Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare is the sequel in the historical, Shadowhunter series, The Infernal Devices.

This review contains a lot of SPOILERS!

“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, but 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.”

Similar to Cassandra’s previous book, this sequel takes on the urban fantasy twist into the historical London where Shadowhunters, demons, and now, automatons roam a secret world morphed into our own.

I don’t know if it’s the historical aspect of this spin-off series, but I feel like the Clockwork books are more interesting to me than the original Mortal Instruments. Even though the characters can be compared as relatively the same from series to series, there is just something about this one that hits the spot for me.

The Institute is on the hunt for the Magister as he is still panning for Tessa to join him, but why? His creations continue to wreck havoc on the streets, and the fighting almost never ends.

I feel like this book has a lot to do with Will and his backstory compared to the first book which took on more of Tessa’s role. We find out more about why Will is hardened and reserved towards the others, but once his sister decides to jump into the mix, his world seems to be spiraling down.

I was really interested in discovering the curse the demon brought onto his life and the later uncovering of the true nature of that night. It was sad to realize that he spent so long pushing people away and blamed himself for the death of his sister.

And speaking of siblings, I was really glad for the ending that came to Nate. I think we can all agree that he was way past saving. And the plot twist with Jessamine completely took me by surprise. I couldn’t believe that she was under his spell so much that she betrayed her friends for him. And they were MARRIED?!?

But the saving grace of this story was the connection between Tessa and Jem. I absolutely loved reading their scenes as they ventured into their relationship. Even though his life has a time frame on it, their passion towards each other had my heart melting a little.

I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of her love interest with Will. It is one of those love triangles that I think the story could do without, but that’s just me. It sort of has that predictable nature to it that I find to be more on the boring side.

Overall, I enjoyed this book with a 4 out of 5 star rating. The beginning was a little slow for me, but there was such a bomb of an ending that it overshadowed it for me. There is also a decent cliffhanger at the end, so make sure you have the third book handy!

Published: 6 December 2011

Publisher: Margaret K. McEkderry Books

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Pages: 502

How I Read It: Library Paperback

What are you thoughts on this series so far??

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