What Really Happened in Peru by Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan

What Really Happened in Peru by Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan

First in the Bane Chronicles

2.75 stars

In the first installment of The Bane Chronicles we learn the reason behind why Magnus Bane isn’t allowed in Peru. The first part in the e-book series follows him in about 200 years time of dragging his warlock friends around Peru. Confession time: I haven’t read anything by Cassandra Clare since the sixth grade which was about five years ago. I first read The Mortal Instruments when it was a trilogy and so had half the kids in my Honors English class. It was my classes’ favorite book series and we all enjoyed discussing it. I, in all honesty, don’t think that the Mortal Instruments should’ve continued because I was satisfied with where City of Glass finished. I do plan on eventually finishing the series, as well as starting the Infernal Devices (because I recently purchased Clockwork Prince). I was really planning on reading this e-book at all, but I was stalking Twitter and saw that it was the Pulse It read and was currently free, so I took the chance to read it. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. Yes, I used to love the Mortal Instruments, but that was a really long time ago and I was wary about Clare’s writing and if I would still enjoy it. I did enjoy What Really Happened in Peru, but to a certain extent. I’m sure fans of the Mortal Instruments series absolutely gobble this up, but I was very easily detached from the story at times. The story is broken down into four parts: 1791, 1885, 1890, and 1962. I really liked how the time periods were broken up and it was more of short stories within a novella. I thought it was a pretty well-done idea. The story did get choppy at times and it was easy to stop reading and get distracted by something else. *cough Twitter and Instagram cough* I personally can’t decide if I truly enjoyed Clare’s writing or not. There were times when I was well entranced with Magnus and his friends and then others where I was rolling my eyes and just thinking it was a waste of time. I took a lot of notes on this novella, which is really weird because I usually only take a lot of notes if I absolutely hate something, but my notes consisted of things that made me laugh and also things that made me want scream and throw my Kindle at the wall. I truly thought I was going to hate this because not very far in and there was a huge info dumping about Magnus and his language background and blah blah blah. I totally zoned out and I thought I was going to end up hating this. Then the most amazing thing happen, I laughed at a joke that Ragnor made. I mean laughed I was rolling on my bed in a fit of mindless giggles.
“Although, I must speak Prattling Fool, since I can understand you.” - Ragnor to Magnus
Then more giggles ensued.
“I will find whatever chest of absurd clothes you have. And I will bring a llama into the place where you sleep and make sure that it urinates on everything you possess.”Ragnor to Magnus
It’s probably not even that funny to most people, but it really started to make me enjoy the story more. While there are also a few editing mistakes throughout this, I didn’t mind them as much as I probably usually do.


The main male character is Magnus Bane. I’ve always like Magnus and his witty jokes and banter with people can usually brighten anyone’s day, but I didn’t know if I was going to enjoy him in his own little book. I did though. I’ll admit a lot of Magnus’s life is completely out there, but I enjoyed his crazy antics. He made me laugh and I even teared up a bit when he talked about his mom. I do look forward to getting to know more about Magnus Bane.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 8

Ragnor and Catarina were both very charming warlocks that really are fun to read about. All three of them together remind of the Three Musketeers, but with magic. They always make me laugh and Ragnor is probably my favorite character in this novel. He was such a downer sometimes, but he was also so funny and sarcastic. For fans hoping that there will be romance, never fear, Clare has thrown in a romance that will bore you to tears because Imasu, the musician, and Magnus have a very brief relationship and Imasu doesn’t appear very much in the story himself. He’s there, but not there. So it’s not really romance, just infatuation. There’s also that Kitty girl Magnus meets and becomes a fugitive with for a summer romance. It was hardly even there. *shrugs*

Character Scale: 8

One of my biggest problems with this novella is that there isn’t really a plot. It’s a small one, but in all honesty it’s not enough of a plot to be considered one. The writing was also a bit annoying. Sometimes metaphors and uses of imagery were just so out there. This one quote really made me laugh at the fact that it has actually been written.
“She had lashes so long they were almost sweeping her shoulders.”



That is terrible and all it does it make me think she looks like Cousin It. There were some pretty cool things in this book though. There were:






Magnus drunk and Magnus being such a terrible musician that llamas started to migrate away from the town. I’ll probably continue this series as some point, but not at the moment.This book is fun, but it has its flaws. It isn’t completely horrible, but I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you really do enjoy Magnus or the Mortal Instruments.


Cover Thoughts: I like it. It’s pretty cool and I don’t know something about it just seems to fit Magnus and his personality. I wouldn’t have put New York City as the backdrop though since it was nonexistent.