Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Author : Cassandra Clare
Genre : Fantasy
Published Date : March 19th 2013
Publisher : Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages : 592
Source : Bought
Rating : ✿✿✿✿✿
From Goodreads :
Tessa Gray should be happy — aren’t all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding to Jem Carstairs, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to the Magister, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan of destruction.
He needs Tessa.
Tessa knows Axel Mortmain, the Magister, is coming for her, but not where or when he will strike. Charlotte Branwell, the head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain first. And the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, and Will knows he should force himself to find someone else to care for, he is as much in love with her as ever.
In the last words of a dying Shadowhunter reside the clue that might lead Tessa and her friends to Mortmain. But the Shadowhunters of the London Institute cannot stand alone, and in their homeland of Idris, the ruling body of the Clave doubt their claims that Mortmain is coming. Deserted by those who should be their allies and with their enemies closing in, the Shadowhunters find themselves trapped when Mortmain seizes the medicine which is all that is keeping Jem alive. With his best friend at death’s door it is up to Will to risk everything to save the woman they both love.
To buy Will time, the warlock Magnus Bane joins with Henry Branwell to create a device that could help them to defeat the Magister. As those who love Tessa work to save her, and the future of the Shadowhunters that resides with her, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself —for in the discovery of her own true nature, Tessa begins to learn that she is more powerful than she ever dreamed possible. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?
Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.
Review
The ending of Clockwork Prince must had left anyone simply dying to read the continuation, especially about Tessa-Will-Jem's seemingly unsolved love.
But then again, this is Cassandra Clare, who was able to surprise us all in The Mortal Instruments first three book. Who was able to write a seemingly forbidden love and twisted it into something totally different.
And then again, she did. And it was, I personally think, mind-blowing.
“It was the moment I first knew I loved you,”
—Jem
—Jem
Clockwork Princess followed the event of Clockwork Prince, where Mortmain was still being pursued as a criminal by the Clave, his automatons were still infiltrating the Shadowhunter's places, and Tessa was still his only objective.
But when Mortmain finally tried to use a new method—something that was not a brutal, direct way—and bought all yin fen on London to put Jem's life in danger and threaten Tessa, she must chose whether to make a sacrifice for her love, or to remain and searched for another solution—the cure.
But what will she do when even the greatest sacrifice was not enough?
From the plot, I had to say that this series continued to amaze me. It was engaging even from the first page, opened up with action, slowed down a little, followed by a revelation, building up the tense, followed by another action, more revelation, and then the grand ending. The story was intricate, and there were lot of elements of surprise and twists being added here and there, but what I love was that they all blended nicely and the story therefore flowed with ease.
One thing I really love from this book was especially its tie to The Mortal Instruments. It was really lovely to learned about the history of some things from TMI that, when we first read it, might sounds trivial but actually had quite a story behind it, such as Isabelle's ruby necklace, the portal, Jace's star birthmark, and a whole lot more. It really added the real feeling to the world of the Cassie's Shadowhunter, and I personally, love to read a detail like that.
The characters had shown a lot of development in this book as well, most notable being Tessa, Jem, and Will.
Tessa Gray, shown as a curious but weak and shy girl, was becoming more and more Shadowhunter-like each passing day. And here, she was portrayed as a strong-willed, stubborn, but still caring girl, and the change happened slowly but in a believable manner as well, that we would not notice the process, but rather the result.
Jem Carstairs, I think, was the one whose character had really had a major improvement.
From what was a dying man with a gentle heart but overall felt too flat, he showed a lot more emotion on this book, and the event that happened really gave him the chance to show his signature kindness and his forgiving heart, and it truly made him believable, and not just kind of boring oh-he-was-nice-and-so-what, but rather a heart touching kind of nice.
Will Herondale, where the previous book was mostly about him, showed a lot of personality change as well, and although his change was actually drastic, it was written nicely, and had a strong base it was not glaringly noticeable and unexplained.
There's some things however—how perfect that book might seemed—that I'm not quite fond of this book.
First of all was Tessa's and Will's—sometimes—inconsistent thought and attitude.
It was just, they seemed to let things go too easily at one day, but refused to let it go no matter what on the other day.
And especially, Tessa.
She grieved a lot, feeling it was the saddest thing ever and ever and there was nothing anyone could do to ease her heart, and then she upturned her own grief like it was nothing and never happened. And I was just like, sitting here, reading, enjoying it, and then it all became "Okay, oh wait, what?"
It might be way too much spoiler if I talk about it here, so I'm just going to hint it : Somewhere in the scene at Cadair Idris.
Overall, I do think that this book was a perfect wrap of The Infernal Devices series.
Although it was just three book, I had really grown attached to the most of its character, the world-building was deep and left quite an impression, and how the loose end of each problem was able to be tied securely, leaving no confusion but rather a curious question mark about how it would be linked to the next installment.
And even if this book was not really that flawless, I do think that this one—or this series, if you haven't started The Infernal Devices yet—a definitely must read.
She grieved a lot, feeling it was the saddest thing ever and ever and there was nothing anyone could do to ease her heart, and then she upturned her own grief like it was nothing and never happened. And I was just like, sitting here, reading, enjoying it, and then it all became "Okay, oh wait, what?"
It might be way too much spoiler if I talk about it here, so I'm just going to hint it : Somewhere in the scene at Cadair Idris.
Overall, I do think that this book was a perfect wrap of The Infernal Devices series.
Although it was just three book, I had really grown attached to the most of its character, the world-building was deep and left quite an impression, and how the loose end of each problem was able to be tied securely, leaving no confusion but rather a curious question mark about how it would be linked to the next installment.
And even if this book was not really that flawless, I do think that this one—or this series, if you haven't started The Infernal Devices yet—a definitely must read.
2 comments
I've never read a Cassandra Clare book before but unlike, say, Ilona Andrews, there doesn't seem to be a general consensus of "You must read her books now!" Clare seems like a divisive author -- and after reading her bio, I get why. Yikes. But never say never. Do you think her other books are worth reading?
ReplyDeleteregards,
monique of Auto Body Seattle
Well, it might be a little biased, coming from a fans like me, but yes, I do think her other work are worth reading as well.
DeleteMany people like her work, and many of my friends love it too when I recommended it to them :D
Best Regards,
Neysa
A comment from readers make us happy, really!
This is also an award-free zone, but thanks for your consideration!