Review: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: August 31, 2010

Pages: 478

Source: Bought

Rating: 5 Stars - Super Crazy Awesome!

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still. 
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. 
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

In short: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is a superb introduction to The Infernal Devices Series and presents us with a whole new cast of extremely well developed and wonderful main and side characters.

I was admittedly a bit doubtful going into Clockwork Angel thinking that Cassandra Clare wasn't going to be able to set this one apart from her The Mortal Instruments Series. The characters sounded very familiar to the ones we see in TMI, for example. I know now that I should have known better. After all, my favourite part of TMI is the characters so I should have known that Clare was completely capable of creating a new batch of unique and loveable characters in The Infernal Devices.

Well, mostly loveable. Will is going to take some warming up to. Whereas Jace, though arrogant at times, openly shows affection to the people he loves, Will pushes everyone away from him but Jem. Also, Jace is never cruel, not like Will. And yet, I'm still incredibly intrigued as to what exactly is causing Will to behave in such a jerkish manner. I can't wait to learn more. Other than Will and his frustrating moments, I can't stress enough how much I loved the main and side characters of Clockwork Angel - each with their own well defined personalities, back stories, and mysteries.

And Magnus! 'Nuff said. Yeah, Magnus gets his own paragraph.

Something else that I loved that I would be remiss if I didn't mention is the setting: Victorian London. I would never have called myself a fan of historical fiction before this; I usually make every effort and excuse to avoid it. But Clockwork Angel may have made me a new fan! Clare really brings the setting alive with perfectly plotted and fascinating details, deftly recreating what Victorian London was like. As a historical fiction amateur, I never got lost or confused in facts or language. Really well done!

Overall, Clockwork Angel is a superb first book the The Infernal Devices Series and an amazing prequel to The Mortal Instruments Series. This was my first foray into the steampunk genre and I have to say, I enjoyed that aspect of the novel very much as well! The clockwork automatons were just insanely creepy. Oh, and if anyone asks, I'm Team Tessa :) Very much looking forward to Clockwork Prince coming out August 2011. (And City of Fallen Angels coming out tomorrow, of course!!).

Other Reviews:
The Unread Reader
Supernatural Snark
Unputdownable Books

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Guest Post: When I'm Not Reading at The Unread Reader

Just stopping by quickly to let you know that I am featured this week in Missie's (The Unread Reader) When I'm Not Reading feature in which I attempt to make my life sound interesting and fail. I actually wrote this weeks ago when it was super cold outside. It is now about 40 degrees Celsius warmer (thank goodness!). Also, I've since finished work on the cervical of the hadrosaur and have moved on to the dentary (lower jaw). My dog is still a you-know-what though.

Hope everyone's doing well! Must get back to thesis writing now... Ugh.

Five Week Hiatus

I really regret having to announce this but I can't see any other way around it: I need to take a five week hiatus from blogging. Unfortunately, with everything that I have going on in my life currently, blogging has the lowest priority no matter how much I enjoy it. You may have noticed that my posting and commenting has been a little slow the past few months. Not to be too melodramatic or anything, but I'm actually worried for the state of my sanity if I don't take a break from blogging at this time. For real. Well okay, maybe that was a bit overdramatic.

I had to take a similar break in December but whereas that was only for two weeks, this break needs to be much longer as not only do I have finals to contend with this time, but also a term paper, a final project, and my thesis. And a boyfriend that I'm not going to be able to see for the rest of the year so I feel like I need to spend as much time as possible with him now. And at the end of all that I'm going to New York City for a week as a kind of reward for finishing my undergraduate degree.

It is possible that I may be able to pop in to post some reviews... though unlikely. Blog commenting is also going to be light in this time. Please understand that even if I don't necessarily have time to leave meaningful comments on your posts, I am reading them.

As with the last time I had a blog hiatus, I plan on holding another giveaway when I get back as a show of appreciation to all my followers who were so patient with me during this very stressful time in my life.

Alright, see you in May! I'm going to miss you guys horribly. And this time I'm being completely serious and not at all being overdramatic in saying that.

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: March 22, 2011

Pages: 358

Source: For Review from Simon & Schuster Canada (Thank You!)

Rating: 4.5 Stars

What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

In short: Wither by Lauren DeStefano is a powerful debut with a chilling dystopian world and memorable character relationships.

Lauren DeStefano creates a chilling atmosphere right from the start in Wither as we see main character Rhine being kidnapped and sold into a polygamous marriage at the age of sixteen, to be trapped in a mansion for the last four years of her life. Rhine is a clever, strong girl who was stolen away from her twin brother, Rowan, and Wither follows her journey as she attempts to come up with a plan to escape and make her way home.

The world that DeStefano creates in Wither is a terribly tragic one in which life is so short and yet most young orphans are still unable to live life to its fullest during their short time. When Rhine is taken and trapped inside the mansion, she is given seemingly everything she could ever want--except freedom. Her husband, Linden, will give her the world--"on a string." When I started reading Wither I found myself wondering, how is DeStefano going to keep the story interesting and introduce action when almost the entirety of the novel takes place in one mansion? I was quite impressed that DeStefano did in fact manage to keep my interest the entire time when reading, so kudos to her.

Romance lovers may be disappointed because they may feel that the romance between Rhine and her love interest, Gabriel, is lacking but I for one loved it. It had a very slow development, starting off as friends. None of this love at first sight nonsense. In my opinion, this is the foundation for a truly powerful romance and I found it an utterly refreshing part of the story. Another strength was the genuine camaraderie felt between Rhine and her sister wives, Rose, Jenna, and Cecily. I loved how they cared for each other and saw themselves as actual sisters. Rhine never feels like a wife to her husband but she quickly feels a connection as a sister wife.

If there was one thing that I felt truly lacking it was the background information with regards to the virus. I craved a more in depth reasoning as to how the virus came to be in this world. I am, however, very hopeful that we will get answers in the next two books of this trilogy. I can't wait to learn more! 

Other Reviews:

My Precious

Poetry to Prose

Books of Amber

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*Read as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge

Winner!

It's time to announce the winner of my Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway of the ARC of Wither! There were a total of 261 people who entered and 478 entries. And the winner, according to Random.org, is:

Lora1967 from Read For Your Future!

Congrats! I really hope you enjoy this book! Please email me with your address within the next 48 hours at ayleejaine(at)gmail(dot)com.