Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Grade: A
Synopsis from goodreads.com:
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
My thoughts on the book:
As a huge fan of Cassandra Clare, and the Immortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series, I LOVED this book. I really adore the steam punk world that she’s created. Clare manages to make you feel like you’re in Victorian England while still infusing her writing with modern emotion. That’s a hard balance to find, but Cassandra Clare has mastered it.
Tessa, Jem, and Will all grow immensely in this novel. Tessa, as always, has to make very difficult decisions. She is a fairly selfless character and I like that about her. She’s also noble and honorable. Her actions in Clockwork Prince made me like her even more.
Jem is, as usual, too sweet for me. I mean he’s great and I like him fine, but really, he’s just too fluffy for my tastes. I wouldn’t be angry if Tessa ended up picking him in the end, but I definitely prefer Will. Jem grew on me some in this novel, though. I like him more, and he showed a dark side this time. That was refreshing. However, at the end of the day, I still would choose Will. I’m not Tessa, though, so we’ll have to wait and see what she does.
Will broke my heart in this novel. It was nothing he did. It was just everything that has happened to him. His deep dark secret finally comes out, and we find out why he can’t love anyone. The outcome of that is very sad, and I’m pretty sure poor Will was traumatized by the end of this novel. Will makes some pretty terrible mistakes in this book, but I think he redeems himself by the end. He does the best he can, and through the process, he becomes less self-absorbed. By the end of the novel, he’s grown up a lot.
Magnus, as always, is a favorite of mine. He’s funny, and his heart of gold shines through, even when he doesn’t want it to. He really puts a lot of effort into helping Will, and I admire that about him. We also get to learn more about Magnus’ past relationships in this novel, which makes me understand his motivations a bit better.
The action and suspense in Clockwork Prince kept me turning the pages. I could not put this book down! The pacing for this novel was spot-on. It moved slowly enough for the characters to grow and the relationships to develop, but it wasn’t so slow-moving that I got bored. Will, Jem, and Tessa still have plenty of obstacles, both personal and with the Magister, to overcome in the next book, and I can’t wait to see what they get into in Clockwork Princess!