Book Reviews,  Bookish

Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)

7 April 2013 / 3 Comments

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)
Cassandra Clare

Published By: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: March 19, 2013
Date Read: April 4, 2013
Genre: YA – Steampunk / Urban Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 568
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6131164-clockwork-princess

From Goodreads:
Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren’t all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her.

**Note: Spoilers of Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince ahead.

Clockwork Princess was one of my most anticipated books of 2013 and there are no words to describe just how crazy excited I was to finally have it in my hands. I had so many expectations of this book and in true Cassandra Clare fashion she completely surpassed each and every one of them. Just when you think you have things figured out Cassandra Clare goes just exactly the opposite of what you think. Cassandra Clare is one of those phenomenal talents that nobody can quite measure up to and no matter how angry her books make me, and how many mental breakdowns they cause me (and trust me they cause A LOT) I can’t stop loving her and her books and Clockwork Princess was no exception.

As Tessa is preparing for her wedding to Jem Carstairs she should be ecstatic. But Tessa’s heart is torn in two as she knows her actions are hurting Will. Suddenly Tessa’s happiness and torn heart are the lease of their problems when Mortmain comes back once more. Only this time he is determined to slaughter all of the Shadowhunters… with Tessa by his side. Can Will put away his wounded heart and fight with his beloved parabati to get Tessa back? Only one this is certain, not everybody will survive this fight.

After reading the previous book in the series Clockwork Prince I had so many theories of what would happen in this book and how the series would end. Let me say that Cassandra Clare just completely blew me away. There were so many parts of this book that I was literally left screaming WTF just happened? At so many points the story went in a direction that I had no idea it could even go in. Cassandra Clare is just such a natural talent and her writing is phenomenal. It makes the book completely unputdownable. Once you start a Cassandra Clare book make sure your schedule is completely free because they literally take over your life.

Clockwork Princess is without a doubt a phenomenal book. It makes me so incredibly sad as I was just not ready to say goodbye to this series at all. I adore all of Cassandra’s books but The Infernal Devices is possibly one of my favourite series of all time and I just can’t believe it has ended. It made me just depressed to think about it ending which is the main reason it took me so damn long to finish. I just kept putting it to the side for days… not because it was bad, or because I hated what was happening (at many points I HATED what was happening) but because I just hated that the more I read the more I was closer to having to say goodbye to the characters and the world… and I really didn’t want to.

Clockwork Princess is one of the most emotional books I have ever read. I was literally in tears the majority of the way through the book. It broke my heart… no… wait… it SHATTERED my heart into about a million pieces… and I am still trying to put them back together. I am completely 100% Team Will and this book is just one really tough journey for Will which made it a tough journey for me. I just could not stop crying… but hey I didn’t throw the book across the room, I can’t say the same about Clockwork Princess, so it’s an improvement.

Clockwork Princess the the best of the series… and the worst to me. I loved it and thought it was a fantastic ending to the series with a great wrap up for all of the characters. However I freaking hated… no… DESPISED the epilogue. If you have read the book read on to the spoiler section for why. If you are a fan of Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices is without a doubt a must read series and Clockwork Princess is not to be missed. It was fantastic and I will definietly be re-reading the series over and over again.

****SPOILERS****
Now if you’ve got this far you can see that I adored this book. It was a fantastic wrap up to The Infernal Devices series. HOWEVER I hated the epilogue. Please only read on if you have finished Clockwork Princess as there is lots of spoiles.
I never ever write spoilers in my reviews but I need to rant… A LOT!
As everyone who knows me knows I was Team Will right from the start of Clockwork Angel. I just instantly loved him so I was never Team Jem… I like Jem and all, he is sweet but I never ever loved him and I’m sorry to say that I still don’t. I just like him.
Hence me hating… no… DESPISING the epilogue of this book.
To me the ending of the book before the epilogue was perfect. I loved it and it was exactly what the characters deserved. And then the epilogue happened. And it made me hate Tessa.
I was so freaking angry that she got back together with Jem. I mean I know she was married to Will for what? 60 years? Something like that? And I understand that she is immortal and he wasn’t and I wouldn’t expect her to never ever be with anyone else. BUT she didn’t even have to think twice about it. She has just relived her husband’s death in her mind and yet as soon as Jem expresses an interest in her she’s just like yeah let’s go… AND she says how all the way through her marriage she was still in love with Jem?!?!
I mean what a stupid little BITCH! It totally cheapened her relationship with Will and made me personally feel like she was only with Will to pass the time because she couldn’t have Jem at the time. I mean I understand that if Jem had never become a silent brother she wouldn’t have been with Will anyway but dude if she was completely in love with Jem don’t be with Will just because he’s there. Be honourable and just tell him you don’t love him. She did NOT love Will as much as he loved her and Will sure as hell deserved much better. I personally don’t believe you can love two people the exact same. Sure you can love two people but you always ALWAYS love one more than other and if that was Jem stop being a selfish little cow and stringing Will along. Tessa was Will’s one and only and she was just horrible about that!
The epilogue made me despise her and feel like she was just selfish and doing anything to make sure she was okay never mind anyone else and considering I used to like Tessa the epilogue made me hate her. I don’t think the epiogue was necessary at all and to me it felt like a total cop-out on Cassandra’s part to keep all of the fans happy. Just pick one guy and stick to it! Don’t go back and forth between them whenever they are available!
I mean it’s not as if I am completely against her getting back together with Jem. Jem loves her and Tessa loved him before he became a silent brother. It was more the way it happened and how she never had to think twice…. if she had said ‘well let’s see how it goes’ then I’d have been much happier but the way it played out makes me feel like she never did love Will and he was just a substitute while she waited for Jem. And I despise that!
One thing I did love about the Epilogue is that Jem became mortal again which means that when he has lived his life and had died, in death and in teh next life Jem and Will can be parabati together again. As much as I am Team Will and very passionate about the romantic relationships between these characters I felt that the brotherly relationship between Jem and Will was much more important and to know they can be together again at some point made me very very happy.
I will re-read the series but I despise the epilogue and will 100% be ignoring it and pretending that it doesn’t even exist! In my eyes it did NOT happen. The ending prior to the epilogue was perfect and the epilogue was completely and utterly unneccessary and pretty much ruined the book for me. I have so much hatred for that epilogue that I can’t act like it did happen or else I will never EVER read the series again because of it. So to me… it does not exist.
***END OF SPOILERS***
Overall, Clockwork Princess was brilliant (apart from the Epilogue). It was a phenomenal novel that deserves the credit of a masterpiece… because it is. A literary masterpiece and it is only so long before Cassandra’s books become classics because they are genuinelly classic-worth… they are fantastic and everyone should read them!

I’m Kayleigh, a teacher and blogger who is obsessed with all things bookish. I love reading YA books of all genres and I am happiest when sharing my love and passion for books.

3 Comments

Leave a Reply