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

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: December 6, 2011

Pages: 497

Source: For Review from Simon and Schuster Canada (Thank you!)

Rating: 4.5 Stars

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.

In short: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare is an exciting sequel featuring heart-wrenching story developments that make for a truly addictive read.

Cassandra Clare has a true talent for messing with her characters' emotions, putting them through hell just when you think they might get a happy ending. This in turn causes the reader to be put through hell too as she also does such a good job at making us fall in love with her characters that it is all the more heart-wrenching when terrible things happen to them. Heart-wrenching sums up my feelings for Clockwork Prince pretty well. And I loved every second of it.

I know I say this in every review of Cassandra Clare's books that I write, but I am terribly fond of her characters. Somehow, Cassie has managed to come up with a whole slew of enigmatic characters just waiting for us to read about to uncover their secrets and mysteries. Every character, main and side, have their own unique and well defined personalities and their own intriguing back stories. It's addictive, this need to uncover the new additions to the seemingly endless backstory reveals for each character. From the moment I opened Clockwork Prince, it was a race to the finish.

The plot progresses nicely in this sequel. Not only are characters changing and developing (in Will's case, drastically), but the plot line surrounding The Magister, his clockwork creatures, and the mystery behind what sort of magical being is Tessa, continues in a rather intriguing way, with lots of action and surprises. It still came off as the second book in a trilogy in that there was a definite building up of even greater things to come, but at no point did the plot seem like unimportant filler as is often the case in second books.

My one quibble is the introduction of the love triangle. I find that they mess with my mind too much, and not in a good way. I find them a bit stressful, to be honest. I would have preferred to have seen more action scenes in the stead of all the love triangle drama that crowded the end of Clockwork Prince. Despite this, Clockwork Prince was an exciting and addictive sequel to an amazing series. I would highly recommend giving The Infernal Devices Series a try if you haven't yet, and checking out Clockwork Prince when it's released December 6, 2011!

Also, check out the newly released (and amazing!) book trailer!

In case you missed it, my Clockwork Angel Review and my Clockwork Prince Teaser Review.

Other Reviews:
Mundie Moms
Planet Print

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