Monday 25 August 2014

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

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. Whats 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.


I'm sure by now every single one of you has read this, so I'm not sure what else I can add! Therefore, I'm going to just narrow it down to a few bullet points, my main impressions, so you all don't get bored with yet another big name book review.
  • Had high praise and promises that I would love it. Luckily, and obviously, I did! Everything from the incredible prose style to the historical elements, I ate it all up and wanted more.
  • Tessa was quite adorable but nicely... spunky, I guess is the word. Despite tight Victorian ideals, she spoke her mind and I loved that about her. 
  • Never really knew what to make of Will. He was awesome, don't get me wrong, but very defensive and we never saw that mask of humour he uses taken off. 
  • And finally Jem was sweet and his heartbreaking back story just made me want to hug him. Between the two boys, I couldn't decide which one I liked more; they complimented and balanced each other out so I don't think you could separate them. And nor should you, as you soon realised they were something of a package deal.
  • The story of the Institute and the Dark Sisters, the vampires and automatons, it should have been too complicated but somehow it wove together so well. There were shocking twists and turns, good guys who were bad and vice versa, plus some sexy romantic scenes that left my heart aching. 
  • Final thoughts? Bring on Clockwork Prince!

Published 4th October 2011 by Margaret K McElderry Books.

2 comments:

  1. So glad you enjoyed this! It gets better and better and the battle between which boy to love the most gets harder with every book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you liked this. I absolutely adore this series and like Sophie said, it just continues to get better as you go along. (Though I found it pretty easy to root for my favourite boy!)

    ReplyDelete