Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link, and Robin Wasserman

Summary From Goodreads:

The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks and vampires. There the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray.

Follow Brother Zachariah and see, against the backdrop of the Shadow Market’s dark dealings and festive celebrations, Anna Lightwood’s first romance, Matthew Fairchild’s great sin and Tessa Gray plunged into a world war. Valentine Morgenstern buys a soul at the Market and a young Jace Wayland’s soul finds safe harbor. In the Market is hidden a lost heir and a beloved ghost, and no one can save you once you have traded away your heart. Not even Brother Zachariah...

Ghosts of the Shadow Market will be co-written with Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, Sarah Rees Brennan and Pulitzer finalist Kelly Link and will initially be available digitally.

The first eight stories will be published as e-books from around March 2018 monthly, with the final two available in a print bind-up of all the stories, to be published in 2019.

Review:

I love these books. I love all the books that take place in this magical, magical world. I kind of went into this one blindly. It came out before I knew it. And I didn’t even let myself read the side flap summary. I just jumped right in. I loved getting so much more of Jem! He was one of my favorite characters from the The Infernal Devices series. And getting all these mini moments of him over the centuries was such a surprise treat.

This book definitely reads like a setup for the author’s upcoming series. But, I liked that. I liked getting the full backstory of what’s to come. And I liked getting so much perspective on it. From Alec’s story, to Catarina’s, to Magnus’s, to even Jace’s. Getting  to read about the night Jace joined the Lightwood’s was such a treat!

And I guess that’s the overall feeling of this book in general; a special treat I didn’t know I needed, but greatly did. And getting a more in-depth description of Alec and Magnus’ adoption story brought tears to my eyes. And I can’t forget Jem’s love story that transcends centuries. It was heart-wrenching, sad, and beautiful. I was so happy for the love he finally got to experience.

I love that Cassandra Clare teams up sometimes with other authors. I feel like these other authors can pull out even more from her. When she pairs with Maureen Johnson or Sarah Rees Brennan, it’s like magic. These ladies get characters so well. And you’d think that other authors (who didn’t actually write these people initially) would struggle with this. They don’t. They make these characters even more real.

Not all the stories were amazing. Some were. Some were just okay. But overall, I was glad to have read this. It really did feel like a bonus treat I was rewarded for good behavior. I got sneak peaks into moments I only ever imagined before…or didn’t even have the ability to think up. I can’t wait for the much alluded to next series to come out. Overall I give this a 9/10.