Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.
(Infernal Devices #3)
Book Summary: 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.
Liana's Summary: Tessa is finally getting married, getting married to someone, someone that she loves. They say that you can only love one other person at once, but apparently, that's not true-- and Tessa is living proof that that saying is entirely false. Torn between Will, and dearest Jem, how can she choose? Meanwhile, adding to everyone's burdens, Mortmain is continuously unrelenting with his brutality and desperation-- he needs Tessa, to take over the world.. by his side. It doesn't matter that she's engaged. He'll do anything, anything at all, and kill off anyone without so much as a second glance. And the person he's killing happens to be Jem himself-- the one character that none of us can see merely suffer. What will happen? Is Tessa strong enough? Will Jem survive, at all? And what will Will do? Cassie Clare has written a truly beautiful trilogy about love and loss, engaging all of her readers and leaving them in a teary mess.
Rate(1-10): 10!!
If it weren't for my 'don't break the scale because that's unfair' rule, I would have given this book however many more zeroes to the end of that 10 that I could type in a lifetime. In other words, this book has fully broken my personal expectation scale, and it'll never be fixed again, I fear.. And the two exclamation marks will do nothing to emphasize how much I LOVED THIS BOOK.
As you all know, or may not know, but are finding out right now, that Clockwork Princess was one of my highly anticipated books of 2013. I've been waiting for this book for quite some time now, and I don't know how I survived my own impatience.
When I read the end of Clockwork Prince, I half-died inside. When I saw the cover for Clockwork Princess for the first time, I cried. It's so gorgeous. Tessa is really pretty, and the book looks fabulous next to Clockwork Angel & Clockwork Prince. And there's a pedigree on the inside of the cover, too! For those of you who haven't read the book, do not look at the family tree first. Read the story and then examine the pedigree, since it contains spoilers. I'm just glad that I received a warning to save examining the pedigree for last.
When the book came out, I screamed. When I preordered it, I squealed. When I saw in the tracking information that this book was in the same state that I was in, I jumped for joy. When this book came to my house, when it was placed on my chair, for me to open, I tore it open (gracefully, believe it or not) and cried. Throughout this whole book, no matter what I told myself, I could not help but tear up at least once in every single chapter. Y'all have no idea how much times I teared up because of some romantic quote or something about death. I've always considered myself a hard-hearted person, who wouldn't cry at all, even at the saddest parts of a story. What made me surprised was that Cassie Clare had the ability to make me cry with just a few romantic quotes while JK Rowling didn't really make me cry at all with all those deaths of all those beloved characters. Except for one, of course.. Don't get me wrong, really, JK Rowling is forever my queen, but Cassandra Clare is probably my goddess.
Well, before I cracked open this book and devoured it all up, I wanted to have a look at my previous reviews to remind me of the plot in the previous books. But no, that did not help at all. All I did was swoon and fangirl about Jem, which I am still doing at the moment.. Seriously, reading my previous reviews make me wince. LOL. They sucked butt- I'm not saying that the reviews I write right now are good, I'm just saying that they're a little better. I feel like I've gotten practice from writing 200+ reviews, huh?(;
What I absolutely LOVE is that most of my questions have been answered-- not just the questions from the previous 2 books of this series, but from the Mortal Instruments books as well. It fits nicely, like puzzle pieces.
I absolutely ADORE Cassie Clare and her writing. She's amazing. Every chapter, every page, sentence, every line, every WORD kept me engaged to this story. I haven't lost concentration once-- I considered this story too precious. And that's amazing, because, knowing me, I usually lose concentration in at least one part in even a really good book. Once I read the first page, I remembered how much I missed the Shadowhunter world and how much I loved Cassie Clare's writing.
My emotions for this series, cannot be expressed. One word: ineffable. For those of you who've read it, I hope you know what I'm talking about, omg. For those of you who haven't, go ahead and read it, and we will all fangirl together.
I cannot say that I am completely satisfied with what happened, and in the middle of the book, specifically on page 311, I was in complete denial. I was so angry, that I HATED this story, but then again loved it with such a passion. But when I finished this story, the ending was so bittersweet and beautiful I couldn't help but cry at the last few words. And no, I am not usually a tearful person when it comes to reading! Dangit, I even cried at the Author's Note: A Note on Tessa's England. Seriously?
Some people say that there are too many Shadowhunter books, that Cassie Clare is just feeding the cash cow. Well, that may be true, but then again she's satisfying all her readers' hungry eyes with her writing, so those people shouldn't complain of what she's doing, because how she earns her money is none of their business. And so, I am awaiting The Dark Artifices, and cannot wait for City of Heavenly Fire, OR the City of Bones movie, either! Eeep! ANTICIPATION PORES, OPEN! LOL.
There wasn't that much romance in this book, probably because all of the romance had already bloomed in the first two books. It was really cute, still, seeing them love each other, already being in love. I like how the Lightwoods fell in love though, (I liked the Lightwoods in this book-- I've always liked the Lightwoods, I mean, they aren't bad, but in this book I loved the Lightwood brothers!) it was nice seeing some new romance blossom! Honestly, I couldn't ask for more. This book exceeded the PERF line, I don't even know what to say.
And now, character discussions.
Tessa- Ah, the heroine of this tale. I like Tessa, but I have to say that I like Clary from TMI so much more. Tessa seems to be too mature for her age, and I appreciate that, but she seems kind of broken, somehow. But yes, she makes a good main character.
Jem- What more do I have to say but that he is my fictional infatuation? As beautiful as the bright side of the ferken moon. He showed me, and undoubtedly many others, that fictional male characters don't have to be cocky to be hot. Jem is one of a kind, and I'll never forget him, even in the future when the books won't be opened for quite a while, until I decide to reread. The worst things happen to the kindest people.. Oh, yeah! And I love how I understand his Mandarin, how I don't need to look at the translation at all.. muahaha. LOL.
Will- Will must be the most arrogant of his time- he's beautiful and he knows it. I love the way he talks, the way he quotes books, the way he says a lot of conceited things, the way he makes light jokes out of everything he can think of, the way that he hates ducks, the way that he cares for Jem so much, how he showed all of us what it was like to be a caring parabatai. We gotta love Will. In this book, we've got to see so much more of him. Which is great! Because he's such a great character.
Sophie- I like Sophie, lots. At first I thought I wasn't going to like her, because of her crush on Jem, but she turned out to be awesome. I feel really happy for her!
Cecily- Cecily, ah, the one that left us all gaping at the last page of Clockwork Prince like mad dogs, falling off our chairs. The one that worried us so when we first heard her name from an unconscious Will. I feel like Cecily just came to annoy Will, which was practically what she did, but mainly I feel like she was trying to prove to Will that she wasn't a little kid anymore. Cecily is a wonderful character.
Magnus- Magnus Bane will forever remain a fascinating character-- he's AWESOME. I feel like he has more depth and feelings and character in him, the things that he somewhat refuses to expose, although he shows plenty of character already. But I know he has feelings and I think I'll get to know him better, soon enough.
Quotes. Oh, the quotes that make me cry, laugh, and scream!
This time, let me do something differently. I won't do quote reactions. Just the quotes that I love so much.
Might contain spoilers.
"..his curling dark hair streaked with silver.."
"I'll train with you."
"Please do not make me uncomfortable, Mr. Lightwood."
"Perhaps not," said Will, who had ears like a bat's. "But I would make a radiant bride."
"He wanted to run to her, to wrap her in his arms. Protect her."
".. he turned just in time to see his parabatai slump to his knees on the ground."
"Wo xi wang ni ming tian ke yi jia gei wo."
"There is no such thing as perfect, Tessa."
"I could never hate you, William."
"If Jem dies, I cannot be with Tessa," said Will. "Because it will be as if I were waiting for him to die, or took some joy in his death, if it let me have her. And I will not be that person. I will not profit from his death. So he must live."
"I can't wear this, Magnus. It's too pretty for a man."
"So are you."
"She could not be Jem for him, she thought, could not be his compass that always pointed north, but if nothing else she could make his a slighter burden to carry."
"We have honor, we are Nephilim. If he takes that, we truly have nothing."
"Are you wearing a woman's necklace, Will?"
"..and she loved them both."
"You know that; you must know that. I could never let you go away from me, not into danger, not while I have breath."
"Tessa, did you imagine that there exists any quarrel, large or small, that could make me stop loving you?"
"I am not dead yet, Will," Jem said in a soft voice, thin but as strong as wire. "What did Magnus mean by asking you if I knew you were in love with Tessa?"
"Wherever we are, we are as one."
"If there is a life after this one," he said, "let me meet you in it, James Carstairs."
"I am dramatic," said Will.
Magnus waved a hand. "All Lightwoods look the same to me--"
"Don't girls usually fall in love with their rescuers?"
"Will is easy to love, and he has given her his whole heart. I can see it. I hope she will not break it."
"Death shall never rule me."
"You are lonely," she said. "You have surrounded yourself with creatures that are not real, that do not live."
"I want to kiss you one more time before I die."
"When you fight now, I will be still by you. When you walk in the world, I will be the light at your side, the ground steady under your feet, the force that drives the sword in your hand. We are bound, beyond the oath."
"..I will still be in some part the Jem you knew, and I will see you with the eyes of my heart."
"Wo men shi sheng si ji jiao,"
"Of course you can have a true Shadowhunter name," Will said. "You can have mine."
"You are human, he had said. In all the ways that matter."
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Kay, that's that!
What did you guys think of this review?(;
This series will forever be one of my HIGHEST recommendations.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
