Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare

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.

First, I want to start off by saying that I make many, many references to the Mortal Instruments in this review, and someone who hasn't read the Mortal Instruments series (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels) wouldn't understand the references.

I don't know why it took me SO long to finish this book because it was a really good book. (I mean, hello, Cassandra Clare wrote it. Of course it's going to be good!) It feels like it took me forever to finish this book, and I blame my hectic life. Which is why, I don't feel like this review will be that good, or accuate for that matter. So, feel free to call me out on any errors that I've made in this post.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get on with the review.

I was nervous when I first picked up this book, because I didn't know if the Infernal Devices series would live up the the Mortal Instruments series. I didn't know if Cassandra Clare could keep my interest this time, or if she would make this series too much like the Mortal Instruments series and just basically have the same plot with different characters.

I was partially right. Cassandra Clare kept my interest, but the basic plot is the same. Someone goes missing, the main character has to go find that person, then, the main character bumps into some shadow hunters, they all stumble into some big problem with some really bad evil dude, and there's drama within the group. I felt, while reading this, that there were certain things that Cassandra Clare repeated in this series that she first came up with in the Mortal Instruments sereis. Even through those similarities were still there, I loved the book and the dramatical issues within the group were vastly different than those that were in the Mortal Instruments.

The characters, for one, are not all that different than in the Mortal Instruments. Tessa is not at all like Clary, while Will and Jace seem alike, I can see subtle differences between the two, however, I can't tell you because I don't want to ruin the plot. Jem and Simon are also completely different characters, but somewhat similar in the way that they react to situations within the seperate books. I don't know what it is that makes me want to link them together (Maybe it's because Cassandra Clare wrote all of these books) but they just seem so similar.

I would give this book a 4.5/5, just because it seems unorigional at times, and the characters intertwine with Clare's first Shadowhunter series, The Mortal Instruments. Even though this parallel is there, the detail of the plot is immensly different than TMI, which sets the two series apart. I look forward to reading the next book in the Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince.