A couple days ago I was able to finish reading a 448-paged novel Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. This is the first book in the “Infernal Devices” series and it was published on August 31st, 2010. Cassandra Clare has been a lover of books since she was young and always had one on her because of the constant traveling/moving she underwent. Her first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in an anthology of humor fantasy then, in 2006, she became a full-time fantasy fiction writer. The “Infernal Devices” series is actually the prequel to her most famous series “The Mortal Instruments” which I am finishing at the moment. I first found out about these 2 combined series when I went to the library one day with my friend and all of a sudden she pulled it off the shelf and said, “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS”. So I just figured why not, although, it did take me a while to get into it but, I quickly got obsessed (thank you, Sophia)!

Clockwork Angel is about Tessa Gray who sets off to London’s underworld in search for her missing brother but when she arrives she is taken by the Dark Sisters because she holds a power that now one else has. Yet, when a Shadowhunter named Will comes to save her, she begins to learn what she was to be used for and who was really on her side. With the help of her new allies she soon finds herself in the battle against a greater source, the Pandemonium Club (a secret organization).

I really liked how the author kept a lot of the ideas to herself at times. When I was reading the novel at random chapters she would start throwing these clues of what the ending would be like so that it wasn’t a totally unexpected plot twist but also not expected. This, personally, made the story a whole lot mot intriguing and entertaining because I got to try and put together the missing puzzle pieces.

Something that I disliked about “Clockwork Angels” was how in denial the author made Tessa. Her skill in being able to acknowledge something sort of began to pick up in the last 2 books but in the 1st I had to slam my head a couple times to try and compose myself. The author will have Will and Jem (her allies; Shadowhunters) drop some hints to show they like her but she does not react until 10 chapters later. If you are planning on reading this (which you should because her denial is still worth reading for…so many ships) then I suggest maybe having a few Advil’s by your side.

Although the characters may have irritated me slightly at times (like every other character in every other book) the author made the character development shine and definitely stand out. You have a scared Tessa Gray change into this brave “warlock” in 1 novel and see how she gets stronger mentally. She faces many deaths and heartbreaking occasions where she can only be strong at the time because if she isn’t, everything else will fall apart.

Tessa, near the middle of the book, said that

“One must always be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us” (do not have pg # due to the online copy I read).

I instantly started to memorize this quote after reading it because I find it to be my new motto. Books should always be taken care of because they can hold such deep meanings/messages. Words in many novels have the power to leave an impact on our life’s much like words do in person and with that left impact, it can cause people to change. I always find myself discovering new things in writing which pushes me to improve the way I’m doing everyday things from something as small as writing my name to how I treat other people.

I loved this books to a ridiculous amount (I had finished it in 1 day) and started the 2nd one right way after because I couldn’t wait. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy even the slightest bit and also (small tip) read the 3 first books of “The Mortal Instruments” before the “Infernal Devices” series then finish the rest of “The Mortal Instruments” books, it will make more sense. Overall, my rating out of 10 for this book is a 10!

Hope you try it out!