Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

May 26, 2010 Lauren鈦� 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-has-a-copy, romance, favorites, fantasy-sci-fi-romance-romantasy, young-adult-teen-new-adult, cover-i-love, historical-romance, fantasy-science-fiction

*Spoiler alert!* After reading the excellent Mortal Instruments trilogy, I went into this book with pretty high expectations and unfortunately I was slightly let down. The plot for starters felt to me in many ways like a retread of the Mortal Instruments plot. A very strong female lead (not that I have anything against strong female leads mind you), a love triangle, the female lead not knowing who or in this case what she is, one parent that she thought was her parent actually isn't, an insane b *Spoiler alert!* After reading the excellent Mortal Instruments trilogy, I went into this book with pretty high expectations and unfortunately I was slightly let down. The plot for starters felt to me in many ways like a retread of the Mortal Instruments plot. A very strong female lead (not that I have anything against strong female leads mind you), a love triangle, the female lead not knowing who or in this case what she is, one parent that she thought was her parent actually isn't, an insane bad guy who wants to use her for his own nefarious purposes, someone close to the female lead betrays her and so on. Now to be fair, the plot is not a carbon copy of the Mortal Instruments plot, totally different time and country and one major plot element that was in the Mortal Instruments isn't in this book and the plot does deviate a decent amount, but just not quite enough. I even wonder if perhaps this was meant to be filler in between the release the of the third Mortal Instruments novel, City Of Glass (released March 24th, 2009) and the forth Mortal Instruments novel, City Of Fallen Angels (released April 5th, 2011) in an attempt to keep interest in Clare's writing alive and keep Clare's name on people's lips and draw new readers. Well guess what? The Mortal Instruments series is so good it doesn't need something like this to keep interest in Clare's writing alive or keep her name on people's lips and this book may also even drive readers away from the Mortal Instruments series. But the plot isn't without its good points however, it did keep me turning the pages to see how things turned out and the action was very good too, but the bombshells she dropped just failed to make a big impact on me. So still and all it could have been better. But I question why Clare simply has to a have love triangle in seemingly everything she writes? With in this book (just like in the Mortal Instruments) the girl is caught between the dark and broody bad boy with a decent side and the not so dark and broody but still has issues good guy. Why can't she have it more or less spelled out who the heroine is going to end up with, instead of the back and forth I am sure we'll get in Clockwork Prince and probably for a fair stretch of time in Clockwork Princess. And as a matter of fact had she done that, this would probably have felt less like a retread. Moving onto the characters. The main character Tessa, I loved how much she loved to read and how she spoke about reading, I liked Tessa a lot all around. I liked the supporting and side characters just as much. Will for one, well he reminds me of Jace more than a little, I still like him a whole lot and look forward to reading more about him and finding out more about his past. And yet again I question why at least one of Clare's lead male characters simply has to be dark, broody, and mysterious? I wouldn't mind an open book guy who's actually happy. I also liked Jem too and it was nice to see a pretty mysterious and also quite sad part of his past explained in this book and he's a pretty interesting character. And the rest of the characters ranged from some I loved, some I didn't and some I was neutral on. But happily we get to see Magnus Bane again and he was one of the most memorable characters from the Mortal Instruments and one of my favorites and it cool to see him in such a different setting. But he was no less flamboyant and no less Magnus and it was funny to see that Magnus's penchant for dressing in an outlandish and wild way is nothing new. I was a bit confused by the fact that he was dating Camille in this book until I read a Q&A that Clare did where she explained that Magnus is bi. And it was also interesting to learn more about Magnus's past and what we learn is pretty interesting. And Clare does deliver on her promise that we get to see characters from the Mortal Instruments in this book and it was interesting to see them. And as a matter of fact we see Tessa in the very end of City Of Glass and I'm sure that the reason for her seeming immortality will be explained in the remaining two Infernal Devices books. And it was also cool to see what are obviously the the ancestors of characters in the Mortal Instruments and *snort* it's pretty obvious that some traits, i.e. stubbornness and pigheadedness are genetic and I imagine we'll see more ancestors of the characters in the other two books. The ending had enough of a cliff-hanger that I will check Clockwork Prince out of my library when it comes out, I am definitely curious to see what happens next. Although I don't feel this enhanced the Mortal Instruments world per say, it is definitely a nice expansion of the universe and she really brings 19th century London to life. Her writing really lends itself well to writing historical fiction. And interestingly enough City Of Glass which I also read this year was one of my most favorite books I read this year and also one of the best. As you can probably tell, I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really, really, liked it, I really did. But did I love it? Nope, it was a few likes short of love. The plot was enough to keep me turning the pages and much retreading aside, was very good and very interesting. But again I didn't love it and it didn't blow me away like City Of Glass did. And I am definitely going to give the rest of this series a chance and read Clockwork Prince. More like than not, this will get better in Clockwork Prince, at least I sincerely hope it does. First books in a series can be a bit of a hit or miss anyway, much fleshing out of characters and a lot of world-building and information imparting and typically set-up for the next book in the series. Final thoughts on the book. I really, really, really, liked it, but I didn't love it and I do plan to read the next book in the series. If you're wondering why in spite of all that and not giving this book five stars I still marked it as a favorite. That's because the good far outweighed the so-so and this book also has that indefinable something that can make a book with so-so elements a favorite. And so in conclusion to this very long review. Clare does a great job with historical fiction and the romance which makes this worth reading. Not to mention, if you've been wanting to dip your toe into the steampunk pool, this is a good book to do it with. She doesn't smack you upside the head with the steampunk details, but instead makes them very natural and fit quite well into the universe. ...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Tien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, england, young-adult, fantasy

I wonder if you could love the story but not enjoy the writing so much? Well, I didn't think the writing was that special on this one but I do love the story - I like the unfolding of the plot and I absolutely love how each character has his / her own 'secretive' past who makes them who they are now (this is the highlight for me).

Tessa Gray has arrived in England to live with her brother now that Aunt Harriet has passed away. However, instead of being met by her brother, Nate, he has sent Mrs Bl ...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Deedee rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult-fantasy-and-sf, world-europe-england, young-adult, vampires, world-europe-england-london, challenge-2012-winter, steampunk-read

Lexile Score 780L
A good entry in the YA category of: teenagers with supernatural powers battling evil forces that also have supernatural powers. The characters on the "good" side were well-differentiated and likable. My main criticism regards the heroine. She's 16 years old, an orphan, and knowledgable enough to travel (in 1870s) from New York City to London by herself. However, the thoughts and actions of this character better fit someone who is 12-13 years old and ignorant of large swaths of " ...more

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