Sunday 15 September 2019

Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: March 2013
Source: Borrowed from library 
Series: The Infernal Devices #3

Blurb: 
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?


So the last book in The Infernal Devices series hit me hard, even though literally everyone told me it would do so, I still felt overwhelmed. 
This review may contain spoilers for the other books in the series and possible this one as I cannot CONTAIN MY EMOTIONS FOR MUCH LONGER!

So here is your **SPOILER WARNING** . Stop reading if you have not read this book, but instead read my reviews of Cassandra Clare's novels here




So this was definitely the ideal ending to the Infernal Devices trilogy for me. I felt it tied up a lot of loose ends and questions I had from the other two books. 

The characters of the series really are the main driving point behind this series. Although there is an action packed story-line of the novel, I really do not think anyone really looks forward to the next book to find out what is going to happen in the story-line, they're reading to live in the lives of the characters page after page. 
The characters grew so much over the course of this novel, even secondary characters. Some new unexpected faves for me are the Lightwood brothers.  I actually love Gideon and Gabriel so very much. Their brotherly and protective relationship is lovely to read about and I enjoyed how although they were very different people, they still had a deep link between them. 
Gideon I liked him from Clockwork Prince as he began to make clear his feeling for Sophie. Gideon was such a soft boy sweetheart. When he ordered all the scones just so he could try to talk to Sophie, I thought that was so cute. His speech to her was so funny and awkward but also so heartfelt. I would love to read a short story about their life as they grew older together. Honestly Sophie is one of my favourite characters now from Cassie's books and I loved reading more of her in this novel. 

Gabriel was harder for me to warm to as he was so loyal to trash father, but in CP he grew so much. His character really went on an internal journey over the course of the novel and I felt myself sympathizing with him more. His friendship and blossoming romance with Cecily was also super cute. I loved how he put up with her sarcasm and wit and praised her too. 


Charlotte and Henry....I mean need I say more? Most iconic and strong Cassie Clare marriage? I think so. Charlotte and Henry are just the definition of #CoupleGoals and this novel shows how much they care and love each other. Charlotte is so independent and strong but she also needs Henry to remind her to stop and be grounded. Henry gets so caught up in invention and science that sometimes he needs Charlotte to help him understand emotion and be more present. 
I loved the scene where Henry is trying to convince Charlotte to call their child Bufort! 

Finally some conclusion on the love triangle to end all love triangles! Side note: can Shadowhunters be polyamourous? Because that would ahve solved a lot of Jem-Tessa-Will romantic issues!

As I have said previously, on both my Clockwork Prince review and my many Twitter rants, I am hardcore Jessa shipper and I will go down with that ship. 
I absolutely love Jem and Tessa's relationship, they have such a connection both in both frienship and romantic feelings. That scene of them in the library together was so beautiful I honestly cannot even. 
Jem's illness was so hard to read as he became sicker and sicker and the insane plot twist near the end blew my mind. 

I adored Wills growth over the past two novels and felt we truly got to see his true self in this novel. Having his sister join the institute really brought Will out of his fascasde. I loved their sibling interactions and their protective and caring nature towards each other. 
Wills relationship and friendship with Magnus was so great too. Magnus and Will have such deep seated respect and care towards each other it was lovely to read about. I loved Magnus and Wills banter too. 

Also will I ever recover from that Epilogue? Doubtful 



There is probably so much more I want to say about this novel but can not fit it all into this review, so keep an eye on my Bookstagram and Twitter for all my The Infernal Devices ranting. 

Overall the novel was the best possible conclusion to the series I could have imagined. The novel also surpassed all previous novels in the series for me. The characters became wholly three dimensional in this installment and I was entirely gripped for all 500+ pages of the novel. A perfect execution of a conclusion to a beloved series. Well done Cassandra Clare, wonderful work as per usual. 



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