Clockwork Princess
(The Infernal Devices #3)
by Cassandra Clare
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Goodreads summary:
Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.
Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.
What I thought:
Amazing! I liked Clare's other series, The Immortal Instruments, but this series I love much, much more! I'm hoping that it will also be put into film, if The Immortal Instruments movies turn out to be successful. Clockwork Princess was just a great ending to the series, even though I was sad to see it end. I can't believe Clare made it all work! I wasn't expecting how things turned out. There was a lot going on in the last several chapters of the book and it made me want to cry and laugh all at the same time! :)
I love the shadowhunter world! I could envision how the landscapes, buildings, and characters looked like, and what was going on. The plot is fairly intense, but that alone wasn't what made this book intense or why I enjoyed it. What made it so fabulous were the characters and their relationships. I'm not referring to just the main characters either, but the supporting characters as well. Magnus, Sophie, Gideon, Gabriel, Charlotte, Henry, and Cecily are all each great characters in their own right and I loved each of them. I think what makes Clare's characters so great is that they aren't perfect. They don't always make the right choices (I was really upset with Tessa about one particular choice she made with Mortmain), but they do have many redeeming qualities and pull through in the end.
Of course I love Jem, Will, and Tessa! How could I not? I don't tend to like love triangles. This one was really tough too because I just about equally love Jem and Will. They are so very different! I think it helped that there wasn't all that animosity you normally find in situations like this that can come across so immaturely sometimes. They both have a deep respect and love for each other and for Tessa, otherwise it would never have worked. I'm not going to say who Tessa chooses or who lives or dies for those that haven't read it, but it worked and I am so happy that it did. I will tell you that it's not something I have seen done before.
The dialogue in this book was fabulous! Tessa, Will, and Jem all have great lines as well as some of the other characters. I also loved the inclusion of classic works, especially that Dickens' David Copperfield made a small appearance. It is my favorite of his books. I haven't read a lot of poetry, but this has made me want to read more of it and become familiar with the classic poets. One of the things that Tessa said from the first book is re-quoted in this one by Will and it is one of my all-time favorite quotes. "I recall what you said to me once," Will went on. "That words have the power to change us. Your words have changed me, Tess; they have made me a better man that I would have been otherwise. Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read. I would read them together with you, as many as I can, before I die-" I loved it the first time I read it, and even more so now with Will's addition. Then there are all the things said about different facets of love. So good! Here are some of my favorite quotes (if I listed all of the phrases I liked, it would take several pages):
“Our hearts, they need a mirror, Tessa. We see our better selves in the eyes of those who love us. And there is a beauty that brevity alone provides.” He dropped his gaze, then raised it to hers. “I would give you everything of myself,” he said. “I would give you more in two weeks than most men would give you in a lifetime.” -Jem
“And now I need you to do for me what I cannot do for myself. For you to be my eyes when I do not have them. For you to be my hands when I cannot use my own. For you to be my heart when mine is done beating.” -Jem
“Sometimes one must choose whether to be kind or honorable," he said. "Sometimes one cannot be both.” -Will
“And maybe you should stop pitying yourself,” he said. “Most people are lucky to have even one great love in their life. You have found two.” -Magnus
“I thought perhaps that when you told me you did not love me that my own feelings would fall away and atrophy, but they have not. They have grown every day. I love you now more desperately, this moment, than I have ever loved you before, and in an hour I will love you more than that.” -Will
“We are not our parents, Gabriel. We do not have to carry the burden of their choices or their sins.” - Cecily
“Come with me," she said. "Stay with me. Be with me. See everything with me. I have traveled the world and seen so much, but there is so much more, and no one I would rather see it with than you. I would go everywhere and anywhere with you..." - Tessa
“Five," she said. Her lips and cheeks were flushed, but her gaze was steady.
"Five?" Gabriel echoed blankly.
"My rating," she said, and smiled at him. "Your skill and technique may, perhaps, require work, but the native talent is certainly there. What you require is practice."
"And you are willing to be my tutor?"
"I should be very insulted if you chose another," Cecily said, and leaned up to kiss him again.”
I highly recommend reading it, if you haven't already! It rates more than 5 stars for me. :) If you have read it, what did you think?
Content: There is one instance of non-descriptive sex, violence
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Publication date: March 19th 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Library
Rating:
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