Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
So….overall star rating would be a 3.5. This book is probably a 3 for me. I won’t give any spoilers in this review and apologize in advance for the somewhat vague review but I’m trying not to ruin anything for those who haven’t read this book/series.
Clockwork Princess picks up where Clockwork Prince left off. Tessa is set to marry Jem and the angst is there. Will has tried his best to not do anything regarding his feelings toward Tessa but he is with her and Jem all the time. Also, he knows Jem is dying and internally he has decided that he could never be with her even if Jem is gone.
“If Jem dies, I cannot be with Tessa,” said Will. “Because it will be as if I were waiting for him to die, or took some joy in his death, if it let me have her. And I will not be that person. I will not profit from his death. So he must live.”
“And yet when you walk that aisle to meet him and join yourselves forever you will walk an invisible path of the shards of my heart, Tessa.”
I mean if those aren’t angsty, I don’t know what is. Aside from that, it shows just how much Will is trying to hold it together. I just want to get this out of the way…I’m a Will fan, I prefer him to Jem and if you find that upsetting you will probably want to stop reading this right now.
With that warning over – I never thought that Tessa should have agreed to marry Jem. It was clear she had feelings for both Jem and Will but there it is. I see what Clare was trying to do – this is in no way your typical love triangle. It has repeatedly been said that Jem and Will are essentially 2 halves of a whole because of their Parabatai relationship. It (kind of) makes sense for Tessa to love them both.
I found that the underlying story of The Infernal Devices and Mortmain to be good…when it was there. Honestly I got the sense that what was supposed to be the main storyline was sucked under the Jem/Will/Tessa relationship story and became less important. Don’t get me wrong – it is there, it just isn’t the main focus. There is a definite showdown between the Shadowhunters and Mortmain but it felt somewhat rushed. On top of that, once it was wrapped up there were still another 100 or so pages left of the story…which then focused back on the relationship piece.
As always, Magnus is a great secondary character. He adds the right amount of levity and color when needed and steers other characters in the right direction. Gideon and Gabriel, Cecily, Sophie, Charlotte and Harry all helped to move the story along as well as provide additional layers to the story – whether that was back story about the main characters or helping provide progression in the fight against Mortmain.
Reading this review one might think I didn’t like it…that would be wrong. I just found that the story of the infernal devices seemed to take a back seat to everything else at times. One of the pieces to this book I did enjoy was the epilogue – I will admit to tearing up a bit while reading it.
If you like The Mortal Instruments you will definitely enjoy this series. I have a sense that we won’t be seeing the last of these characters and their offspring with the conclusion of this series.
Recent Comments