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The blurb has nothing to do with what majority of the book and the bits that are in the blurb are a reach at best.

Potential spoilers ahead.


Simon has an encounter with Downworlders and is reprimanded for not following the rules for Academy students interacting with Downworlders.

He doesn't have an 'encounter' with a 'Downworlder' and no one reprimands him. Helen, the half-fey Shadowhunter who makes up half of the lesbian Shadowhunter couple, is forced to speak to Simon's class.

After class, Simon notes to his fellow students that the instructor kind of treats Helen like shit and doesn't think it's right. The text initially states it like this:

But that wasn't Helen's fault. Helen was only half-faerie, and it wasn't the half that counted.

Later the narrative will back peddle this statement a bit, and Simon will say that not all the faeries should be punished just because some were jerks. Though this line here still seems to state that Helen shouldn't be thought of as Faerie because she has half 'superior' Shadowhunter blood.

Simon isn't reprimanded for his thinking either. He ticks off a few of this classmates for defending the faeries. The worst of which questions why he even wants to be a Shadowhunter if he dislikes their rules and mentality so much. Though this is a nonissue as Simon's roommate and closest friend doesn't get angry at him and even states that it will quickly blow over.

Simon didn't do anything other except have an opinion on the matter. This plot point in the novella is Simon thinking 'this is wrong', but not doing anything proactive about it.

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.

Pointless and just a few paragraphs at the end. It was probably to set up the backstory for the upcoming series. If it's intention was to make me feel sympathy for Helen and Mark's mother then fail. If it was to make me think that she was one of the good fairies just because she loved their father for real then, also, fail. She still callously allowed other's to torture his brother all because she had no use for him. All her other actions done out of love don't get a pass with me.


The real bulk of this story, however, was a date between Isabelle and Simon. Which, as per the usual formula, starts out awful. Since we can't have a date go right in this world or else, it isn't real love. It's more the same wangsting and back and forth with them we've seen in the past novellas though this time I think the 'will they won't they' is finally over. Thank God.

All in all this novella is a flimsy rattling off of decent ideals but never acts on them. While Simon holds a good opinion on the whole matter of faerie racism it all kind of flops when he instantly distracted by make out times and his piddly little problems.