Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Book Two of The Infernal Devices
Published December 6, 2011
ISBN-10: 1416975888
ISBN-13: 978-1416975885

Review: 5/5

Cross reviewed on Goodreads

SPOILER FREE: Spoilers have been blocked out.

Clockwork Prince is the second volume in The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, a prelude series to her sensational Mortal Instruments series. What I need to say right now is that beyond any other talent that Clare has as a writer -- her story is amazing, the worlds she creates are dark and gritty (especially this version of Victorian London) -- her true talent is in her characters. One hundred percent, hands down: Cassandra Clare knows how to create characters unlike any one else.

Unlike Clockwork Angel (CA), where we were first being introduced into the Victorian London era of Shadowhunters, Downworlders and demons, Clockwork Prince (CP) is more dedicated to building character relationships as they fall into place around the plot. CA was just like City of Bones. We needed to learn about everything first; namely, what exactly was possible and impossible in this world. While the plot in CP is more moving along at a sluggish pace at times, it's only because Clare is making us see what happens to the characters and how they react when, well, they are running dry on leads on how to find Mortmain, or The Magister.

Then the truth is revealed. We learn that Jessamine, a prim and well-educated Shadowhunter who doesn't do much hunting at all, is a spy not only for Mortmain, but her lover, Nate Gray, Tessa's brother who we meet in CA. That then breaks open the damn that there are things happening around them that they haven't thought possible. Combine all this with love interests between Jem and Tessa and Tessa and Will, and then the Institute under attack by the Clave, the plot thickens and you're sucked back in when it just seemed to be dragging.

The monstrous event that gave me my, "OH MY GOD," moment was in the second to the last chapter. I won't even list it here because it is that sweet and that tender of a plot element, it's best left to read it yourself. It alone changes the course of the characters relationships and who may or may not be friends any more. You never know what will happen in Clare's world.

All in all, Clockwork Prince started slow (for me), but picked up quickly. We see more of this automaton army from Clockwork Angel and a few other strange mechanical creations that are unlike the others. It's just wonderful. I eagerly await Clockwork Princess, but more soon, in the newly expanded Mortal Instruments series, City of Lost Souls.

Peace and Writing Love

JWP

Now Reading: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Book Two of The Infernal Devices
Published December 6, 2011
ISBN-10: 1416975888
ISBN-13: 978-1416975885

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

We continue the saga of The Infernal Devices (TID), a series that takes place hundreds of years before The Mortal Instruments (TMI). We meet various characters that are the ancestors of our favorite Shadowhunters in TMI, and we learn that in Victorian London, the Shadowhunters themselves were just starting to learn that they are not the most feared entity to Downworlders. Ever since the Magister raised his army of clockwork monsters, we've understood that the Shadowhunters' rule will be challenged. The back flap blurb makes me very excited to leap into Clockwork Prince so I can discover who the Magister is as related to the Shadowhunters and what exactly they did to force his hand against them.

I am excited to get back into the dark allies of Victorian London and experience how the Shadowhunters will react to this threat. Clare's writing never lets down. While the series is clearly Young Adult, it is so flawlessly written that you might think at times, it borders Adult. Her dark descriptions, her attention to detail. Oh yes, I'm ready.

Review of Clockwork Prince to follow.

Peace and Writing Love,

JWP

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Book One of the Hunger Games Trilogy
Published December 14, 2009
ISBN-10: 0439023483
ISBN-13: 978-0439023481

Review: 5/5

Cross reviewed on Goodreads

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers have not been blocked out.

I ran right to my Mac to write this review after finishing The Hunger Games. Holy WOW factor! I am stunned at how amazing a writer Collins is. While I knew what The Hunger Games was about, and what the actual Games were, I wasn't in any way prepared for some of the gruesome deaths she cooked up for the tributes. Death by tracker jackers? Rock to the skull? Mauled by mutts and then an arrow to the head? Each death, more visual than the last, kept me reading on and praying for Katniss's safety. And Peeta's, too. He was kind of just there and pops back in part three for good. He wasn't an outstanding character, but worked just enough to make me feel more for Katniss wanting to keep him around.

What really astounded me most about The Hunger Games was the Games itself. I'm curious as to the year this is all taking place, because I'm not certain if it's ever mentioned. I do know it's a far off dystopian and the country of Panem is a mock of the United States. Or perhaps it was the United States. I can't be sure. These people called the Gamemakers devise traps inside the arena for the tributes, eventually drawing them back together at points where they will either kill each other or claim a piece of survival gear. What I found truly remarkable is that the whole arena, while set in a forest, plains, rocky terrain with a whole lake there, is just that: an arena. I forgot until the very end that that the tributes rose out of the ground to start. I had become so invested in the landscape and how Katniss used everything to her advantage, I thought it was real. Another part that I found very interesting was the whole program of tributes gaining sponsors throughout the course of the Games. This damn blood feud, of people watching kids murder each other, is like our Olympic Games. The athletes have numerous sponsors that make things manageable for them, such as the best gear for their sport. Likewise, at the start of the games, if I remember correctly, each tribute was implanted with something that tracked their movements and recorded their actions, their reactions and their triumphs. This is what their sponsors would base donations on to see that their favorite tribute ends up the victor.

All in all, the whole structure of the Games was incredibly developed on Collins's part.

If there was anything at all I can complain about, it's the tiny things on Katniss's characterization. She asks too many questions. Debates too much over things. I wasn't much a fan of that. At one point, she asks five questions back to back, all relating to Peeta and the Career tributes, and whether he's alive or not. It could have been handled better and I'm hoping to see more growth in Katniss's first person narrative once I jump into Catching Fire.

Other than that, I end the review here. I am very excited now that I've read The Hunger Games, I can be doubly excited for the film release. I'm eagerly awaiting a second trailer.

And now I am faced with a terrible decision. Do I become sucked into Catching Fire RIGHT NOW, or do I give it an intermission so I might read Clockwork Prince. I'm hoping the latter wins over.

Peace and Writing Love,

JWP