Sunday, January 1, 2012 | By: Unknown

Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince
            Author: Cassandra Clare
            Publisher: McElderry Books
            Publication Date: December 2011
            Genre: YA
            Main Themes: Supernatural, Demonology, Orphans, Romance, & Secret Societies
            Pages: 498
            Plot: (From the Dust Jacket)

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 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 past 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 imagined.  When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister 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.”

Clockwork Prince left me awestruck, I found this novel to be vividly engaging, amusingly deceiving, and tragically distressingly.  I had a lot of trouble putting it down for the night… and I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I picked up again.  This endearing book had me trapped in the story and now that I have finished it, I’m left begging for more and I’m terribly upset that I have to wait a year for the next one!

Cassandra Clare’s writing style is truly magnetic and is persuasively inviting; from the very first sentence, to the intercut storyline with her entrancing love triangles, as well as the tantalizing page.  Her stories always catch me off guard, there are so many twists… you could never guess what is going to happen next.  Clare is always thinking the unthinkable.  Just masterful!     

As Clare’s characters have grown and developed they are in more danger than ever before.  As they are uncovering the truth of the Magister, they are also discovering the truths about themselves.  Tessa continues to draw strength from her reading trying to live up to the characters she adores.  But she is confused by her affections between the two Shadowhunter’s that continue to protect her.  Jem is still the man who is calm under pressure and continues to be the nice guy; although he is a lot stronger in this part of the tale.  Then there’s Will, along with Tessa he might be my favorite character of the story. There is much to learn and much is revealed about Will in this novel.  As his walls are coming down, you start to see a very different side of Will.  A side that I positive readers are going to enjoy.

I felt this engrossing novel earned an A+, as it pulled me heart strings- it had me laughing, crying, and sometimes both at once.  I was in constant distress for the characters in this tale.  I feel the next novel the stakes are going even higher and only time will tell what is in store for them. 

My Rating: 20/20
Originality: 5
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Writing Style: 5

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