Review of Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2)  Author: Cassandra Clare Pages: 502 Publication Date: Dec. 6th, 2011 Source: Purchased myself

Back Cover

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.

First Lines

"The fog was thick, muffling sound and sight. Where it parted, Will Herondale cold see the street rising ahead of him, slick and wet and black with rain, and he could hear the voices of the dead."

In a Sentence

Though the plot at times got a little hung up on the love triangle, Clockwork Prince was a fast-paced, action-packed read set in a creatively developed Victorian fantasy world.

My Thoughts

Update 1/8/12: While I originally gave this book a 4/5, the more I think about it, the more I want to give it a 3/5. The love triangle aspect that I originally mentioned in this review just really put me off. While it was a fast-paced read and I enjoyed it to an extent, my opinion has steadily decreased as time has passed since reading it. Therefore, I've revised my original rating of 4 to a 3.

I flew through Clockwork Prince in a day. If I say nothing else about the book (though, of course, I'm going to), it was an incredibly fast read. I started it the second I got on Christmas break, and I had a really hard time putting it down. The chapters were pretty long, but I had no trouble convincing myself "just one more."

As with Clockwork Angel, I loved the Victorian era backdrop in Clockwork Prince. The historical fantasy genre is one of my favorites, and Cassandra Clare manages to weave together the historical charm of nineteenth century England with the mysterious intrigue of the Shadowhunter world. Furthermore, the clockwork creations of the Magister that we first encountered in Clockwork Angel made for a creepy and new kind of villain.

I did have a few issues with this book. Most of them centered around the love triangle between Will, Tessa, and Jem. Though I liked Tessa as a main character throughout the majority of both books, there were a few times in Clockwork Prince when I wanted to shake her. I really didn't like how she kept switching her affections back and forth between Jem and Will. I realize that she was confused because of Will's actions towards her and attracted to Jem's kindness and stability, but I felt like she should have backed off and thought things through a bit before diving in and getting herself entangled in such a messy web. Yes, the boys were involved as well, but neither of them had any idea that the other had similar feelings for Tessa. Tessa had to have seen this problem coming, yet instead of trying to fix it, she just kept making the same mistakes over and over again. 

Now, onto the character of Will. I've had a lot of trouble figuring out just how I feel about him. I liked him a lot in the first book, but as I continued through Clockwork Prince, I started to feel more and more that he resembled his descendant, Jace (from the Mortal Instruments series), a little too strongly. By the end of the book, it had gotten to the point where I could find little that separated Jace and Will save a name and a different time period. 

Two characters I became very fond of in Clockwork Prince were Magnus and Jem. I loved Magnus in the Mortal Instruments series, and, so far, he has been just as awesome in the Infernal Devices trilogy. What I've liked best about Magnus in ID so far is that we get to see more into the vulnerable side of his character. Magnus often comes off as a sarcastic, flamboyant guy who cares little for the woes of the people around him. However, as Magnus's character becomes more and more developed as the series progresses, we get to see just how hard it is for Magnus to cope with his immortality. He lives and loves like a mortal, yet all of the people he cares for eventually grow old and die, leaving him alone. If the hints that have been given in the series so far are going in the direction that I think they are, this will provide a great parallel to Tessa's character and the eventual hardships she will have to face.

Jem is a character I wish we'd see more of in YA literature. Though he's quiet and not outwardly vibrant in terms of personality, he's loyal, introspective, and intelligent. While reading this series, I've often felt that Jem is one of the most mature characters in the book...more so than his seventeen years would usually suggest. As a twenty-one year-old reader, this might have been the reason why I connected with him. Furthermore, I think Jem is the glue that holds the rest of the Institute group (Henry, Charlotte, Will, Sophie, Tessa, Cyril, etc.) together. He's just about the only person who can get through to Will when he's in one of his moods, and he often serves as the voice of reason and compassion.

Despite my problems with Will and the love triangle present in Clockwork Prince, I really enjoyed reading it. At the same time, I'm hesitant to read the final book when it comes out because I have a fairly good idea of how things are going to end (which, if I'm right, is going to disappoint me). But I won't go any further for fear of spoiling what's happened in Clockwork Prince for those of you who have yet to read it. Anyways, who knows? Clare might surprise me. Though some of the characters frustrated me at times, Clockwork Prince was a worthwhile read. I'd recommend it to fans of Cassandra Clare and historical fantasy.

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