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A review by nickoliver
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've read this book for the first time in the summer of 2015, and I had absolutely adored it. Like, half of my diary entries from around that time - and even some months later - were basically just me fangirling over Will. He was essentially what I imagined my perfect boyfriend to look and act like (which, lol @ 2015-me for thinking I even liked guys). Overall, I found the Infernal Devices to be so much more interesting than the Mortal Instruments, and the characters to be way more intriguing and entertaining than, say, Jace and Clary. (Also, Will and Tessa never think they're siblings, so there's that added bonus of not having to deal with incest.)
This year, I finally got around to re-reading the book for the first time, and I'm very pleased to announce that I still loved it just as much the second time around! I did find a few things that bothered me that didn't occur to me five years ago, but they were minor and really didn't take away from my enjoyment, which is why my rating of 5 stars is still standing.
My absolute favourite aspect of "Clockwork Angel" were undoubtedly the characters. Obviously, my focus was a lot on Will and Jem, because their personalities just gave me a lot of entertainment. Will was very sassy and unapologetically himself , which made his scenes so funny that I chuckled out loud a lot and had a lot of fun reading the book. I also headcanon him as bi; he just really had "chaotic bi energy" written all over him (don't ask me why, I have no idea). Upon re-reading, he intrigued me even more, because I knew why he acted the way he did (read: very rude and mean at times) and could clearly see how tortured he was.
Where Will was the storm in the middle of the sea, Jem was the quiet after everything calmed down. He was extremely kind and sweet and just absolutely perfect in my eyes. He always knew just what to say to comfort others, but he also didn't hesitate to criticise Will if he didn't agree with him. At the end of the day, Will and Jem just really complemented each other very well, and I loved seeing them together.
Now, when I first read the book, I didn't particularly care about Tessa. I didn't hate or dislike her, but next to Will and Jem, she just paled in comparison. Which is why, when I started my re-read, I didn't expect anything from her; I just figured she'd be a nice main character but not as interesting as the boys. So imagine my surprise when I realised just how sassy she could be if needed! She certainly could hold her ground next to Will, and I loved their dynamics a lot!
Tessa had a lot of internalised misogyny, especially at first, which is something I completely forgot about. She was surprised at a lot of things that we don't blink an eye at anymore nowadays, like Charlotte wearing pants in a battle or girls being able to be violent and bloodthirsty. It was kind of interesting to see her have to challenge those views she grew up with and grapple with them.
I also loved all the other characters . They all differed from each other in some way or another, from Charlotte basically being their mother (and let me tell you, hearing that she was younger than me by now just about shoved me into my existential crisis of the month) to Jessamine and Will acting so much like siblings that it cracked me up. I also thought the villain was build up nicely; I did remember who they were, so I wasn't surprised, but I do think the way they were introduced was interesting. Jessamine did make me roll my eyes at times (definitely a victim of the patriarchy), but I did find it refreshing to have a Shadowhunter who didn't actually want to be a Shadowhunter.
I did think that the romance was a bit rushed; Tessa's first kiss with her love interest came a bit too early and took me by surprise, and not in a particularly good way. It wasn't unbearable and like I said, I adore the characters, but the romantic relationships weren't build up as well as they could have been. Plus, Clare wasn't really subtle about there being a future love triangle, which I found a bit annoying.
I know that a lot of people ship Tessa, Jem, and Will all together, and while I personally don't really do that, I can 100% see why people do. Even in this first installment, where the romance has only steered in one direction so far, you can already see how deeply they all will care for each other in the future. And I know the sequels will just get more intense.
Really, there were only two negative things that I realised this time around that I apparently didn't five years ago.
Number one is the fact that there wasn't that much action happening in the story. For most of the book, Tessa learnt things about the world and about herself, but it wasn't necessarily in a suspenseful setting? There were a lot of conversations and a big focus on the characters themselves, and I think that rather slow pace is part of the reason why it took me a while to finish the book. I can imagine that some people might be bothered by the pace.
The second thing were the descriptions. Clare loves to describe things in detail, be it people, buildings, or objects. I found it to be rather redundant after a while. Then again, I often have trouble picturing how things look like, no matter how much description is provided by the author of a book, so maybe this is just a me thing.
Overall, I just love this book a lot. The characters, especially Will and Jem, have my entire heart at this point.
This year, I finally got around to re-reading the book for the first time, and I'm very pleased to announce that I still loved it just as much the second time around! I did find a few things that bothered me that didn't occur to me five years ago, but they were minor and really didn't take away from my enjoyment, which is why my rating of 5 stars is still standing.
My absolute favourite aspect of "Clockwork Angel" were undoubtedly the characters. Obviously, my focus was a lot on Will and Jem, because their personalities just gave me a lot of entertainment. Will was very sassy and unapologetically himself , which made his scenes so funny that I chuckled out loud a lot and had a lot of fun reading the book. I also headcanon him as bi; he just really had "chaotic bi energy" written all over him (don't ask me why, I have no idea). Upon re-reading, he intrigued me even more, because I knew why he acted the way he did (read: very rude and mean at times) and could clearly see how tortured he was.
Where Will was the storm in the middle of the sea, Jem was the quiet after everything calmed down. He was extremely kind and sweet and just absolutely perfect in my eyes. He always knew just what to say to comfort others, but he also didn't hesitate to criticise Will if he didn't agree with him. At the end of the day, Will and Jem just really complemented each other very well, and I loved seeing them together.
Now, when I first read the book, I didn't particularly care about Tessa. I didn't hate or dislike her, but next to Will and Jem, she just paled in comparison. Which is why, when I started my re-read, I didn't expect anything from her; I just figured she'd be a nice main character but not as interesting as the boys. So imagine my surprise when I realised just how sassy she could be if needed! She certainly could hold her ground next to Will, and I loved their dynamics a lot!
Tessa had a lot of internalised misogyny, especially at first, which is something I completely forgot about. She was surprised at a lot of things that we don't blink an eye at anymore nowadays, like Charlotte wearing pants in a battle or girls being able to be violent and bloodthirsty. It was kind of interesting to see her have to challenge those views she grew up with and grapple with them.
I also loved all the other characters . They all differed from each other in some way or another, from Charlotte basically being their mother (and let me tell you, hearing that she was younger than me by now just about shoved me into my existential crisis of the month) to Jessamine and Will acting so much like siblings that it cracked me up. I also thought the villain was build up nicely; I did remember who they were, so I wasn't surprised, but I do think the way they were introduced was interesting. Jessamine did make me roll my eyes at times (definitely a victim of the patriarchy), but I did find it refreshing to have a Shadowhunter who didn't actually want to be a Shadowhunter.
I did think that the romance was a bit rushed; Tessa's first kiss with her love interest came a bit too early and took me by surprise, and not in a particularly good way. It wasn't unbearable and like I said, I adore the characters, but the romantic relationships weren't build up as well as they could have been. Plus, Clare wasn't really subtle about there being a future love triangle, which I found a bit annoying.
I know that a lot of people ship Tessa, Jem, and Will all together, and while I personally don't really do that, I can 100% see why people do. Even in this first installment, where the romance has only steered in one direction so far, you can already see how deeply they all will care for each other in the future. And I know the sequels will just get more intense.
Really, there were only two negative things that I realised this time around that I apparently didn't five years ago.
Number one is the fact that there wasn't that much action happening in the story. For most of the book, Tessa learnt things about the world and about herself, but it wasn't necessarily in a suspenseful setting? There were a lot of conversations and a big focus on the characters themselves, and I think that rather slow pace is part of the reason why it took me a while to finish the book. I can imagine that some people might be bothered by the pace.
The second thing were the descriptions. Clare loves to describe things in detail, be it people, buildings, or objects. I found it to be rather redundant after a while. Then again, I often have trouble picturing how things look like, no matter how much description is provided by the author of a book, so maybe this is just a me thing.
Overall, I just love this book a lot. The characters, especially Will and Jem, have my entire heart at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Infertility, and Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Racism