Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

We won this novel from Stuck in Books’s YA Paranormal Hop. Thank you Valerie at stuckinbooks.com!!!

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Dani’s rating: 5 stars

Overall rating: 5 stars

Format: E-book

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date: March 13th 2013

Pages: 568

Goodreads Synopsis:

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?

Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

Dani’s Review:

Clockwork Princess has officially become my favorite YA book. I have read all of Cassandra Clare’s books released to date, and Clockwork Princess is the best by far. Ms. Clare’s vivid descriptions of the setting and the characters, careful planned plot twists, and heart wrenching romance made this novel flawless. She plunged deep into the lake of each character’s emotions. So many secrets are finally revealed!

Clockwork Prince left off with the London Institute in disarray because of an attack by Mortmain’s automatons. Jessamine had betrayed her fellow Shadowhunters, Tessa’s brother Nate died, and in essence a shadow fell upon the inhabitants of the Institute. However, love brought a ray of sunshine into the darkness....To all except Will and Tessa. Jem proposed to Tessa and Tessa agreed to marry him. A few minutes later, Will declared his love to Tessa and poured out his heart to her. Sadly, he is literally minutes too late. Will is stricken with shock and grief when Tessa pretends she is indifferent to his feelings and tells him that she has accepted Jem’s proposal. Both Will and Tessa are torn--Will is fighting his feelings for his parabatai’s fiancé and Tessa is fighting her feelings for Will. What a love triangle!

I can’t even begin to try to write about Clockwork Princess’s plot without spoiling anything. Here are a few SEMI spoiler-free things, so read at your own risk!

• The fate of demon pox ridden Benedict Lightwood is revealed

• Will and Gabriel’s enmity for each other is resolved....somewhat
• Cecily eventually stops trying to drag Will back to their parents
• Jem comes EXTREMELY close to death </3 <--That’s my heart when that happened.
• Consul Wayland is really annoying because of his old-school opinions such as “Women are delicate creatures who shouldn’t have any authority”
• Charlotte shows her full leadership abilities (especially at the end!)
• The epic love triangle problem is finally solved although not without lots of sadness
• Ding, dong, the Magister is dead! (Okay that was a spoiler, but the bad guys are always defeated....right?)
• There are THREE romances! That’s right a new romance blooms. Can you guess who the lovebirds are?
• Will actually does have a Welsh Dragon tattoo

I loved the parallels between the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments. Apparently the Portal (first introduced in the MI books) was created by Henry Branwell. In one of the Mortal Instruments books, a clockwork angel stuffed in a display cabinet at the New York Institute is mentioned. A female warlock who Cassandra Clare confirmed was Tessa talked to Magnus at one of his parties in one of the books. Best of all, Clockwork Princess reveals why the Silent Brother named Brother Zachariah cares about Jace’s wellbeing so much when he learns that Jace is a Herondale. This is a secret that I could NEVER have guessed. Clockwork Princess ends a little after City of Lost Souls (the last book in the MI series), so there is ONE secret involving one of our favorite boys that I am dying to know.

Clockwork Princess contains an epilogue! The epilogue caused me to shed a tear or two (or maybe a lot of tears :3 )because I lived vicariously through Tessa and felt her pain as she continued her immortal life while her loved ones died. Can you imagine what it’s like to watch the people you love die? Fortunately, Tessa had her friendship with Magnus Bane and annual meeting with a certain dear friend serve as her lifeline to the world.

This time, I don’t need to say something along the lines of “I highly recommend this book because of blah blah blah” because if you’re a fan of the Infernal Devices series, you must be desperate to get your hands on Clockwork Princess! Here are some of my favorite quotes to quench your need to read: (notice the rhyme? :3 )

“Sometimes one must choose whether to be kind or honorable," he said. "Sometimes one cannot be both. (Will Herondale)

“You don't think I can fight." Tessa said, drawing back and matching his silvery gaze with her own. "Because I'm a girl."

"I don't think you can fight because you're wearing a wedding dress", said Jem. "For what it's worth, I don't think Will could fight in that dress either."

"Perhaps not," said Will, who had ears like a bat. "But I would make a radiant bride.”

“I thought perhaps that when you told me you did not love me that my own feelings would fall away and atrophy, but they have not. They have grown every day. I love you now more desperately, this moment, than I have ever loved you before, and in an hour I will love you more than that”

“It's all very romantic," Gabriel said, and then frowned. "Or it would be, if my brother could get a word out without sounding like a choking frog. I fear he will not go down in history as one of the world's greatest wooers of women.”

And now I will end this review of this fantabulous book with these words: Will hates ducks. :)