, Jem, and even Thule Jace/Janus realizing that they were fathers, particularly Jem realizing that he looked at Kit as his own son in Forever Fallen. I loved seeing some old faces back too.
paragraphsandpages's review against another edition
5.0
“Memories were like love: wound and cure, both at once.”
Ghosts of the Shadowmarket is Cassandra Clare’s latest collection of short stories set in the Shadowhunter world, following [b:Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy|28954137|Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1454864103l/28954137._SY75_.jpg|46924845] and [b:The Bane Chronicles|16303287|The Bane Chronicles|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395159015l/16303287._SY75_.jpg|22436394]. Like the other collections, Ghosts tells tales that span the entirety of Shadowhunter history, with a focus on a certain location, the Shadowmarkets, and a focal character, Jem Carstairs/Brother Zachariah.
There aren’t many series/worlds that I make sure to read every single released short story of, but the Shadowhunter world is definitely one of them. Each anthology just works to add so much more to the already established world and cast of Clare’s novels while still containing an actual purpose, a plot that affects the ongoing narrative or even just a plot contained within the interwoven stories. It’s also more than just another novel with really long chapters, as each individual story still contains enough independence from the others. Ghosts was no exception, as it contained 10 individual stories that were strong in their own right as well as an overarching story that bound all these stories together (and served as a segue into each of Clare’s upcoming trilogies). Not only was I able to enjoy each story individually, they also served to increase my excitement for upcoming books as well as introduce the characters of those books that I had not met yet.
There will always be stories that stand out more than others, however, especially the ones that contain Magnus and Alec in some magnitude (they will always be my favorites). However, even with that original bias, I found myself getting very attached to some of the new characters we were introduced too, like Michael Fairchild and James Herondale. And while not every single story was as strong as the others, with some hitting me harder than others (and dang, were there some incredibly dark stories included in this one), all of them had their own merit. I don’t think there was a single story that I feel worse off having read, and none I would have skipped reading in hindsight.
I must admit that the anthology is stronger at its end than at its beginning, purely because of the chronological way it’s written. The beginning of this story lines up with the era of the Last Hours, which is a series filled with brand new characters. That meant those stories had a lot of familial plotting and character backgrounds to give vs. the latter stories with the more known characters, leading to a lot more exposition and less dedication to build-up and climax within the story. Later on, since characters like Jace, Clary, Valentine, Alec, Magnus, etc. need a lot less explaining (as there is an assumption you’ve read the other series), there’s a lot more focus on the story being told instead, making them just a little more well-rounded and balanced.
All in all, this was another strong anthology by Clare, and I’m seriously excited to see where both The Wicked Powers and The Last Hours go!
Ghosts of the Shadowmarket is Cassandra Clare’s latest collection of short stories set in the Shadowhunter world, following [b:Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy|28954137|Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1454864103l/28954137._SY75_.jpg|46924845] and [b:The Bane Chronicles|16303287|The Bane Chronicles|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395159015l/16303287._SY75_.jpg|22436394]. Like the other collections, Ghosts tells tales that span the entirety of Shadowhunter history, with a focus on a certain location, the Shadowmarkets, and a focal character, Jem Carstairs/Brother Zachariah.
There aren’t many series/worlds that I make sure to read every single released short story of, but the Shadowhunter world is definitely one of them. Each anthology just works to add so much more to the already established world and cast of Clare’s novels while still containing an actual purpose, a plot that affects the ongoing narrative or even just a plot contained within the interwoven stories. It’s also more than just another novel with really long chapters, as each individual story still contains enough independence from the others. Ghosts was no exception, as it contained 10 individual stories that were strong in their own right as well as an overarching story that bound all these stories together (and served as a segue into each of Clare’s upcoming trilogies). Not only was I able to enjoy each story individually, they also served to increase my excitement for upcoming books as well as introduce the characters of those books that I had not met yet.
There will always be stories that stand out more than others, however, especially the ones that contain Magnus and Alec in some magnitude (they will always be my favorites). However, even with that original bias, I found myself getting very attached to some of the new characters we were introduced too, like Michael Fairchild and James Herondale. And while not every single story was as strong as the others, with some hitting me harder than others (and dang, were there some incredibly dark stories included in this one), all of them had their own merit. I don’t think there was a single story that I feel worse off having read, and none I would have skipped reading in hindsight.
I must admit that the anthology is stronger at its end than at its beginning, purely because of the chronological way it’s written. The beginning of this story lines up with the era of the Last Hours, which is a series filled with brand new characters. That meant those stories had a lot of familial plotting and character backgrounds to give vs. the latter stories with the more known characters, leading to a lot more exposition and less dedication to build-up and climax within the story. Later on, since characters like Jace, Clary, Valentine, Alec, Magnus, etc. need a lot less explaining (as there is an assumption you’ve read the other series), there’s a lot more focus on the story being told instead, making them just a little more well-rounded and balanced.
All in all, this was another strong anthology by Clare, and I’m seriously excited to see where both The Wicked Powers and The Last Hours go!
sirenricobooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Child abuse, Grief, War, Pregnancy, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Suicide, and Murder
sathyadgs95's review against another edition
5.0
I love Jem, so I was happy that this collection of short stories follows his journey while expanding on the Shadowhunter universe. While the focus on Kit's parents is a bit tiresome (his father was willing to watch him die, for God sake, but is now portrayed as a brave and loving parent??) the search for the Lost Herondale/First Heir makes an interesting thread through most of the stories. Characters from the Lost Hours as well as the Wicked Powers make appearances. Overall, a satisfying read while waiting for new books to come out.
lauryngreen's review against another edition
I was rereading this to try out audiobooks but they’re just not for me, at least not fiction ones.
kgierlach14's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
fakress's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kimal25's review against another edition
5.0
This compilation of stories is very different from the two others, much more bittersweet. Had me in tears a lot. I kept wishing Will was there all the time. Still such a great work though.
1. The first one in this compilation had a bittersweet tone. Jem meets Matthew Fairchild in the Shadow market while he is on a mysterious mission. Matthew is there to buy a truth potion for his mother to find out if she had an affair with Gideon Lightwood. It makes her sick and she loses the baby she was pregnant with. His father unwittingly tells him of the source of his differences from his family. Matthew decides to tell no one about the potion. The only bright spot is Tessa's and Will's meetings with Jem.
2. This one was mostly about Anna Lightwood, the daughter of Cecily and Gabriel. And there was only a splash of Jem. Anna was dealing with the fact that she likes women and wearing men's clothes. She has a minor romance with Ariadne, who will one day marry Charles Branwell. Her mom surprises her with men's clothes and the demon sensing necklace. Meanwhile Jem is searching for Tessa's demon father who it turns out is a prince of hell!
3. Jem and future Iron Sister Emilia travel to Chattanooga to investigate a strange shadow market and new powers of mundanes there. All are caused by the greater demon belial, who is indebited to Jem. He tells Jem there are Herondales in danger and alive that he tealizes were in the shadow market. Once he goes racing away Belial makes a deal with Emilia in exchange for not being her enemy. She wishes for Jem and his parabatai will to have time together young and whole. In a dream like state they are together and young in Shanghai. It is very bittersweet.
4. A deeper love. Jem in 1940 is searching for the lost Herondales. It takes him and Tessa more than 70 years to find them! He is injured badly by a Fae and goes to Tessa and Catarina. They barely manage to save his life and Jem and Catarina put together the pieces of the lost Herondales. This one was so much of Tessa and Jem and even the ghost of Will was felt. So many tears.
5. This was mostly the story of Celine Montclaire, the woman who would be Jace's mother. She is pitiable and yet somewhat dislikeable for her lack of honor. She was abused as a child, has no friends or people to believe in her except Valentine. She is in love with Stephen Herondale, who is married to Amatis and thinks of Celine as an annoying puppy who follows him around. Valentine hatches a plan to havr Stephen and Robert catch a warlock who implicates two shadowhunters of crimes. In reality the shadowhunters are innocent, oppose Valentine and are Celine's parents. She lets them be killed so Valentine will make sure she gets Stephen in body if not soul. Meanwhile, Jem finds the lost Herondale, a woman, and lets her go. Tessa and Jem meet up. I really was ok with learning more about Celine until she was willing to let her parents die and trap Stephen with her even though he will never love her. Poor Jace to come from them.
6. This on was not as sad thankfully. It was about Jem helping Raphael and Lily get rid of yin fen being shipped into New York by boat. Jace was on that boat as well and it was interesting to see a young Jace. He helped fight the werewolves smuggling yin fen. His first meeting with the Lightwoods was cute with Izzy so in awe and mad and the immediate connection with Jace and Alec. And Maryse gave him his nickname!
7. This was my favorite one so far! Probably because it was more about Alec. Alec is at home in bed resting when he gets a fire message from Jem and Tessa needing his help. He decides to take Lily to Buenos Aires with him because she can use the distraction and can speak Spanish. Quickly they find there is corruption in the Institute and missing werewolf women. The Queen of the Market is a wkman Alec had saved on vacation with Magnus 5 yrs ago. Between her, Jem, Tessa, Alec, Lily and an orphaned Rafael they learn the truth. The leader of the local institute is selling shadowhunter services to yhose who pay and has been kidnapping werewolf women for a warlock to experiment on. They save the remaining women, arrest those responsible, burn the building down and Alec brings Rafe home with him. <3
8. This one was purely Jem and Tessa. They answer the call of Rosemary Herondale and get there in time to see her die. She wants them to save her son, but in the investigation Tessa is injured and stuck in the Change. By the time they reach Kit, Emma is there battling Fal. Johnny Rook is dead but they save Kit. Tessa reveals she is pregnant and you can as always feel the ghost of Will with them.
9. This one is very strange. It starts with Ty and Livvy (a ghost) in his room doing more experiments on her existence. She goes to the Dimmet Tarn and looks in the water but sees no reflection and goes inside it but feels nothing. There's a hint of somekne from 1904 that didnt want to be there. That night while Ty sleeps, Livvy goes back and sees a dying kitten. She wakes Ty and they save it. They do another experiment, this time with Idris. Livvy gets outside the wards and hears Manuel and Zara talking about food and eventually ambushing those outside Idris. She comes back and relays things to Ty then leaves. She goes first to LA anf spies on her siblings and pushes over dishes and turns off lights. Then she goes to Jem and Tessa's to find Magnus and nearly possesses Tessa's baby then breaks the windows. She sees Kit while there, who misses Ty. She gets back to Ty who passed out because she left. Magnus comes with a charm in the heron necklace. And it ends with Livvy worrying about Dimmet Tarn.
10. The last bit I liked and didn't like at the same time. I really liked seeing the tiny bits of Magnus and Alec, Jace and Clary, Simon and Izzy and the kids. But I dislike the evil Jace or Janus as he named himself. You can see the lead up to a conflict coming. Evil Jace wants Clary, but wants everyone else to suffer. The parts with Tessa, Jem, Kit and Mina were super cute and amazing though.
1. The first one in this compilation had a bittersweet tone. Jem meets Matthew Fairchild in the Shadow market while he is on a mysterious mission. Matthew is there to buy a truth potion for his mother to find out if she had an affair with Gideon Lightwood. It makes her sick and she loses the baby she was pregnant with. His father unwittingly tells him of the source of his differences from his family. Matthew decides to tell no one about the potion. The only bright spot is Tessa's and Will's meetings with Jem.
2. This one was mostly about Anna Lightwood, the daughter of Cecily and Gabriel. And there was only a splash of Jem. Anna was dealing with the fact that she likes women and wearing men's clothes. She has a minor romance with Ariadne, who will one day marry Charles Branwell. Her mom surprises her with men's clothes and the demon sensing necklace. Meanwhile Jem is searching for Tessa's demon father who it turns out is a prince of hell!
3. Jem and future Iron Sister Emilia travel to Chattanooga to investigate a strange shadow market and new powers of mundanes there. All are caused by the greater demon belial, who is indebited to Jem. He tells Jem there are Herondales in danger and alive that he tealizes were in the shadow market. Once he goes racing away Belial makes a deal with Emilia in exchange for not being her enemy. She wishes for Jem and his parabatai will to have time together young and whole. In a dream like state they are together and young in Shanghai. It is very bittersweet.
4. A deeper love. Jem in 1940 is searching for the lost Herondales. It takes him and Tessa more than 70 years to find them! He is injured badly by a Fae and goes to Tessa and Catarina. They barely manage to save his life and Jem and Catarina put together the pieces of the lost Herondales. This one was so much of Tessa and Jem and even the ghost of Will was felt. So many tears.
5. This was mostly the story of Celine Montclaire, the woman who would be Jace's mother. She is pitiable and yet somewhat dislikeable for her lack of honor. She was abused as a child, has no friends or people to believe in her except Valentine. She is in love with Stephen Herondale, who is married to Amatis and thinks of Celine as an annoying puppy who follows him around. Valentine hatches a plan to havr Stephen and Robert catch a warlock who implicates two shadowhunters of crimes. In reality the shadowhunters are innocent, oppose Valentine and are Celine's parents. She lets them be killed so Valentine will make sure she gets Stephen in body if not soul. Meanwhile, Jem finds the lost Herondale, a woman, and lets her go. Tessa and Jem meet up. I really was ok with learning more about Celine until she was willing to let her parents die and trap Stephen with her even though he will never love her. Poor Jace to come from them.
6. This on was not as sad thankfully. It was about Jem helping Raphael and Lily get rid of yin fen being shipped into New York by boat. Jace was on that boat as well and it was interesting to see a young Jace. He helped fight the werewolves smuggling yin fen. His first meeting with the Lightwoods was cute with Izzy so in awe and mad and the immediate connection with Jace and Alec. And Maryse gave him his nickname!
7. This was my favorite one so far! Probably because it was more about Alec. Alec is at home in bed resting when he gets a fire message from Jem and Tessa needing his help. He decides to take Lily to Buenos Aires with him because she can use the distraction and can speak Spanish. Quickly they find there is corruption in the Institute and missing werewolf women. The Queen of the Market is a wkman Alec had saved on vacation with Magnus 5 yrs ago. Between her, Jem, Tessa, Alec, Lily and an orphaned Rafael they learn the truth. The leader of the local institute is selling shadowhunter services to yhose who pay and has been kidnapping werewolf women for a warlock to experiment on. They save the remaining women, arrest those responsible, burn the building down and Alec brings Rafe home with him. <3
8. This one was purely Jem and Tessa. They answer the call of Rosemary Herondale and get there in time to see her die. She wants them to save her son, but in the investigation Tessa is injured and stuck in the Change. By the time they reach Kit, Emma is there battling Fal. Johnny Rook is dead but they save Kit. Tessa reveals she is pregnant and you can as always feel the ghost of Will with them.
9. This one is very strange. It starts with Ty and Livvy (a ghost) in his room doing more experiments on her existence. She goes to the Dimmet Tarn and looks in the water but sees no reflection and goes inside it but feels nothing. There's a hint of somekne from 1904 that didnt want to be there. That night while Ty sleeps, Livvy goes back and sees a dying kitten. She wakes Ty and they save it. They do another experiment, this time with Idris. Livvy gets outside the wards and hears Manuel and Zara talking about food and eventually ambushing those outside Idris. She comes back and relays things to Ty then leaves. She goes first to LA anf spies on her siblings and pushes over dishes and turns off lights. Then she goes to Jem and Tessa's to find Magnus and nearly possesses Tessa's baby then breaks the windows. She sees Kit while there, who misses Ty. She gets back to Ty who passed out because she left. Magnus comes with a charm in the heron necklace. And it ends with Livvy worrying about Dimmet Tarn.
10. The last bit I liked and didn't like at the same time. I really liked seeing the tiny bits of Magnus and Alec, Jace and Clary, Simon and Izzy and the kids. But I dislike the evil Jace or Janus as he named himself. You can see the lead up to a conflict coming. Evil Jace wants Clary, but wants everyone else to suffer. The parts with Tessa, Jem, Kit and Mina were super cute and amazing though.
blissyreads's review against another edition
4.0
Cast Long Shadows: 3
Every Exquisite Thing: 3.5
Learn about Loss: 3.5
A Deeper Love: 4.5
The Wicked Ones: 4
Son of the Dawn: 3
The Land I Lost: 3
Through Blood, Through Fire: 3.5
The Lost World: 3.5
Forever Fallen: 2.5
Total: 3.4
Rounding it up to 4 stars because of the beautiful illustrations. <3
Every Exquisite Thing: 3.5
Learn about Loss: 3.5
A Deeper Love: 4.5
The Wicked Ones: 4
Son of the Dawn: 3
The Land I Lost: 3
Through Blood, Through Fire: 3.5
The Lost World: 3.5
Forever Fallen: 2.5
Total: 3.4
Rounding it up to 4 stars because of the beautiful illustrations. <3