Synopsis:
Clockwork Angel: 16-year-old Tessa Grey finds herself far from home in a world she never imagined existed, while she learns more about the circumstances which brought her to a Shadowhunter's Institute in London, England, she also learns to love the people who have adopted her into their family, some more than others. While in pursuit of the mysterious villain who seems determined to get his hands on her, she finds herself surprised at how strong she is as a person and how she can utilise her new-found powers.
Clockwork Prince: After her brother's betrayal of her, Tessa sets her sights on protecting her new family and her new home in the Institute. The search for Mortmain continues and reaches new levels as it is slowly revealed how deep his poison has spread. Tessa finds herself drawn to two best friends, Will and Jem. Whilst Jem offers security, Will exposes passion and electricity in Tessa she cannot help. Will proves just how far he will go to make Tessa love him whilst coming to terms with his own inner torment which is heightened after a surprise encounter with a few old flames...
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SPOILERS
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So I have recently extended my love for The Mortal
Instruments series and bought the first two books in the Infernal Devices
Trilogy and I definitely do not regret it!
Dare I say I find this trilogy better than its sequel?
(There will be a separate Booktalk on this once I have read the final book!)
I seriously love this trilogy so far, my only disposition
being that it is a love triangle and I just find these slightly predictable,
but in this case, the two boys are parabatai
which means they love each other possibly more than either of them loves
Tessa.
Clockwork Angel started out pretty abruptly, I was confused
for like the first 2 chapters but I think this was the intended effect... we
found out what was going on slowly, to mirror Tessa's understanding? Or maybe
just to get the reader engaged in the book just so they could find out what all
the madness was about!
Okay so Tessa has some sort of shape changing ability? To be
honest, when reading about this book in reviews and such forth, I was given no inclination
to this so was completely surprised! Quite frankly I find it interesting, it's
a power no one possessed in the sequel and it means Tessa can take part in all
sorts of secret missions, which she does!
The heroine, Will Herondale, who of course, I imagine to be
beautiful, is introduced briskly as well, saving Tessa from the Dark Sister's
home. At first I thought I would hate him because of his arrogant demeanour but
then I kind of learned to love him, just as Tessa did I suppose.
Jem never really appealed to me in this book, fair enough he
was lovely and kind and whatnot but he was the safe option, there's got to be a
'safe option' and a 'risk option' wherever a love triangle is concerned and
usually the female will choose the riskier one because otherwise there would
not be an as compelling story to build upon.
The storyline in this prequel is much simpler. We have a
villain who is actually a mundane, with no real aspirations other than to rid
the world of all Shadowhunters but that's what I quite like, how the storyline
is simple and easy to follow. It means that we get to know each of the
characters in much greater depth because there isn't as much going on as in the
Mortal Instruments.
I loved how all the families remain the same, I recognise
all the surnames and scandals which are mentioned in the sequel and so I feel
prequels like these, such as The Hobbit, are valuable in furthering the
creation of a magical world.
The Clockwork Prince was much better I feel, much more
happened and I found myself shocked and surprised and generally just glued to
this book.
When Jessamine betrayed the Institute I literally could not
believe it, I thought she was sneaking out at night to undergo secret
Shadowhunter training or something I had no idea she was still in touch with
Nate!
I like how we haven't heard anything from Mortmain this book;
it increases the mystery behind his character and the suspense for what he is
planning in the background while his lessers do his dirty work.
Will is by far one of my favourite literary characters ever
(next to Simon Lewis), the whole business with his curse and not being able to
love anyone was such a unique plot twist and added more depth to his character
than going down the road of a 'tormented soul' or 'low self esteem' would have
achieved. I was literally heartbroken on his behalf when Tessa said she was
engaged to Jem, a part of me hoped they would still have some sort of a steamy
moment to show her she feels more passion for Will. Personally, I don't think
she will end up marrying Jem. As harsh as it sounds, either he will die first
in the next book or she will come to her senses.
I love the storyline between Sophie and Gideon and I reckon
Sophie will try to become a Shadowhunters in the next book, which will be an
interesting sub-plot for her!
Not going to lie, these automatons freak the hell out of me
and recently I've been watching loads of films about robots and robots on YouTube
and argh it's all just a bit close to home because we probably will see robots
on the future so it's a scary scenario which could actually come true!
Most of all, I love that this book is set in the 1800s. It
is far more interesting reading about a time so different to ours in the
present day and gives the illusion of being a different world when in reality
this is not the case! It is also set in London, where I live, so all the places
Cassie describes ring a bell in my mind and I've more than likely been to most
of them. This series makes me want to be a Shadowhunter so much!
A few things die annoy me about these two books. Firstly,
how Tessa can be so naive about understanding Will's feelings towards her after
he kisses her and embraces her bewilders me. Also, the fact that she doesn't
use her powers more to access other people's thoughts confuse me! Surely she
could access the thoughts of Will and understand why he is the way he is? Or
access Jessamine's thoughts sooner to know why she was sneaking out? (At this
point Tessa was unaware that Jessie had a block on her mind). Overall however,
this series is DEFINITELY worth a read, even more so if you're already a fan of
the Shadowhunter world. If you've never read any of Cassie's books before
however, it may be fun to start by reading this trilogy, then move on to the
sequel? Just an idea.
If you've got this far, thanks for reading!
