My Review of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

Released: August 31, 2o1o

Published: 2010/Margaret K. McElderberry

Hardcover: 496pgs

Synopsis from Amazon.com:
"Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still. When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.  Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.  Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all."

I absolutely loved Cassandra Clare’s first book series The Mortal Instruments.  Cassie Clare has this amazing gift of writing which can’t be taught. All her books have a nasty habit of making you come up with your own ideas and guesses as to what will happen and what each little loose end means, but then at some stage I found all my guesses were proved entirely wrong! This is one of the many qualities found in her writing that I absolutely love!

So, when City of Glass was published, I had preordered it and I rushed to the bookstore after school to go pick it up.  It truly made my day to hold that book in my hands after I’d been waiting for it for months! And then, after all those months of waiting, I devoured it in, oh, about... 8 and a half hours! When I finished it at one o’clock in the morning, I was kicking myself thinking, “This is the last Mortal Instruments book and I didn’t even savour reading it!” But then I went back many times and read it more slowly and I picked up some little things that I missed here and there.

So, when Cassie Clare announced that she would be continuing to write in the Shadowhunter world, the Infernal Devices, a prequel to her Mortal Instruments series, I was really ecstatic! So, I called my friend (another Mortal Instruments fan who has actually met Cassandra Clare herself! So jealous...) and we just spoke about how much we loved her books and how happy we were to have more of her amazing work to read!

Although, because I loved her Mortal Instruments series so much, I was a little concerned that Clockwork Angel would be a little too similar to City of Bones.  And I found that it was similar, just not in the way I feared.  We have the protagonist, Tessa Gray, who is thrown into the deep end of a world she’s never heard of or seen before, just like Clary Fray, the protagonist of City of Bones.  In Clockwork Angel, Tessa is on a quest to find her missing brother, as Clary is to find her mother.  Both series have a gorgeous male character who holds an unhealthy penchant for sarcasm and even cruelty at times (but, seriously, I can let this one slide because these guys are hot and totally bad-boy. You know what I’m saying?). And then, all the similarities were just a minor detail which I found myself disregarding, because essentially, the entire book is different, from time and place, down to conflict.  It’s obvious that each character was different, no matter how the similarities connected them.  Like, Tessa wasn’t Clary and Will wasn’t Jace, etc.

Which leads me to my next point, which is how much I love Cassandra Clare’s characters! They are all different in their own ways. They are so well rounded and deep, they seem to just leap off ink and paper, coming alive in bursts of different personalities.  In the Mortal Instruments Cassandra Clare had moulded her characters to have multiple layers to them and her Clockwork Angel is no exception to that.  Take Will for example. There is much more to him than being drop-dead hot, mmkay? He seems like a cruel and arrogant, overly sarcastic guy, right? But then that’s only at first glance.  As the book progresses, you’ll see his softer, fiercely loyal side come out, but only for him to realise he’s dropped his facade and snap back into his irritating self. 

I also love the chemistry between Tessa and Will, and Tessa and Jem.  I really can’t wait for the next books where we can see Tessa choose between Will and Jem, or maybe neither! God forbid she doesn’t choose Will (he’s my fave!).  But man, does that girl have boy issues.  On the one hand she has sweet, heart-of-gold Jem, Will’s best friend, who always looks for the best in people and never lies.  And then there’s Will, who constantly and cruelly pushes Tessa away, acts like he doesn’t care about anyone or anything and who has bajillions of vices, like gambling, alcohol, lying and women. AND he seems to be hiding some gargantuan dark secret (oooooh!). They’re entirely opposite to each other, and she’s drawn to both of them, but she has decision issues (*cough* Will! *cough*)

As for my favourite character, I’d have to go with Tessa.  Despite the fact that everything she’s thought and known has been turned upside down and inside out and proven wrong, she keeps quite level-headed in this new world of chaos.  Despite the fact that she’s a Downworlder and may not be human (the Clave is yet to decide what she is), she is a strong and bright heroine. Also, I love how she’s an avid reader. It makes her relatable.  And she constantly quotes famous literature throughout the book, so if that’s something you’re into, look out for it.

I can’t wait til September to get my hands on the next instalment! Damn awesome cliffhangers.  Clockwork Angel was definitely an amazing debut book to kick off the Infernal Devices trilogy, and it will be- for sure- a winner just like its sequel series, the Mortal Instruments.  So if you haven’t already, go grab a copy, you won’t be disappointed.  And if you haven’t read the Mortal Instruments series either, there is no prerequisite to read the Infernal Devices before the Mortal Instruments or vice versa (another thing I love about the series). So, heck, you can even read them both at the same time, and you’ll find little connections between the two series.

The second instalment in the Infernal Devices trilogy is called Clockwork Prince and is scheduled to be released sometime this September. You can find all Cassandra Clare’s publication information here, follow her on Twitter here, and visit her official website here. Happy reading!