Friday, July 21, 2017

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

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, but 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.



Rating: 4/5 Stars




”Will,” Tessa said firmly. “Do you care more about the plan being enacted or about getting credit for it?”
Will pointed a finger at her.
“That,” he said. “The Second one.”


This second book was less about Mortmain and his automatons army, and more about the characters dealing with their own issues and personal lives. There will be a few spoilers from this book though, so be warned!

The Love Triangle of Doom (or) Reasons on Why Tessa Is an Idiot:


What had Will meant, coming to her room like that? Why had he shown her such sweetness when she knew that he despised her? And why, when she knew that he was the worst thing in the world for her, did sending him away seem like such a terrible mistake?


I always want to roll my eyes (or stab someone’s eyes, depends) when heroines do this. The guy treats them like crap, they are assholes to them but in very rare occasions they show kindness or a slight bit of interest and they go all “Oh, but if he hates me why does he occasionally treats me well?” BECAUSE he’s manipulating you honey! Oh yes, I know that this is not the case here and that Will pushes Tessa away because of the curse and blah, blah but shedoesn’t know that! If you look at any website or article about couple’s abuse, this manipulative behaviour is definitely on the list!

Honestly, there was absolutely no reason for Tessa to be hanging on to Will like that other than the author forcing the narrative so this insufferable behaviour kept happening for the sake of drama. Unless you had some sort of masochist complex, if someone treats you like crap and ignores you you’ll probably walk away from this person.

If the relationship had been developed more, then I would have bought up, maybe. But these two have been practically in love from the moment they met and even after months they barely know each other.

Give me more development and believable romance, dammit!

The Curse Was Really Dissapointing:

“You.”
The blueskinned demon blinked. All the demons stood stockstill, looking at one another. There must have been some agreement in place, Tessa thought, to keep them from attacking the humans at the party, but she did not like the way the wet red mouths were licking their lips.
“Er,” the demon Will had addressed said, in a surprisingly ordinary voice. “I don’t recall-That is, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of your acquaintance?”



Okay, so we find out that the reason Will pushes people away but Jem is because he believed he had been cursed by a demon at the age of twelve, and that anybody who loved him would die so he made his best to try and pretend to be an asshole so people would feel no sympathy for him.

So Will gets Magnus help to find the demon and when they do… turns out there was no curse at all? The resolution to this conflict was sooo disappointing I mean, you had Will believe for five years that he had this horrible curse that meant nobody could ever love him or they would die, and when they finally find the demon it goes “Oh that? Lol I was just fucking with you there’s no curse.” So… there was nothing? I would have liked the result better if it had made some sense. Sure, twelve year old Will had no idea of the Shadowhunters world, but as he grew and learned, wouldn’t he have tried to find a way to break the curse? Wouldn’t he have researched about demons and realized that curses like that are really hard to make, especially when the demon was trapped and weak? Will should have been like a demon expert or something! And this really obvious result just never occur to him??

It made no sense!


Jessamine What the Heck??

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I don’t know what I was expecting from jessamine’s character, she always seemed like a loose end. What was her part in the story? Her past was sad, yes, but her being so bitter and angry put a wall between her and the other characters and of all the people in the institute, I think she was the one readers knew the least.

But still… I don’t know, I had hopes for her I guess? Her hate for all Shadowhunter things was interesting, especially when she considers that being Shadowhunters was what got her family killed and how she doesn’t want to live in a world full of danger… but betray them?? And for that monster of Nate?? I honestly thought Jessamine would be smarter, but I guess she was so desperate to get away from the institute and have a “normal life” that she was willing to do anything.

In the end, and even though during both books I hated her more than anything, I did feel bad for her. And that scene at the end when the “diamond” of her ring breaks and she sees that not even that little thing was real? That was fricking heart-breaking.

Congratulations on Jessamine for calling out Tessa’s bullshit though:

“You are the one who does not understand love. ‘Oh, I cannot decide between Will and Jem. Whatever shall I do?’” she said in a highpitched voice, and Tessa flushed hotly.


Jem and Magnus Are Too Precious For This World:

For me the most painful part of this love triangle (other than Will moaning about his curse and Tessa moaning about Will being hot-and-cold) is the fact the Jem kind of flies under the radar. The story has made it clear that Tessa loves both, but the way the story is written it’s like Will is The Great Love of Tessa’s life. He’s the guy she can’t stop thinking about, the guy whose soul calls to her and whose skin sets her on fire and so on… But Jem? Despite saying that she loves them both it’s pretty clear that Tessa (and Cassandra Clare) prefers Will, and that breaks my heart because Jem is just so beautiful! He doesn’t deserve to be a second choice and I hate that he is.

Magnus is fantastic, and his outlook in life refreshing. I love him every time he’s on the page, however brief that may be.


Henry And Charlotte Are a Cute Break From All the Drama:

I was so happy when these two talked and realized they were both absolutely in love with each other. With Charlotte loving him but believing he had only married her because his father owed her father money, and with Henry loving her but believing the only reason she married him was because she needed a husband to run the institute, when they finally got that out of the way and found out they are expecting a baby was a cute moment that broke the tension in the teen’s love story drama.


The end came with a cliffhanger that keeps you hooked to the last book of the series, and apart from the love drama, Clockwork Prince has a good deal of mistery, suspense and funny moments to keep readers entertained.

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