Hey, guys! I am really excited to discuss the sixth book in the Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy series, Pale Kings and Princes. I really enjoyed this novella. It just made me so nostalgic for The Mortal Instruments series. I think this series is so great, and it feels like an actual book, not just a novella bind up. But I don’t really want to spoil anything, so let’s go ahead and jump right into the review!
Synopsis:“Simon has an encounter with Downworlders and is reprimanded for not following the rules for Academy students interacting with Downworlders. A story within a story: Andrew Blackthorn, while a student at the Academy, becomes enthralled by a faerie and has two children with her: Mark and Helen.”
My Thoughts:This is one of the shortest novellas in this series, but it is my new favorite. We got to see Isabelle and Helen, and it was my absolute favorite. I hated how these stupid prejudiced Shadowhunters just had to treat Helen, who is and always will be a Shadowhunter, like the devil incarnate. She is not responsible for what the Fae did. Yeah, the Fae in the Dark War were freaking sons of bitches, but she fought alongside the Shadowhunters against the Fae, against Sebastian. She has been and always will be a Shadowhunter, and how did the Shadowhunters repay her? They sent her into exile on this frozen tundra of a land, and they treat her like the devil. It just burned me up inside…
I didn’t know the true story of everything that happened with Helen’s dad and his brother, Arthur, and everything with Lady Nerissa. Now I know why Arthur is so messed up in The Dark Artifices–he literally went through hell. And then the Shadowhunters forced Helen to tell that story and to say that is why Faeries can’t be trusted. The professor and the students treated her like something you scraped off the bottom of the shoe, and it just really made me realize even more why Downworlders hate Shadowhunters. They are arrogant, cruel, and just awful bastards who treat anyone who isn’t a Shadowhunter like they are so beneath them that they would need to dig far into the center of the earth for a fraction of who they are, and it just pisses me off.
Now the other storyline we follow is the one with Isabelle and Simon, and my God. I was living for this entire section. I love them so much. There is a reason they were my favorite ship in TMI. Sizzy is my favorite thing. It’s sexy, but also geeky and awkward, and it is the best thing ever. I was so excited to see them in this novella, and I just could not stop smiling the entire time. While the beginning of the novella may have royally pissed me off, I freaking loved this part of the novella. It made me so happy, and it just made me excited to continue on with the rest of the series!
And there you have it! That was my review of Pale Kings and Princes by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman. What is your favorite in the series so far? Comment down below! I would love to know. And that is going to be it for this review today. Thank you all so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time!
