The Infernal Devices Trilogy *SPOILERY* Review/Thoughts

So much crying.

If you didn’t see the title of this blog post this one’s going to be FULL of spoilers so if you haven’t read this trilogy go and read it and then come back and read my thoughts and opinions.

Series Description:

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…

Nonspoilery Thoughts

This was an amazing feat of writing for Cassandra Clare. I didn’t think it could possibly live up to the hype but it totally did. The way she can weave so many different perspectives and story-lines together is so incredible to me and I hope that maybe one day I can be half the writer she is.

I really wanted to read this series before I read City of Heavenly Fire, which I’m reading right now. I had heard that there were a ton of Clockwork Princess spoilers in that book so I wanted to make sure I experienced these awesome books for myself before being spoiled.

These aren’t completely full reviews of the books. I just wanted to touch on the things that stuck with me.

 

My Spoilery Thoughts:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I gave this one 5 stars on my Goodreads (which you should go follow if you haven’t already). But I feel that it really is worth 4.5 stars just because I felt the ending was incredibly predictable.

I read this book back when it first came out but I don’t remember loving it as much as I did this time. I think Tessa is just a character that I relate to much more than Clary. I love that she’s a bookworm and thoughtful. Clary is always jumping into things without thinking- but Tessa is much more methodical. I knew I would love Will because of all the hype surrounding him- plus I just love a sarcastic, brooding, self-deprecating love interest. So, Will was obviously my favorite from the start. Jem is a sweetheart but just not my type you know?

Going into this series I knew someone was going to die- so as soon as we meet Jem that little pit of dread entered my stomach. He’s just so sweet and lovable- why did Cassie have to make him the best character and then make us think he’s going to die.

Jessamine is just the worst. Probably my least favorite character in all of the Shadowhunters novels- I like Sebastian more than her which is saying something.

Like I said, I found the ending really predictable. Maybe it was because I read the book YEARS ago and had some residual memories from that time (I didn’t remember anything else so I don’t know how the ending stuck with me though.) But the moment Mortmain was introduced I was like “HE IS THE MAGISTER” I knew it. I also KNEW that Nate was a part of this.

This one get’s a 4.5 stars for predictability but AMAZING writing, storytelling, and beautiful character development.

 

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Also gave this one a 5 stars on Goodreads, but this time it truly deserves that and more.

I loved the different perspectives throughout this book. Will is just a fantastic protagonist and I want to read a book entirely from his perspective. The graveyard scene was just perfect and it may be one of my favorite scenes in the whole series. Finally getting to know why Will is such a douche was amazing. It’s also incredibly tragic that he is “cursed” so that anyone that loves him will die. Which is even more tragic when we find out he isn’t really cursed and he’s been pushing everyone away for no reason. Especially when Tessa chooses Jem over him. (I mean she really loves him more but he’s too late at the end).

I knew Jessamine was bad. I hated her anyway and loved when she was found out to be a fraud. But I also think Cassie did a fantastic job with her character development throughout this book. We can see why Jessamine hates the Shadow World so much and she’s so desperate to be normal that she follows whatever Nate tells her to do.

I do hate the Gideon and Sophie pair up though. Like I really really hate it.

AND JEM AND TESSA GET ENGAGED. WHAT?!?! That I did not see coming at all.

5 amazing, incredible, truly earned stars from me <3.

 

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Ah. The book, the myth, the legend. This is the one you’ve heard about. This is the one that everyone talks about. Now I see why.

Cassie writes better trilogy endings than any other author I’ve seen. The first book is always iffy but that third book…. man it’s beautiful. Let’s be honest here- I only did this series review so I could talk about this book.

I almost want to cry a little while I write this review. The writing was just lovely. It was a masterpiece of words and I loved every minute. I read this book in 12 hours and just wept the whole time. I’m not a cryer. I don’t really cry in books- I barely batted an eye when I read The Fault in Our Stars. I didn’t cry at any of the deaths in Harry Potter (I know, I’m a monster). There is only a handful of things that make me cry (one is Avatar The Last Airbender Season Three Finale) and this is now one of them.

I just found this story to be perfectly bittersweet. The Magister has bought up all  of the drug that Jem needs to survive and Jem is close to running out. That moment when Will throws his hands into the fire after Jem throws the packet of powder in the fireplace was incredibly moving. The way Tessa and Will care for Jem is beautiful.

When Jem “died” my heart stopped. I just couldn’t deal with that information. I knew he couldn’t really be dead. How could Cassie end him like that. I just couldn’t accept it. But I thought it was worse that he was a silent brother. I knew someone had become a silent brother because I’ve read City of Lost Souls before the Infernal Devices and a review of that book spoiled me by saying Brother Zachariah was one of the characters. I just didn’t know whether it was Will or Jem. But the saddest part of the entire book for me was when Jem couldn’t play his violin anymore. I just hated that more than anything else.

Some people say that they hated the way it ended.  But I loved it. I think by Tessa getting to be with Will and with Jem in the end was the perfect ending. She loved them both so much and they both loved her. So everyone is happy.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was how everyone just gets together. Sophie with Gideon, Cecily with Gabriel… it’s just too much. I feel like Cassie just stuck people together that didn’t have anyone just so there weren’t any loose ends.

But I really loved this trilogy. I think the hype was completely deserved- did I like them more than the Mortal Instruments? Maybe? I think I might think the writing in these was much better but TMI will always hold a special place in my heart.

What do you think about these books? Leave your opinions below!