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

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

Publisher: McElderry Books

Release Date: December 6th 2011

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary:

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.


  
My Review:
Clockwork Prince which is the second installment in The Infernal Devices series has to be one of the best sequels I've read in quite a while. It really blows Clockwork Angel out of the water and that is a lot to say because Clockwork Angel was such an amazing beginning to this Infernal Devices series. What I really loved about Clockwork Prince is that it has a lot of intensity. It's mysterious, dark, and incredibly profound. And the author really does an amazing job at going to the heart of things and at peeling away the layers to each character and the hidden world of the Shadowhunters. Shadowhunters being humans who hunt demons and have angel blood in their veins.

What I love the most about The Infernal Devices books and especially Clockwork Prince is that the character development is astounding. I truly felt that every single character is explored deeply in this book and every single one of them is of extreme importance, including the new characters that are introduced, as well. And for me it something very unique because with most books it is easy for the author to focus only on the main characters and to ignore the character history of the secondary characters but not in Clockwork Prince. In this book, The secondary characters are incredibly special and captivate you immediately because the author of this book makes sure to give each character a unique history, a special charm, and nuanced personality. In short words, yes the focus on the book is Tessa, Will, and Jem but their journey never overwhelms the rest of the characters and I loved that. And the main villain in this book is so incredibly complex and methodical, even when he isn't present in a scene, his schemes and plotting never cease to amaze. Which I think is the mark of truly great villain development.

I also feel that in this book Cassandra Clare does an amazing job at exploring the social customs/gender roles of the Victorian era. Through the poetry, the literature references, and character challenges you can tell that the author of this book truly researched Victorian society heavily and she truly does captivate it's essence in this book. You literally feel like you are walking the streets of Victorian London and that danger can be awaiting you at every corner. The constraints, the extreme concern with propriety, the self-consciousness of each character depending on their social standing in Victorian society, the reader catches a glimpse of all of it in this book. And when you add to that, a secret underground world of magic, shadowhunter politics, fantastical creatures, demons; the world building really gets taken to a new level, I think. It was really fun to read about and beyond intriguing.

The romance in Clockwork Prince. Holy cow. And when I say romance, I don't only mean romantic love but romance in all its forms. This book is full of it. There is a constant air of nostalgia, and wanting, of desire for what is good, and true, and beautiful amongst an incredibly dark and mysterious environment. To say that this book tugs on the heartstrings is not enough. This book is a roller coaster of emotions. It  takes your heart, shreds it up in its blender, returns it to you in tattered pieces and then always adds a dash of hope in the end, just to leave you even more hopeful and confused and on the edge of your seat. And the level of misunderstanding and secrecy is just so elevated in this book. It was amazing. 

The stakes are high in Clockwork Prince and the emotional journey of the main characters: Will, Tessa, and Jem is raw, painful, beautiful, and haunting. There is just so much profoundness in this book and so many of the characters are so good at feeling things deeply, it really leaves a mark on the reader and I cannot wait to see how everything turns out in Clockwork Princess. I need to know. For, like, my sanity. I fell in love with this book, the world in it and it's characters and I need to know how it will all end.


My Rating: 5/5