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Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)

Cassandra Clare

Start date: October 1, 2010

Finish date: October 31, 2010

Discussion: Book of the Month

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* BOM: Group Read History [2025]
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What Members Thought

Sep 11, 2010 Brie rated it it was ok

Shelves: competed-series, on-my-shelf

*Sigh* The first time I read this book I liked it. I thought it was original and Will and Tessa seemed perfect for eachother. Kinda.
The second time around? Not so much. See I read Clockwork Angel before I'd even heard of TMI as it turns out two of the main charaters Will and Tessa are actually Jace and Clary. No thats not a spoiler of the end of TID series its just the truth. Clary's taller with a different power and Jace has dark hair.

Other then that I see no differences. Jace/Will has the same ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 17, 2010 Naomi rated it really liked it

A good book though i do prefer the mortal instruments.

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2010 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, uf-pnr, fantasy, suggested-series-firsts, demons, ya, zombies

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Cassandra Clare knows how to give us what we like. Clockwork Angel is full of vampires, steampunk, urban fantasy and oodles of mystery. The first novel in The Mortal Instruments prequel series, Clockwork Angel is set in the same world of Shadowhunters (those who keep the law between Downworlders like demons, vampires and the like and humans). But book one in The Infernal Devices series is 100 years before TMI and in London.

Tessa came to Lond This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Cassandra Clare knows how to give us what we like. Clockwork Angel is full of vampires, steampunk, urban fantasy and oodles of mystery. The first novel in The Mortal Instruments prequel series, Clockwork Angel is set in the same world of Shadowhunters (those who keep the law between Downworlders like demons, vampires and the like and humans). But book one in The Infernal Devices series is 100 years before TMI and in London.

Tessa came to London from America. Her aunt just passed away and her brother, who recently moved to London for work, sent for her. However, things don’t go as planned. Upon arrival in London she’s kidnapped and told her brother is being held, too. She’s told if she doesn’t do as she’s told her brother will be murdered. She complies for his sake. Eventually, she finds herself in the care of the Shadowhunters, who agree to help her look for her brother. They’re sure Downworlders are breaking the law by taking him and will help her seek him out.

But things are not as they seem, and Tessa has more power than she knows. Yet, she’s still human. Isn’t she?

All the others at the Institute are orphans, too, and there’s this firm sense of family — even with the requisite bothersome little sister. Tessa isn’t sure she can trust them after her earlier experiences in London, but she doesn’t have any other options.

Victorian Shadownhunters? Oh yes! But they aren’t all gentlemanly, because we all like the difficult boys. You thought you loved Jace from The Mortal Instruments series (and, really, we all do), but we promise you’ll have trouble deciding which guy in this one is best for our heroine. Tessa is fantastic and both Will and Jem will have moments where you’ll just be screaming, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”

The visuals in Clockwork Angel are very strong. You’ll picture yourself inside the walls of Dark Sisters’ home. You’ll imagine walking down the hallways of London’s Shadowhunter Institute. You’ll bite you lip seeing a clockwork automaton the first time. And you might just get taken away by the surprising beauty of a nighttime walk in foggy London.

It’s not a quick read (it edges up near 500 pages), but with such a finite and encompassing world it’s easy to drop yourself into any character’s shoes in Clockwork Angel.

In short, with Clockwork Angel you’ll get Shadowhunters, snarky guys, strong women, deviants (human and vampire), cool transformations, vampires, magic, romance and even see a parasol used as a weapon. Clare continues her reign as a queen of YA urban fantasy.

Bonus: You do not need to have read any of The Mortal Instruments novels to read Clockwork Angel. So, dive in!

Sexual content: A make-your-toes-tingle kiss ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2010 Cee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, steampunk, victorian, love-triangle

Clockwork Angel is my first venture into the unknown steampunk-territory. In this alternate world, you have the whole supernatural bunch (vampires, werewolves, warlocks, some nephelim thrown in for good measure) living together with the normals in a Victorian-like age. In a time where skirts that show the ankles are considered extremely inappropriate, Tessa travels from New-York to London to go live with her brother. But instead of finding her brother at the pier she is abducted by two lady-warl Clockwork Angel is my first venture into the unknown steampunk-territory. In this alternate world, you have the whole supernatural bunch (vampires, werewolves, warlocks, some nephelim thrown in for good measure) living together with the normals in a Victorian-like age. In a time where skirts that show the ankles are considered extremely inappropriate, Tessa travels from New-York to London to go live with her brother. But instead of finding her brother at the pier she is abducted by two lady-warlocks.

After this the book follows Tessa trying to find and rescue her brother that has gotten himself in a whole lot of trouble. In order to do so, she has the help of the Shadowhunters, the warriors that protect the humans and keep the Downworlders from braking the Law.

I really enjoyed this, mostly because of the setting. I love the ambiance of Victorian London and I think Ms. Clare did extremely well portraying this. You can see she has taken the time to research her book and she implements characteristic parts of society effortless. The saying of one's Christian name is a big deal and I especially loved the shock of our properly bred Tessa when she hears a servant talking freely to one of the Shadowhunters.

As for Tessa as a heroine, I'm not so sure what to say of her. She's not really a weak damsel-in-distress kind of girl but you can't call her kick-ass with a straight face either. She's loyal to her brother and slightly protective, but not so much of a sensitive girl that looks after everyone. As main character she's (I'm almost afraid to use this word) a bit dull. I didn't feel that compassionate towards her. The only parts I enjoyed her character where those wherein she interacts with the young Shadowhunter Will. Enter the mysterious love-interest of the book.

Will is the typical mysterious guy almost every young-adult novel has. The sarcastic bad boy shell with a troubled sweet soul somewhere hidden deep inside him, that only the heroine can reach. We've seen it before countless times, in one form or the other. Yet I still like this one. It seems that a lot of people found Will's behaviour offensive or rude but I don't really see why anyone would take offence in his conduct. He cares for his friend-like-a-brother Jem and he does nothing that shocked me with rudeness. Maybe just because I thought his remarks were rather funny. Don't tell anyone though.

The plot was engaging, yet not that surprising. The major oh-my-gosh moment was hinted at so many times that when it finally came it was a bit disappointing. It was fast-paced though and I read the book in about two sittings. There were enough sidelines that keep you interested throughout the story, even though a lot of questions are left unanswered at the end of the book.

I liked this book. I will definitely check out Clockwork Prince, the second part of this series, due summer this year. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2010 Cat rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, read-in-2010, urban-fantasy, angels, cassandra-clare, disappointing-books

Tess arrives in England from America having received a ticket and letter from her brother asking her to join him there. On arrival she is taken captive & finally rescued by some shadowhunters investigating another crime. She enlists the help of the shodowhunters to help her find her brother who has gone missing & in the meantime uncovers quite a lot of law breaking within the shadow world and sees her ultimately falling for not one but two of her shadowhunter friends.

I thought this book would b ...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Ruby Jo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Disclaimer:Before I start my review I should warn you that: 1) my review might contain SPOILERS and some curse words and 2) There will be a few GIFs because words fail me at the moment and I need them to accurately convey what I'm feeling right now.

So...Umm...I finished reading this book on Sunday and I'm still a bit confused about what I'm actually feeling about this book. I loved the first part of it. Adored it, actually. Then the second half of the book happened and I kept wondering "What am ...more

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May 19, 2011 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: drm-free-epubs, steampunk, ya, 1-in-series, audible-read

This was a really engrossing read. I listened to it on audible.com and it was fantastically done. I found I was looking for more things to do to listen longer.

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