Clockwork Angel by C. Clare

The long-awaited Clockwork Angel, the first book in The Infernal Devices, the prequel trilogy to Cassandra Clare’s the Mortal Instruments trilogy, won’t disappoint her fans nor turn away the new readers.

Tessa Gray descends into Victorian London’s dark underworld to search for her missing brother, with the mysterious Shadowhunters as her only allies.

The plot, from the beginning onward was rather slow for awhile, filled with character development and background information gathering for both Tessa and the readers. That  adventure-less part of the plot did give Clockwork Angel a soap opera-esque feel to it. The love triangle between Tessa, Jem and Will only adds to the angsty drama. While that did get a little boring, the  plot picked up again about half way through with explosive fight scenes and a twisted ending.

Will played the role of the emotionally distant teenage boy but Tessa could see that he was simply hiding behind that facade. Maybe it’s that womanly instinct that makes us want to fix men and their emotional problems that really pushed me into falling hard for Will – just like it did for Tessa. Jem, on the other hand, has all his emotions in check, is open and friendly, he’s even musically talented. Complete and total opposite from Will, and probably the more sensible choice for Tessa, but I just can’t see him as anything other than a good friend.

Throughout it all (the kidnapping, the blooming love) Tessa stood strong in her fight to get her brother. She might have been literally shaking in her boots in fear, but she never let that fear rule her. Yet, she was not without her flaws which included being blinded to the point of stupidity by love and naivety.

With so many subtle plotline similarities to her Mortal Instruments trilogy in Clockwork Angel, I can tell that The Infernal Devices will  surely become an international bestseller.

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