Review: The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Title: The Shadowhunter's Codex

Series: The Shadowhunter Chronicles

Authors: Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: October 2013

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis:

Delve into the details of all things Shadowhunter with this illustrated guide to the knowledge and lore of the Shadowhunter world.

Since the thirteenth century, the Shadowhunter’s Codex has been the one and only manual for Shadowhunters looking to brush up on their demon languages, learn proper stele use, and discover just what exactly a pyxis is. Featured in both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, this guide is a necessity for any young Nephilim on their journey to becoming a Shadowhunter. Beautifully illustrated, the Codex contains images of the famous Shadowhunter homeland of Idris, as well as depictions of demons and other Downworlders.

But this isn’t just any copy of The Shadowhunter’s Codex. It’s Clary’s copy, and as an artist herself, she’s sketched pictures of her friends and family in the book, and scrawled helpful advice in the margins. Of course, she couldn’t exactly stop Jace or Simon from adding their thoughts either. Part encyclopedia, part history, part training manual—complete with commentary from Shadowhunters who have seen it all—this beautiful guide is a perfect supplement to the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

My rating: ★★★★★
The Shadowhunter’s Codex basically has all the information you need to know about Shadow World and being a Shadowhunter. It was very informative but it was also fun thanks to all the little notes left by Simon, Clary and Jace. The book also has some really beautiful images on the inside, and even the hardback itself is gorgeous! (You can click on the images to make them larger.)


Sprinkled throughout the book are also some fun illustrations drawn by Clary, which I really liked. And what I loved even more was the commentary the characters left in the margins of the book (the bolder text = Jace, the more loopy one = Clary, and the other one = Simon)...


They also answered the discussion questions and it was both amusing and fun. I loved it!


I love all the sass from the characters, but, you guys, even the Codex gets sassy, too! Lol.

Research on Pandemonium has been limited, largely because most Nephilim consider that there are enough demons present in our world without going to find still more of them.

And one of my favorite parts was a little section written by the one and only Magnus Bane called Why Do People Become Shadowhunters. It was SO funny! I love Magnus and was not expecting him to have an entry in this book, so it was a really nice surprise. Anyway, I want to share some of my favorite reasons, as listed by Magnus:

• Local Shadowhunters are ironically punishing you by making you join them.
• You know too much, and should be recruited because the secrecy of the Shadow World has already been compromised for you.
• You know too little; it would be helpful to the Shadowhunters if you knew more.
• You know exactly the right amount, making you a natural recruit.
• Shadowhunters are concerned they are no longer haughty and condescending enough—have sought you out to add a much needed boost of haughty condescension.

And my personal favorite:

• You have been bitten by a radioactive Shadowhunter, giving you the proportional strength and speed of a Shadowhunter.

Magnus is the best! 😂 And we also get little glimpses into what the characters are up to after City of Glass... mostly Jace training Clary. I love that he’s super dedicated to it and even has a whole schedule made for her. Lol.

So yeah, this book was a lot of fun with all these little character snippets littered throughout the book, but the main meat of the book is information. Lots of really fascinating information. We get a section called the Beastiare which is basically a bunch of info on demons, all the downworlders, and how they all came into being. There was one section I thought was kinda boring though. It was toward the end and it was basically the geography of Idris and Alicante and it's features or whatever. Sorry, but I just didn’t really care 🤷‍♀️ Lol. But right after this we get the section on stuff before the Nephilim—the beginning of the world and the mother and father of demons, Lilith and Sammael. It was SO interesting! I just love this mythos!

And speaking of demons, we get a section on freaking Demon Pox!! Omg! If you have read The Infernal Devices, you know why this makes me happy! Lol.

I love anything Shadowhunter related, so even though this book kinda reads like a textbook because, well, it is, I just loved all the information in it. And between the occasional sass from the Codex itself and the fun commentary throughout the book from the characters, it was not only informative, but a lot of fun to read! I highly recommend it if you’re as big a fan of the Shadowhunter Chronicles as I am! But definitely read it at least after City of Glass, cause you know, spoilers 😉

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊