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A review by betwixt_the_pages
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
4.0
"You've always been what you are. That's not new. What you'll get used to is knowing it."
---
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 have tried to read Cassandra Clare before--City of Bones--and put her down. While I wanted to read her and love the book, I just wasn't into it at the time. When I saw a read along on tumblr for this book, which I'd been eyeing for quite a while now (steampunk is a genre I've recently discovered a deep love for, and have been meaning to read more of), I decided I would give Clare's writing another try--seeing as I'd been so interested in this book specifically for so long, I figured it might be a good place to start.
I wasn't wrong. I started this book yesterday--and sped through it. While I know the characters here are probably at more advantage in the main story they were created for, I couldn't help but be drawn to them here--vulnerable, unlearned in some ways. Because this is, technically, a prequel, I feel the characters here are lacking something they don't later on--and for that reason, are more easy to relate to, and to love.
Cassandra Clare did a great job of taking characters already established in other stories and making them stand out, like jewels on a throne, in this one. Their motivations, their instincts, the ways they build relationships with others--all these things come together to make these characters, while not wholly human, realistic. I didn't realize, going into this, how heavily their stories would weigh on my shoulders.
The prose is well-written and easy to read; the adventure and plot twists, while at times easy to see coming, is also wild and at the mercy of no one. I hurt with these characters; I laughed at their antics, I rooted for them, I cried. Will and Tessa hurt me the most, I think--which is what they were written to do. I'm hoping in the other books, their issues are resolved and Will works out whatever it is that makes him so...URGH. I would be lying if I said I didn't find myself wanting to strangle him at times. Jem, also, is different from how I'd imagined him while reading City of Bones. Better, somehow, though I can't explain what I mean. Less jaded, perhaps; more willing to relate to others, despite their place in the world.
But I digress. This book has made me reconsider Clare; I will certainly be picking her up again in the future, starting with the other two books in this spin-off prequel trilogy. Fingers crossed Will stops being such a jerk. Fingers crossed the others hurt me just as much as this one did (because those are the best types of books).
---
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 have tried to read Cassandra Clare before--City of Bones--and put her down. While I wanted to read her and love the book, I just wasn't into it at the time. When I saw a read along on tumblr for this book, which I'd been eyeing for quite a while now (steampunk is a genre I've recently discovered a deep love for, and have been meaning to read more of), I decided I would give Clare's writing another try--seeing as I'd been so interested in this book specifically for so long, I figured it might be a good place to start.
I wasn't wrong. I started this book yesterday--and sped through it. While I know the characters here are probably at more advantage in the main story they were created for, I couldn't help but be drawn to them here--vulnerable, unlearned in some ways. Because this is, technically, a prequel, I feel the characters here are lacking something they don't later on--and for that reason, are more easy to relate to, and to love.
Cassandra Clare did a great job of taking characters already established in other stories and making them stand out, like jewels on a throne, in this one. Their motivations, their instincts, the ways they build relationships with others--all these things come together to make these characters, while not wholly human, realistic. I didn't realize, going into this, how heavily their stories would weigh on my shoulders.
The prose is well-written and easy to read; the adventure and plot twists, while at times easy to see coming, is also wild and at the mercy of no one. I hurt with these characters; I laughed at their antics, I rooted for them, I cried. Will and Tessa hurt me the most, I think--which is what they were written to do. I'm hoping in the other books, their issues are resolved and Will works out whatever it is that makes him so...URGH. I would be lying if I said I didn't find myself wanting to strangle him at times. Jem, also, is different from how I'd imagined him while reading City of Bones. Better, somehow, though I can't explain what I mean. Less jaded, perhaps; more willing to relate to others, despite their place in the world.
But I digress. This book has made me reconsider Clare; I will certainly be picking her up again in the future, starting with the other two books in this spin-off prequel trilogy. Fingers crossed Will stops being such a jerk. Fingers crossed the others hurt me just as much as this one did (because those are the best types of books).