For this review, the first part is SPOILER-FREE, so you can read on with peace, when it comes to the details of the books, I will warn those of you that hasn't read the book yet to STAY AWAY. Unless, you want to get yourself spoilt for the trilogy, but I recommend you don't!
Alright, with the disclaimer stated, let's get started!
So, I recently just read The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, and I have so much to talk to you guys about!
First off, what is The Infernal Devices?
This trilogy is set in the Shadowhunter world and there are demons, vampires, werewolves, and even faeries! This trilogy takes place before The Mortal Instruments series, in 1878.
The books are Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess.
So, in this trilogy, we follow our three main characters, Tessa Gray, Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, who had to fight for their own lives, trying to figure out who they are, and to just get on with their lives, and there is also a really huge love triangle in the story.
Here's a synopsis of Clockwork Angel :
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Timesbestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...
Rating :
Clockwork Angel : 5/5 stars
Clockwork Prince : 5/5 stars
Clockwork Princess : 5/5 stars
Now, doesn't the rating says a lot for how good the trilogy is? Well, at least I enjoyed reading them, and the time that I spent with all the characters in the book. However, you might have opinions that differ from mine, so read on to see if this trilogy might interest you.
Characters :
As mentioned above, we start off the trilogy with our main characters, Will Herondale, Jem Carstairs, and Tessa Gray.
- Tessa Gray is just the perfect female character you would want to read about who isn't all whiny and useless, trying to depend on every character there is in the book, but instead she is someone who is headstrong, determined and controls her own life, by facing every obstacles there is that stood in front of her.
- Will Herondale is a character that is very mysterious, and makes you wonder who he really is behind all the walls that he has put up for himself, to keep everyone away from him. He is someone you wished you have as a partner in real life, to comfort when he is heartbroken, to laugh at when he is really goofy, to swoon at when he makes all the quotes from the classics that he has read.
- Jem Carstairs is a really delicate character, one who you can't help but fall in love with, be it his looks or his personality. He is really calm, and forgives people easily, never holding a grudge on someone, especially to those that he loves. He plays beautiful music on his violin, like it's his life that he's holding on to, playing with such gentle hands, expressing himself in a way that he can't with words. You will find yourself falling in love with him, whether you want it or not, he will capture your heart, and play it on the strings of his violin.
Then we have characters who aren't the leads, but they play HUGE roles in the books. We have Charlotte Branwell the head of the London Institute, Henry Branwell; Jessamine Lovelace; Magnus Bane; the two Lightwood brother, Gideon and Gabriel.
- Charlotte Branwell is a great leader, despite being a female. She faces a lot of obstacles set by people who dislike her for being a leader just because of her gender, trying to bring her down from her position. However, she treats everyone with care, welcome whoever that needs her help to the Institute, and she never resort to violence and betrayal even to the people who backstabbed her, instead she always try to solve things diplomatically instead of violence. She is a character that you will look up to, and will enjoy reading about her in the books.
- Henry Branwell isn't the character that you will expect yourself to read about. Although he is a man, he doesn't lead the Institute, instead he lets his wife to do the job, while he supports her on the sideline. He puts his time on inventing things, although most of his inventions always brought danger to the shadowhunters in the Institute. Even though he doesn't seem like the guy who is very dependable, he actually is. He supports his wife silently, helping her along the way when things are going all the wrong ways possible in the Institute, giving suggestions to his wife on how to solve things, and he loves his wife a lot, showering his affection on her.
- Jessamine Lovelace is one of those characters that you can't help but hate. She is really whiny, and does the things opposite to what others want her to do. She hates her life and is always trying to do something in order to change it. She isn't the most favourable character in the books, but you will grow to like her, and understand her, in ways you didn't at the beginning.
- Magnus Bane is a warlock, and he is the one of the most powerful and also the oldest. Warlocks are half demon and half human, and they are able to perform magic. He is a really interesting character that you will meet, and you will enjoy reading about him in the books. He is someone who is also very mysterious but at the same time has a lot of sass, and isn't afraid to show who he really is to everyone.
- Gideon Lightwood is a character that only start to play a huge role in the second book, and he is just really calm, and super chill with whatever he do, but when things come to his brother, he seems to have a 'brother complex' and he has NO chill at all.
Okay so basically that is all for the characters. I have to say, they all just grow onto me after the third book, and I couldn't even bear to finish the story. *deep breathes*
TMI or TID first?
So a lot of you will be wondering, should I read The Mortal Instruments (TMI) or The Infernal Devices (TID) first.
For me, I read City of Bones first, then reading Clockwork Angel, proceeding with City of Ashes when I was in the middle of Clockwork Prince (oops haha!) and then Clockwork Princess. However, there are definitely a lot of different ways of reading the Shadowhunters Saga (is this what you call the whole thing...?)
First, you can read it according to the timeline of the book, TID then TMI.
Second, by the way Cassie Clare suggests:
- City of Bones
- City of Ashes
- City of Glass
- Clockwork Angel
- Clockwork Prince
- Clockwork Princess
- City of Fallen Angels
- Clity of Lost Souls
- City of Heavenly Fire
Third, if you are worried that you cannot get into TMI, then go for TID first, since it helped a lot of people to get into the series, and they loved TID better!
Okay with that, I will end the non-spoiler part of this post, and hopefully you will feel excited to read this trilogy now! Do not read on if you haven't finish this trilogy! Okay, BYE!
So here on, it will be spoilery... So, stay away if you don't want to be spoiled on the third book : Clockwork Princess!
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!
CLOCKWORK PRINCESS SPOILER!
PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
I definitely enjoyed Clockwork Princess a lot, more than Clockwork Prince, but maybe slightly lower than Clockwork Angel.
Clockwork Princess started off with a bang, and it was just fantastic! Seeing Tessa in her wedding dress was really fun, and the way she has to fight the worm in that dress was even more hilarious! I have to say, the part where Jem was trying to stop Tessa from going into the battlefield was just so sweet! And I loved the comeback of Will when Jem said how Will wouldn't be able to fight in the wedding dress. He just said "Perhaps not," said Will, who had ears like a bat's. "But I would make a radiant bride.” This part was just #sassyherondale.
What I like about this book:
A LOT OF THINGS, haha! But I guess one of my favourite part was all the interaction between the ships, especially Gideon and Sophie, as well as Gabriel and Cecily. The way they had to overcome the obstacles they were facing in order to be together, was just so heartwarming and so cute.
I also liked the part where we got to see the power of the Parabatai rune coming into action. Although it was a really sad scene, it was just so amazing seeing how the rune really bonded them together and you can see how Will and Jem really loved each other, the way Will was so angry and hurt for not being able to be by Jem's side.
Okay, this is definitely not a very happy scene, but I was just so captivated by the whole thing. (My breath was just getting shallower as I was reading it, like I was hiking up to the submit of Mount Everest. I couldn't handle this scene, at all.)
Oh and I definitely enjoyed that small conversation between Charlotte and Henry about the baby's name. It was just such a cutesy scene, and oh so wonderful to see them immerse themselves in the world of just the three of them, not thinking about the horror of the reality and Mortmain.
What I hated about this book:
MORTMAIN. That guy is just so annoying and disgusting, I can't even. I never knew someone can have a rotting brain and heart in them, not using it to think. I hated how he treated Tessa's mother, making her make out with a demon whom she thought was her husband in order to create Tessa was just so messed up.
Regardless of whatever reasons he had to do all these things, and how bad his childhood was, he still don't have the right to mess someone else's life in order to fulfill what he wants. (The typical plot where the antagonist has a bad childhood which leads to him being all messed up in the head)
Confusing scenes:
Let's be real here, I got really confused at the part where Tessa decides to lay herself out there in that cave for Will when she heard that Jem was already gone. I mean, seriously? If you really loved Jem, you wouldn't be like "Ok, let's get this on with it Will." (Okay, I know I'm being mean or not true to the later part of the scenes, but when I just read about what she was doing, that was my thought. I couldn't understand why she could just give herself to Will really easily and not even think about Jem.
I know she did that because she loved Will, and time was running out, so in order to confess their love for each other, they decided to do that. But I really did not expect that, I thought she will be guilty and try to not want to do it with Will because of her engagement with Jem...
Maybe I am reading too much into this part, and I'm sure a lot of people will be hating me after they read this small review.
Interesting facts:
I loved how the part where Tessa's clockwork angel actually burned a small star onto Will's shoulder, and it will be forever in the Herondale's blood, which was just so awesome and interesting.
I was really shocked that Jem didn't die and turned out to be Brother Zachariah, major shock! I was actually assuming him to be Brother Jeremiah, since their names bother started with 'J' but I'm glad he wasn't. (You will know what I mean if you've read City of Ashes) Now I can't wait to see Brother Zach again in the TMI!
You guys know how we all will cry in this book right, and some people told me I will cry around this part, and I was nearing the ending and I still didn't cry, trying to figure out what's the sad part of this book... I didn't get why people cried so much about this book. It wasn't until I reached the epilogue of the book, did I know the pain that people suffered when reading this book!
The epilogue really killed me. (Although it wasn't like a full-crying-nose-with-snot cry, it was still really sad.
The way Will called Brother Zach over to him when he was on his deathbed, and the part when he played the violin for him the last, and said "Ave Atque Vale", my heart just literally tore into two parts, and into million pieces, and tried to fix itself back but it will never be whole again.
All right, I hope you readers out there aren't like me, controlling the tears as I typed my small review out. I hope you guys enjoyed this TID Discussion and it will spark your love for all the characters once again!
With this, I will end this post here. Happy Reading! =)
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