“Bloodthirsty little beasts. Never trust a duck”- William Herondale (Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare)
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is a Young Adult Fantasy, a Historical Fiction. It is the first book of the Infernal Devices Trilogy. The Prequel to The Mortal Instruments.
Tessa Gray is hoping for a new life, a fresh start when she reaches London instead she is met with Shadowhunters, Downworlders, Vampires, Werewolves, and all things that belong in stories. To top it off her brother is missing. She discovers her only allies are the Shadowhunters, and they are up against the Pandemonium Club, its members, and a magical army of clockwork creatures, who want to rule the British Empire.
The cherry on the top, she finds herself amid a Love Triangle.
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Truth be told this was my first Cassandra Clare book, I have not yet read The Mortal Instruments, and a common complaint that I found in the Goodreads reviews was that the characters were similar to the ones in previous books, personally, I think that books should be judged for themselves and perhaps as a part of a series, and while the Infernal Devices series is called ‘the prequel’, according to the author as written in her website “The Infernal Devices are often called a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments, but only because they take place in an earlier time period and contain some of the Mortal Instruments’ characters’ ancestors”, meaning that there is not much connection between the two series, thus if the characters in the book are interesting then there isn’t much to complain about on in that aspect.
Coming to the plot. I wasn’t completely hooked from the start but it eventually got really good, the book was slow-paced at the start, and later on too while something is always going I wouldn’t call it fast-paced, So, I suppose, a moderately paced book, engaging storyline with lots of twists and turns, and plays with your emotions 🥲.
Tessa is such a strong girl, I can’t even imagine, coming to a new place with some hopes and aspirations and your whole life being turned upside down, you don’t know who you are, and dealing with demons. Then the brother’s situation, goodness, her plate wasn’t full it was overflowing.
I loved her love for books and her trying to deal with everything so bravely. Her thought process was at some points patriarchal, but then these notions were proved wrong. I was afraid she’d be a doormat, as it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. The internal struggle regarding her brother was shown beautifully, that was something that made her somewhat human to me (not that she is human ;))
Then comes the love triangle, I don’t like love triangles I have an entire post about it, (Love Triangle: A Never Ending Debate) at present those feelings still stand but maybe there is still hope, there are two more books left.
No doubt it added and will add to Tessa’s character whether it will be a positive or negative addition is the question.
Jem is so sweet, he has had such a hard life & his ‘condition’ but still he isn’t bitter he needs to be protected at all costs, but love triangles almost always mean heartbreak so 😑. I’m not on his team when it comes to the triangle, there doesn’t seem to be any chemistry between them, I think they will be better off as friends.
Will, this boy most certainly has some past trauma and unlike Jem, he seems to be bitter about it, but I love ‘he was nice only to her’ so I was really hoping for him, then he acted like a douchebag to her. But now I’m invested in them and am hoping for character development and a lot of groveling it is a series after all. Since they have so much chemistry and their story is interesting like I want to know what happens next, I’m on team Will.
Will and Jem’s relationship is adorable, and so lovable.
SPOILER
The real villain didn’t make as much impact on me somehow, the vampire seemed scary in comparison, to be honest. Tessa tragically dying and Will killing the villain in despair would have been a really cool ending but then we wouldn’t have a trilogy, so will have to do with this one.
SPOILER ENDS
There is violence (slightly graphic) and kissing, so a 13+ age rating. It is a multiple-point-of-view book from the first person.
I would give it 4 stars, I’m excited for the next book.
Bye! for now.
Yours
A Fellow Bookworm
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