Book Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

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.

Be sure not to miss the special first edition of Clockwork Princess, complete with an exclusive family tree.

-barnesandnoble.com  

Clockwork Princess takes place not too long after Clockwork Prince.  Mortmain has disappeared with little to know hope in finding him.  Jessamine was their only shot and she has seemed to have lost her mind and keeps babbling something about Idris.  Ever since Will found
out about Tessa and Jem's engagement he has completely avoided her and since Cecily won't go home he has taken up the task of training her to be a Shadowhunter.  When Gabriel Lightwood show's up at the institute covered in blood they find that Benedict Lightwood has reached the final stage of demon pox and they are forced to slay him.  But what they find within the Lightwood libriary is much more disturbing.  "THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT PITY, THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT REGRET, THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT NUMBER, THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING".  Mortmain may be gone but he is definatly not finished with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.  He has bought and block all trasnport of yin fen to London and without it or a cure Jem with die very soon.  Clockwork Princess is the most heartbreaking, beautiful, action packed story that I have read in a long time.  Unlike some series where the first book is the best that the series ever produces this triology has kept getting better with each book.  I'm not big on love stories or love triangles for that matter (I feel like they have been over done lately) but I absolutely loved this one.  It will go down on my list as one of the greatest competable with that of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.

Jem is the most kind, selfless person real or fiction, dead or alive that has ever been.  While I knew that to some degree in the first too book, I didn't realize the full capacity of it until CP2.  For this reason I think that everyone should read this books if only to have something to strive for in day to day life.

Gabriel Lightwood was an interesting character to follow in CP2.  While Gideon evolve in the last book it was Gabriel that changed the most in this one.  In the previous two books you only know Gabriel to be Will's greatest enemy (besides himself) and blindly loyal to his father.  But in CP2 Gabriel is a tormented character.  Should he be the son his father raised him to be or the Shadowhunter that the world needs him to be?  The dynamics between him and Gideon have changed as well.  A part of him still feels betrayed by Gideon for leaving him and his father for the London Institute.

Will's sister that arrived at the end of CP may have became one of my favorite characters if the three main ones did not manage to outshine her so much in this last book.  She is brave, determined, and loving in all of the right times.  She manages to "ruffle Will's feathers unlike anyone else" and captures Gabriel's attention unlike anyone ever has.  Although this wasn't her story I would like to have gotten to know her character better.

Will is someone that he wasn't in the last two books.  His curse was broken.  Almost as if by coincidence as Jem is dying he is able to let other people in.  Don't get me wrong he is still his hilarious, witty self.  But the motives behind his actions are no longer the same because he know longer has to fear that those that love him will die.  You see a loving side of him that was only ever shown towards Jem.  He is surprisingly fearously protective of Cecily which makes for funny situations at the least.  The biggest part of this book is that he can't keep a lid on his feelings for Tessa. 

Cassandra Clare is the bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments and Infernal Device series.  She is currently working on a new middle grade series with Holly Black and will also have yet another Shadowhunter series, The Dark Artifacts, in the not soon enough future.  TMI City of Bones will hit the big screen this coming August. 

PS sorry for the delayed review. I thought the book came out on the 29th not the 19th.