Title: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2)Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Publication: December 6th 2011, Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 528 Pages
Source: Library
Rating: 5/5 CUPCAKES!
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.
*Contains spoilers for previous book
**I wrote this three years ago and I'm only publishing it now...I don't even know anymore
I don't actually know what to say. At the moment I am experiencing a whole void of emotions, still trying to recover and gather my thoughts after reading such a breath-taking, and often, heart-breaking novel. When I read Clockwork Angel, I was sure Clare's following books wouldn't be able to top it, but she proved me wrong. Because guys, Clockwork Prince was even better than Clockwork Angel. If you haven't yet read at least one of Cassandra Clare's books...you need to, as soon as possible.
There were a lot of happenings in Clockwork Prince, things happened that you never would have thought could've happened. Charlotte being set a challenge by one of the Clave members that wishes for Charlotte to lose her position as Head of the Institute. They discover that the reasons for the Magister always being one step ahead...is because one of their own has betrayed them. You will see a whole new side of the characters Clockwork Prince, you will see relationships grow, you will see why Will tries to turn everyone's love for him into resentment, and you get to see a whole lot more of Jem. You need to read it soon, because it'll blow your mind.
Clockwork Prince focuses a lot on the characters, and what the characters want and need, however, still retaining an amazing plot line and beautiful, poetic writing. In Clockwork Prince a lot of shocking things happen that I honestly didn't see coming, especially in the love triangle/characters front. I felt that Clockwork Angel focused more on introducing us to the Shadowhunter's world and I think it contained more action, and that was great, but in Clockwork Prince, the characters are more detailed than before, we get to truly know their needs and wants and about their past, we were able to learn about the things that happened in their lives, things that happened in order to shape the people who they are today. There was still a lot of action though, don't get me wrong. There were these fast-paced, heart-racing, can't-turn-the-page-fast-enough scenes, that were utterly amazing and had me in a reading frenzy. Everything was just so amazing and perfect, gah!*dies*. It was just amazing, there was just so much awesomeness, I can't even.
The plot was fantastic. Cassandra Clare always manages to create such amazing, intriguing story lines that have you hooked. There was seriously a lot of twists and turns, some that made you feel happy and sad simultaneously, and others had you feeling heart-broken or over-joyed with happiness. Her story lines are real and entertaining, and they are generally an amazing roller-coaster ride of adventure!
One thing I must say, is that I do find Cassandra Clare's books hard to get into at first, but once I have read the first few chapters, I cannot stop reading. In fact, the other day I decided I was just going to spend the whole morning reading, and I managed to read about 100 pages or so of Clockwork Prince in less than two hours. So if you do sometimes find them hard to get into, then just keep reading, it will be worth it, trust me.
The characters, gah, the characters! I don't think I have really read books before, where when I re-read the books or read the following books in the series, it makes me feel like I am visiting old friends. From the first page when we are shown Will strolling through London, and then later on with Will, Tessa and Jem altogether, I couldn't help but feel a warm sense of happiness fill me, because it's almost as if I get to spend a few days with them, just by simply entering their world via Cassandra Clare's books.
Will...one of my favourite book boyfriends. One of the best characters that I have ever had the pleasure of reading about! He's handsome, sarcastic and loves books and literature. When I read Clockwork Angel I instantly fell in love with him, however, I use to become often infuriated with him for the way he treated people...but in Clockwork Prince you see why he had to hold people away, not necessarily because he wanted to, but because he had to. We get to fully see the sensitive, loving side to him that we haven't really witnessed before, the cracks are finally showing through his armor and it was amazing seeing that lovely side to him, which is even more beautiful than you could imagine. *spoiler* And oh my gosh! Who else found it so incredibly heart-breaking when he declared his love for Tessa and she had to tell him that she was engaged to Jem and you could just feel all that happiness leave him. It was awful reading about his heart being broken :( *spoiler*
In Clockwork Angel we were introduced to Jem, but we didn't really see a lot of him and I felt the first book in TID was focused more on Will and Tessa, whereas Clockwork Prince mainly focused on Jem and Tessa. Jem has always been the kind, gentle, good-hearted one between him and Will. Jem being sweet and good-natured whereas Will being the sarcastic, playful, adventurous one. When you read Clockwork Prince you begin to learn more about Jem, more about the illness that threatens to kill him shortly, more about his past and more about his love for Tessa.
Whilst reading Clockwork Prince, there will be one time or another where you honestly don't know which you prefer, Will or Jem. You get to see both sides to them, the longing and the fear that hides beneath Jem's calm exterior and the hurt, heart-break, anger and suffering that lingers behind Will's snarky playfulness.
We really get to learn more about Tessa, just like Tessa gets to learn more about herself. In Clockwork Prince, Tessa wants to learn more about herself. She wants to learn about herself and her parents, can you can feel the desperation and confusion she feels. The confusion of not knowing what she is exactly and the desperation to learn about herself. We also get to see more of Tessa's romantic side in Clockwork Prince, as well as her learning to fight.
Jessamine...despite Jessamine being quite stuck-up and snobby, I still like her. You can see underneath her pompous exterior that she's just a broken, mislead girl. She hates being a Shadowhunter and feels it is not right for her, and some of her choices were pretty stupid, but I still felt sorry for her.
In Clockwork Angel we didn't see much of Charlotte and Henry as a married couple, they always seem to be doing their own things and there wasn't really that marital love between them. HOWEVER, there were a couple of really sweet parts between them and when they revealed something towards the end it was so cute!
Once again Cassandra Clare's writing is flawless. They way she writes is so poetically beautiful. Everything she writes is perfect, from the world-building, to the romantic scenes to the sarcastic banter between the characters. Perfection.
The romance was pretty epic in Clockwork Prince. The love triangle in the The Infernal Devices is the only one I care for, as well as the one in The Sky is Everywhere. You feel for all three the characters so deeply that you don't want either to be hurt. You can feel how badly both Jem and Will want to be with Tessa, however, she can only choose one. It was heart-breaking seeing their hearts being broken and the pain they went through.
In Clockwork Prince you get to see more of Jem and Tessa's relationship which makes it even harder for who you want Tessa to end up with!
Clockwork Prince was the AMAZING sequel to Clockwork Angel, even better I think than the former book in the series. Everything is so amazing, from the world Cassandra depicts, to the lovable characters, to the intense love triangle. Clockwork Prince will make you feel a whole wad of emotions, from sincere happiness right down to heartbreak, once you finish Clockwork Prince you'll desperately be needing the last book in the trilogy, Clockwork Princess.
I give it: 5/5 CUPCAKES!
