Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices) #1 Review

Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices) #1 Review

Author: Cassandra Clare
Reading level: Ages 14 and up
Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; Reprint edition (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
Story Status: Trilogy


Summary:
Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.


My Review/Thoughts:
When Tessa Gray arrives in London on a ship from New York, she's eager to see her brother, Nate. But before she can find him, she's intercepted by two women, known as the Dark Sisters, who kidnap her and force her to learn how to use the strange magical powers she never knew she had, all the while promising her that she is lucky, and she will soon meet the sinister Magister. Terrified and confused, Tessa is rescued by two young Shadowhunters, Will and Jem, and is taken to the London Institute, where she learns that her powers are just the beginning of a strange, magical world she never knew existed, full of wonder, but also full of hate, prejudice, and danger...and Tessa is in the center of it.

Clockwork Angel, the first in Cassandra Clare's new Infernal Devices trilogy, is a descriptive and exciting book, that takes place in the Victorian Era. It's about twenty-thirty+ pages in the story where we will become familiar with the Shadowhunters and Downworlders. But the story unfolds quicjky and smoothly.

In the first few pages of Clockwork Angel, action begins immediately.  There is a bit of slow pacing


What I like:
*The new characters that are introduced into this story as well as a few old characters that we may recognize (Magnus Bane and Camille Belcourt, the Silent Brothers)
- Jem Carstairs:
- Will Hernondale:
-Tessa Grey:
-The Dark Sisters:
-Axel Mortmain:
-Charolette:
Some of these characters remind me of the original characters in the Mortal Instrument Series.
Tessa-Clary?
Will-Jace?
Jem-Simon/Alec?
de Quincy-Valentine
Charlotte-Jocylen?
Sophie-??
Jessamine- Isabelle?
Nate-Sebastian?
Six Fingered Nigel-Funny!
*I also liked Tessa's supernatural power as a shape-changer, where Tessa can take the form of other people as long as she has something of that person and Change into them.
*Pandemonium Club--very coincidental that the Pandemonium Club sort of interlace and reminds me of Pandemonium in City of Bones where Clary and Simon first enter where they first interact with the Shadowhunters
*The idea for a clockwork army/monsters
* Jem's backstory on his condition and how the way he is now. Sad , but also intriguing. I hope he really doesn't die in the future books, even though he is literally dying a very slow death.


What I didn't like:
* There's not much that I didn't like, except that sometimes the story seemed to drag a little bit from time to time (of course, that is always my complaint with these stories)
* Sometimes, because Will reminds me so much of Jace, me makes me want to reach through the book and slap this boy silly. I wish, he and Jace would just...stop being rash, rude, and a jerk to the main protagonists (Clary and Tessa).
* Nate. I thought he was a good guy, and I was fooled in thinking that he was--until 1/3 through the book.


Conclusion:
Aside from the Mortal Instrument Series, the Infernal Devices of the Clockwork Angel, is a great start of a prequel! Now, off to devour new books!

4.8/5 Stars