Clockwork Angel : Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel 

People. I have been consumed. You know when read a good book and you become totally and completely immersed in it? And you want to read every waking moment and every minute of those moments and you find yourself calculating when the next time you can pick up the book is? That’s been me lately. I’ve got spring fever and can’t focus on anything important but I can focus all my attention on a book. I had randomly grabbed this book from our little library at work and it sat on my desk forever until I eventually worked my way through the pile and started this book. From the first chapter, I was hooked.

Trilogy, trilogy, trilogy. Why do great things come in threes? Clockwork Angel is the first of three books in the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. It also is essentially a prequel-slash-parallel series to the Mortal Instruments series (of which I am reading now). Clockwork Angel is about Tessa, a young American girl who is called to London by her brother to visit. When she arrives in London, she is taken in by two elderly creep-tastic sisters named the Dark Sisters.  These sisters chain her up and treat her prisoner as they teach Tessa her secret powers. Tessa, as it turns out, is a shape shifter. Not only can she change shapes but she becomes that person and knows their memories and thoughts. The Dark sisters are manipulating her for some dark and menacing purpose until the charming Will Herondale and James (Jem) Carstairs rescue her. They bring her to the London Institute of Shadowhunters; a school that trains shadowhunters in the art of killing, communicating, and reasoning in creatures of the downworld. Through Will and Jem (and other members of the institute), Tessa discovers a world that has been hidden right in front of her with werewolves, vampires, warlocks and demons; a world that she belongs to.

I adore this book. It's a great, fun read. The descriptive elements of Tessa's 19th century London makes you really feel as if you are there. It also has steampunk-esque elements as well. For those of you who do not know, steampunk is a sub genre of science fiction that is retro futuristic. It is essentially Victorian dress with elaborate metal. 

It's not full fledged steampunk but definitely has those elements that really add to the story. This book also has two wonderful complimentary characters in Will and Jem. These two young men are nephilium, half angel half man and are also parabati. Parabati are bound by tradition and sacred ceremony to be more than brothers, more than family, more than blood. These two men could not be more different either. Will is brash, sarcastic and witty. Jem is gentle, calm and compassionate. And of course, there is a delicious love triangle. But you know what, this love triangle never goes the way you want it. Whenever there is a love triangle in a book, you can usually tell which way it's going to lean. We all really knew that Katniss was going to be with Peeta, that Bella would end up a vampire with Edward. But this book keeps you guessing at every turn. And you really don't know Tessa's final choice until the final book! And believe me, it's not what you are expecting at all! 

This is a fun and dramatic read: a love triangle without the mush, a story of brothers with a terrible secret, and an identity that is never quite truly revealed in truth. Not to mention the automaton robot covered in human flesh looking to take over London, this book has it all! Pick this book up and read it as soon as you can. You'll be hooked and read the next two just as fast as I did!

What is also great about this book is that it's predecessor/prequel/sequel/side series (I'm not really completely sure how it is related, but it definitely is), City of Bones is going to be a movie this coming August! I can't wait to see it. I'm reading it now and really like it. I'll definitely be picking up those sequels in the coming week or so! 

Check out the trailer here for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.