I loved The Mortal Instruments so when I found out that Cassandra Clare was writing another trilogy I was really excited. But the first book was kind of a disappointment. Like many people I felt that the new series was just a rehashing of The Mortal Instruments, but this time it took place in Victorian London.
The character archetypes were pretty much the same. We had a leading lady who was introduced to a new world. A hot boy who had a bad attitude, a best guy friend who falls in love with our leading lady. Finally, another female character who makes our lead feel uncomfortable in her own skin just because she’s just that good looking. Everything was just so familiar.
Even though I was a little disappointed by the first book, I dutifully picked up the sequel. It gathered dust on my shelf for a couple of months until I finally gave in and thought: “well hell, it can’t be that bad” and finally read it.
And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised.
Clockwork Prince picks up pretty soon after we left off in Clockwork Angel. Tessa and her Shadowhunter friends are still trying to solve the mystery of Tessa’s origins while they also look into stopping the dangerous Magister. On top of that Tessa, needs to decide which boy she wants: the gentle Jem or the wild and crazy Will.
This book packs in just the right amount of teen angst with the steam-punk inspired fantasy. Cassandra Clare built off of the basics of the first book in a clever and refreshing way. She starts to give these new characters a different feel then her contemporary crew in The Mortal Instruments. For most of them at least. Will and Jace still share a lot of characteristics which I can’t ignore.
I think my appreciation for these book still steams from her first series. In The Mortal Instruments I came to love the Shadowhunter World and this prequel series is able to expand this love. But The Infernal Devices leans on the books that came before it. I am still excited for the final book in this trilogy. When it is released I will do a more informative critique of the series. There’s no real point in analyzing the picture until I have all the pieces.
That being said there is something that I want to look at, but it’s extremely entrenched in spoilers. If you’ve read the book or want to ruin it for yourself read that here.
So to sum it all up. Clockwork Prince was enjoyable and renewed my interest in the series.
