Hey everyone! This is Divya, here to review Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I have been a HUGE fan of Clare’s since I picked up The Mortal Instruments a few years ago. This book was a high-paced adventure, with extremely intense fight scenes and (hehehe) some romantic tension. If you have yet to read the Mortal Instruments, I suggest you backtrack and read those first, as Clare sets up the complex, yet fantastical shadow-world in those books. You probably wont be lost if you read this series without knowledge from the original series, but you will definitely enjoy it a lot more if you can see all the connections and relive the magic of this crazy world.
Summary (Courtesy of GoodReads): In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…
I rate this book a 4.8/5 stars. That’s it for the no-spoilers section, so if you have yet to read this book, GO READ IT and come back. BYEE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, lets get down to business. This book… oh my goodness. Where to start? As soon as I picked up this book, I told myself not to get too attached to any characters. Cassandra Clare does, after all, have the tendency to rip out the hearts and souls of her readers and crush it. However, from the very first sentence of the book, I could feel myself being drawn in and clinging to each character.
While I want to discuss every character, and every fine detail concering them, I really want to try and discuss the main few as well as all those crazy plot twists. I love Tessa with every fiber of my being, because she is literally living my dream. She is a book lover (the first of the fangirls) who is thrust into a world of magic and demons. I love how even though the time period demands that women need a man, to hold and be protected by, Tessa is pretty stong on her own. She’s brave and smart, and though she isn’t afraid to get help when she needs it, she can fend for herself, and she loves with the whole of her heart. However it is because of the love she has for others that she fails to see the monster in her own brother.
It was shocking enough for me to find out that Mortmain, the seemingly foolish and annoying mundane, was the villain all along. But when I realized that NATE was on the villain’s side, I was blown right over the edge. I literally wanted to wring Nate’s neck when we found out that he was part of Mortmain’s crew. Throughout the book, I was genuinely terrified for Nate, and what might’ve happened to him. And I felt like laughing for him when Jessamine was hard-core flirting-it-up with him (seriously, Jessamine annoyed me to an extent I couldn’t understand). Poor Tessa was doing everything in her power to save him, and out of no where, HE’S EVIL. Oh my goodness, I couldn’t even comprehend the intensity of that moment, because my mind was BLOWN. In other words: Best plot twist. EVER.
And that love triangle… Will and Jem just break my heart. I’m never sure who I ship her more with, and who is my favorite out of the two. Jem is so kind to Tessa. Where Will takes all his issues out on Tessa, and shames her *(cough, cough)* like their kiss at the end of the book *(cough, cough)*, Jem gives her a shoulder to lean on, and someone to smile with. Not only is he good to Tessa, but he’s good to Will. He is Will’s parabati, and quite possibly one of the few people that Will loves equally, which makes Jem an interesting part of the love triangle. It’s so clear he likes her, but honestly Tessa is so daft sometimes, she doesn’t even see it. But even more heartbreaking that the unrequited affection Jem has for Tessa is the fact that Jem is literally dying. When I read Jem’s story of how he became sick, it made me want to curl up in a ball and cry. I was so shocked, but learning this bit of his backstory made me love him even more. Though living everyday is a constant struggle, with that demon-drug slowly leeching the life out of him, he’s still kind. I wonder if Clare will be expanding on that later, because I do not want Jem to die. This must be just the start, and I’m hoping that by the end, the will have found a cure or something.
Though they are parabati, Will and Jem could not be more opposite. Will is literally the epitome of all Herondales; sarcastic, EXTREMELY attractive, and clearly hiding from something dark in his past. Sometimes all you can see is his rudeness and jokes, but when he’s with Tessa or Jem, you can almost see a softer side to him. He’s clearly hiding something, or struggling with something that makes him afraid to be with Tessa, because everytime she gets too close, the walls come down, and he shuts her out and it just breaks my heart. I’m probably just overanalyzing things, but I certainly hope there’s more to Will. The last scene where he’s standing in the rain, waiting for Magnus breaks my heart, because I just know its because of his kiss with Tessa. Whether he’s distraught about pushing Tessa away again, or because he doesn’t want to let her in. WHY CANT EVERYONE JUST BE HAPPY, WHAT THE HECK?!
And speaking of unhappy relationships; I can never tell if Charlotte is completely happy with Henry. She’s so smart, and she stuck with this guys whose constantly lost in his own head. That’s not to say she doesn’t care about him, because I can sense that they both genuinely care about each other, however we didn’t really expand on their relationship. Of course they care about each other, but what about LOVE? I’m hoping Clare expands a bit on that later, and decides to show the reader a little more of a reason to ship it.
Clockwork Prince is the next book in the Infernal Devices series, so keep an eye out for it. I have a feeling that this book was only the start of a truly amazing, crazy adventure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading my review. Comment below if you have any book suggestions, or any ideas about what else you guys want Kate and me to post about. That’s all for today! BYE
TheCookieCrumblr 