Book Review: The Lost Book of the White

It won’t be a surprise to those of you who have followed me since early 2019 that I loved The Lost Book of the White. This is the second novel in The Eldest Curses, which is a Shadowhunters series that centers around two of my favorite people in this universe, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. It takes place after the events in Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy, with Magnus and Alec settling into their new role as parents. Their lives are turned upside down when two old friends steal something valuable from their Brooklyn apartment, and the pair (joined by some familiar faces) have to hightail it to Shanghai in order to recover the stolen item… and prevent the end of the world as they know it.

I have been lovingly referring to The Lost Book of the White as the Shadowhunters novel where the Shadowhunters Scooby gang from the New York Institute get themselves involved in some shenanigans in Shanghai. The levity of that description suits the overall tone of this tale very well since there are plenty of entertaining ups and downs and in-betweens that had me yelling and laughing the entire way through. This isn’t to say that there isn’t also a whole lot of heart as well, as there were definitely moments that tugged at my heartstrings. Especially the moments between Magnus and Alec, who are now an established couple with a solid foundation!

Apart from enjoying the plot and the time spent with familiar faces (I may have lost my cool a little when a certain someone showed up!), I really liked how Wesley Chu and Cassandra Clare wove this story into the already existing tapestry of Cassie’s work. It fits in with the already existing canon, while also providing readers with additional lore to widen the world we’ve all come to know and love. It was particularly interesting to see the fantastical elements particular to Shanghai integrated into this book!

The only thing I’d nitpick at is the villain aspect of the tale, as it wasn’t my particular cup of tea (though it worked very well for Macky). I didn’t find that element to be as strong as I’d like, which did minorly affect my overall perception of the novel.

While my love for The Lost Book of the White didn’t quite eclipse my feelings for its predecessor, I still loved it a lot. It just made me so darn happy to read it and be fully immersed in a new part of this universe’s timelines and world! Hats off to Wesley Chu and Cassandra Clare for this wonderful addition to The Eldest Curses series, and I’m very much looking forward to the third and final book in this trilogy.

The Lost Book of the White was published on September 1, 2020 by Simon & Schuster.

Series: The Eldest Curses #2 | Previous Book in the Series: The Red Scrolls of Magic

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I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher for review.

(P.S. If you want to hear more thoughts on The Lost Book of the White, featuring spoilery feels from Macky and myself, check out The Lost Book of the White episode of Bookish Breakdowns on FandomBuzzzz. And for more Shadowhunters content, you can check out my 2019 reading vlog, our Shadowhunters book tag and our dedicated What We Read video for this universe.)