12 November, 2015

REVIEW: CLOCKWORK PRINCESS by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #3
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Source: Physical copy
Pages: 567

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SYNOPSIS: Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. 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.


I have finished Clockwork Prince about a week ago and really wanted to just finish the series all together so picked up Clockwork Princess right away. I must say, I really liked Clockwork Prince and I have heard people going crazy about Clockwork Princess so my expectations were really high!


THE WORLD: The world is pretty much the same as in Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince. Set in Victorian London the attention falls on the London Institute. However, in this book we also get much more of London itself as well as Welsh landscape to some extend. But other than that nothing is changed, main focus is not on the world but on Shadowhunters' politics.

CHARACTERS: The main character is a sort of warlock called Tessa. I must admit, in first book she was annoying and then in second it god better but in this one...it went down the hill so fast you cannot imagine. 90% of the book is about Tessa trying to decide who she loves. Annoying! Will, on the other hand, comes to some sort of clearance, he is no more a bad boy, now he is a self sacrificing angel. I mean seriously? I will never understand why people love him so much. But then I never understand why people love Jace from TMI as well. Jem, to my sadness is barely present in the book. I love Jem, okay maybe not love but more like I like his character, no narcissism no 'I must be a hero' bullshit. He is mature man I would really enjoy talking to. Additional to the already known characters we get a Jessie replacement - Cecily. She is Will's sister and omg what have I ever done to be punished so much! If not for Lightwoods I would have skipped Cecily completely!

To be honest I don't know. None of the characters to me feel dear, I like some of them and I was starting to fall in love with a few in Clockwork Prince but in this book...somehow Cassandra Clare ruined it for me.

LOVE: This whole Tessa loves Will but is engaged to Jem who loves Tessa and is dying and Will is his parabatai and does everything to make him happy and Tessa loving also Jem and blah blah blah. What a headache! Love triangles suck! Why cannot author finally realize it?!

PLUS: So we have more of Magnus Bane! I am really convinced to read Bane Chronicles now!

MINUS: I am sorry but the direction Cassandra Clare took after kidnapping of Tessa...I really really did not like it. It was such a cliche.

MINUS/PLUS: I have read TMI before I have read TID and I find it not to my liking how things overlap. Basically if you read TID first you will left with many open questions and you will need to read all six TMI books to get answers. Especially when it comes to Jem. I mean after reading Clockwork Princess the final book of TMI makes much sense and gave me an inside but when you think about it...sure Cassandra wrote the books parallel but they are done. And how many of you ever read a series and a spinoff at the same time? At least I like to read the series completely and then move onto the next one, spinoff or not. I guess it is a question of preference but for me it just does not work. 

MINUS: Was it just me of the Clave over 200 years has not changed at all. I mean it is same in TID and in the TMI! Even after we get sorta a better future for the Clave by the end of Clockwork Princess we all know in TMI it is same annoying and same old fashioned....sure Downworlders get the seat but that is about all. I do not get it, seriously. So what happened to Charlotte's so called good heart and great wit? 

OVERALL: So after this negative review it might be a surprise that I gave this book 4/5 stars. The thing is, it is hard to give very low rating after investing in the series so much time. By the final book you already know the character and frankly I think the overlaps with TMI saves this book from 3 stars. I knew inside information about Jem and it sorta makes it better.


What do you guys think about CLOCKWORK PRINCESS?