Clockwork Angel | Cassandra Clare | Reviewed by Anjali

Clockwork Angel | Cassandra Clare | Reviewed by Anjali

• Friday, 2 January 2015

Happy New Year everyone! I just recently re-read Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare, and it's sequel, Clockwork Prince, because I hadn't read the third in this trilogy yet, and wanted to remind myself of the story. Like all Cassandra Clare books, I love this series a lot, and had a lot of fun re-reading this.

Clockwork Angel is set in the late 1800s in London, and tells the story of Tessa Gray who has just stepped off the ship from New York, after receiving a telegram from her brother, who had moved there previously. She is greeted at the docks by Mrs. Black and Mrs. Dark who promptly take her, "at her brother's request", to their place. There Tessa discovers that she can Change; she can shift and morph into any other person. She is made to do this day in and day out, hating everything about it and wondering how she got herself in this mess, until a handsome Shadowhunter named William Herondale rescues her and she is thrown into a world of the supernatural. While she is invited to stay at the Shadownhunters' residence, the London Institute, all Tessa wants to do is find her missing brother. Together with the Shadowhunters, Tessa unearths much more than just a lost sibling, and finds herself in the middle of a mass of warlocks and werewolves, of Vampires and demons, of Downworlder clubs and secret organisations. To top it all off, there's a clockwork army at their door, and a crazy mundane wanting to take over the British Empire. Oh, and she's in love. At least, she think she is.

I love everything about these books. The characters are brilliant, each with their own very distinct personalities, the plot is fast paced and surprising, with twists and turns, love and hate, and life and loss. There's humour, too, which makes for some fun reading. While I do love Tessa's character, and her wit and humour, she does annoy me on occasions, especially when it comes to the little love-triangle she's got herself caught up in. But never-the-less, a great story.

If you've read her other series, The Mortal Instruments, but haven't read these yet, I do recommend them. If you haven't read any of Clare's book but want to jump into this awesome world, she suggests the following order in which to read them in:

The Mortal Instruments Part 1: 
City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass

The Infernal Devices:
Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess

The Mortal Instruments Part 2:
City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire

Yes, it's a little bit random, but there are things mentioned in the last three Mortal Instruments books that happen in the Infernal Devices. Looking forward to reading the last in this series, Clockwork Princess. 


This review was written by regular reviewer Anjali, get to know her here. 
Image from Good Reads.