Author: Cassandra Clare
First Published: August 2010
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
479 pages (hardcover)
I have been wanting to read this book for a while! I enjoyed Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series for the most part, so it’s about time I give her Infernal Devices series a shot too. If you like her first series (or dislike), I can almost guarantee you will feel the same way about this second series as well. They are quite similar, but take place in a different time period. The Infernal Devices is sort of a prequel-series to the Mortal Instruments, although you can most certainly read the Infernal Devices series without ever having read her first one (although, I think, it would be better to start with the first series regardless).
Clockwork Angel is the first book in this series. It takes place in Victorian-era London. A young teenage girl named Tessa crosses the ocean from America to meet her brother in London, but is kidnapped and forced to practice and perfect her shapeshifting abilities to prep her for marriage to a mysterious someone named the Magister, the person who orchestrated the kidnapping. Tessa had no idea she had these strange powers. She is forced to go along with everything as the kidnappers say they have her brother as well and will kill him if she does not cooperate.
Finally, she is rescued one day by Shadowhunters who bring her to the Institute of London. Shadowhunters are, if you have not read the first series, a “race” of humans, if you will, who have angel blood in them. They are completely dedicated to protecting humans from Downworlders (faeries, vampires, warlocks and werewolves) and killing demons. The Shadowhunters promise to help Tessa find the whereabouts of her brother, as well as uncover a plot or conspiracy in which Tessa figures prominently in.
Like I said before, it’s pretty similar to The Mortal Instruments: Shadowhunters uncover conspiracies/plots and you know, fix them. I like the story, it’s fairly interesting and I felt it was packed with action. It feels sort of too familiar, in a way, because it follows the general “formula” of all Mortal Instruments books. I suppose it doesn’t really help that there’s not much setting it apart from its predecessor. Even though it’s set in Victorian-era London, the time period never really felt “real” to me. Many of the characters simply bypassed Victorian-era customs and behaviours, with the explanation that this is shadowhunter customs. Kind of felt pointless to put it in the Victorian-era if that’s the case, you know?
The characters were eerily similar to Clary, Jace and that whole gang. I mean, they’re not EXACTLY the same, but very, very similar, yes. Tessa was basically Clary, Will is Jace. That was really disappointing, to be perfectly honest. Not only were their personalities very, very similar, their entire relationship progressed in the exact same way. They started not really liking one another that much, there’s an intimate moment, their relationship becomes awkward, a declaration of love (more or less) and then angst because they cannot be together for some reason or another. I know it’s not unique to Clary and Jace, but I did expect the author to try a different relationship approach with her new characters, not reuse the same formula. As with Clary and Jace’s, I never felt fully convinced that Tessa and Will like one another.
Actually, what I wanted to happen was for Tessa to fall in love with Will’s best friend, Jem. I like Jem a lot, he’s my favourite character. He’s the only one I can’t think of a direct link to a Mortal Instruments character (the other teenager in the book, Jessie, is pretty much Isabella from The Mortal Instruments). He’s got an interesting background, and a completely different personality from Will. That’s why I would have liked Tessa to fall in love with him. I felt some love-triangle vibes from Tessa, Will and Jem while reading the book, but ultimately, it’s super obvious that Tessa and Will are going to end up together unless the author decides to seriously shake things up in later books.
If you are already familiar with The Mortal Instruments series, I feel Clockwork Angel may be a bit of a disappointment because it doesn’t feel that different from its predecessor. I wasn’t blown away, but it certainly was a fun read for me, and I do plan on reading the next book(s) in the series.
My Rating: 3/5
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