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I'm so happy to be back in the world of new Shadowhunter content! Son of the Dawn was a great first installment to what will surely be a fantastic novella series.

(As a note, this novella includes spoilers for The Infernal Devices series)

Being honest, I do tend to struggle more with Cassandra Clare's novellas than her full novels (I just feel 500-700 pages does her writing more justice than being restricted to short stories) so this is definitely not my favorite work of hers, but was enjoyable nonetheless. This is not the most entertaining story I've read from the Shadowhunter world. It was a little underwhelming at some points and I very strongly cared for one plotline over another, but I'm a sentimental mess when it comes to these books so it did not have a huge impact on my reading experience. I am confident that as these stories continue and we are more deeply immersed in the tales of one Shadowhunter at the Shadow Markets, I will become more connected to each installment.

I always love the way Cassie Clare can seamlessly weave stories across centuries together. If you are a lover of references to her books old and new, I'm sure Son of the Dawn is a story you will gush over. My absolute favorite part of the story was seeing the classic New York Shadowhunting Crew (Jace, Izzy, and Alec) act as children, especially meeting for the first time. Cassie does a fantastic job at capturing her character's voices as teens, adults, and now children. The beginning of their older personalities are evident in their youth and I adored seeing them interact while so young. I was also so pleased to see greater development from Lily and Raphael, two characters who don't get a ton of page time in the full novels. Their banter is hilarious and I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed their role in this story. (Also, Bless Cassie for including some on-page confirmation of Raphael's aromanticism/asexuality.)

I'm so excited we are getting more Shadowhunter novellas and I cannot wait to dive into #2!!