Worlds Unlike Our Own

Title: Clockwork Princess
Series: The Infernal Devices #3
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Published: March 19th, 2013 (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Goodreads

Synopsis: 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.

Review:

“You know that feeling,” she said, “when you are reading
a book, and you know that it is going to be a tragedy;
you can feel the cold and darkness coming, see the net
drawing close around the characters who live and breathe
on the pages. But you are tied to the story as if bring dragged
behind a carriage, and you cannot let go or turn the course aside.”

Tessa is preparing for her wedding to Jem, but the threat of an attack by the clockwork army looms and the Shadowhunters of the London Institute are desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. Everything changes however, when Mortmain kidnaps Tessa. Jem’s condition is steadily deteriorating as his stock of the drug yin fen has run out and there is no more to be found since someone has bought up all the available stocks in London, so it is Will who must save her. But unknown to all of them, Tessa’s powers are more than any of them every imagined, and she is the final piece Mortmain needs to carry out his plan – the destruction of the Nephilim.

“Magnus took a deep breath and spoke gently. “Will. You
asked me for my wisdom, as someone who has lived many
lifetimes and buried many loves. I can tell you that the end of a
life is the sum of the love that was lived in it, that whatever you
think you have sworn, being here at the end of Jem’s life is not
what is important. It was being here for every other moment.
Since you met him, you have never left him and never not loved him. That is what matters.”

It’s so hard to talk about this book without giving away anything! I fully expected there to be some major heartbreak in Clockwork Princess, but maybe not as much as there turned out to be – the ending especially 😭. I didn’t realize just how emotionally invested I’d become in these characters until this book. The quotes and writing were simply beautiful, the kind that makes you want to swoon and cry all at the same time – and sometimes just cry too. I lost count of the number of scenes honestly, but be prepared to be an emotional wreck by the end. For such a heavy and emotional book however, it had its surprising share of light hearted moment – the worm in particular had me in fits of laughter.

“Most people are lucky to have even one great love in their life.
You have found two.”

This is how a love triangle is meant to be written. It’s impossible to decide which pair to ship because they’re equally amazing. The way Cassandra Clare chose to resolve this was perfect and I was completely satisfied with the way things turned out for the trio. But as beautiful as the romance might’ve been, I’ve always felt that the bond between Will and Jem really trumps everything else. I’ve come across some pretty great fictional friendships over the years reading YA, but never have I read one to equal the bond between Will and Jem, a friendship quite so true and fiercely loyal as theirs – and this is, in my opinion, the backbone of this series.

As for side characters, I have rather mixed feelings, in particular, regarding Cecily. She’s more or less like a female version of Will, and it felt like she was just randomly thrown in too late in the series, making it hard to form a real opinion of her. Now Gabriel on the other hand, turned out to actually be likeable, much to my shock. His strong character arc was completely unexpected as he works through his feelings of loneliness and guilt and finally begins to see the people of the Institute as family.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and the series as a whole, and I would love to keep reading more and more about these characters alone. Three books of Will and Jem are simply not enough. Even today, so many Shadowhunters books later, The Infernal Devices remains my favourite of the lot, and that is, in large part due to Clockwork Princess and Will, Tessa and Jem’s love story. A fantastic, action-packed read and one I would highly recommend.

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Other reviews in this series:

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