Clockwork Princess review

The Basics

Book Title: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 568

ISBN: 978-1-4169-7590-8

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Defining Quotes

"'Sometimes one must choose whether to be kind or honorable,' he said. 'Sometimes one cannot be both.'" - p. 68

"'We see our better selves in the eyes of those who love us.'" - p. 187

Summary

This is the final book in the trilogy following Tessa, Will, and Jem as they try to bring an end to the Magister's plans, while working on their complicated relationships. 

Thoughts

If it wasn't for the weird love triangle romance in this trilogy, I'd give this book 5 stars, easy. It was by far the best written book of the three and I was emotionally engaged through most of it as well. It brought a nice end to the Magister mystery as well as Tessa's own family history. 

There were a lot of relationship wrap-ups in this book and, honestly, I think that's what really helped me get through this book. The love triangle wasn't the main romance in this book, so I was enjoying the most of it, while the triangle only came up a couple of times. I found myself emotionally invested in Will and Jem's relationship the most. I cared the most about what happened between the two of them and I believe that's because it was the most authentic relationship in the trilogy. The fact that Tessa was in love with both Will and Jem equally never made sense to me, but it did make sense to me the amount of love and devotion Will and Jem had with each other. 

Would I recommend this series to others? Well, if you don't mind love triangles, then yes I would. If love triangles are as big of a pet peeve as they are for me, then I wouldn't recommend it. The overall story is interesting, but I have read better books that have a more satisfying love story than this one had for me. 

I have read City of Bones once some years ago and now reading this series, I'm not very convinced that I like the way Cassandra Clare writes romance. It puts me on edge and in a really uncomfortable place, the one place in books that I usually find the most satisfaction in when I finish the book. I've considered trying Lady Midnight because I've heard it's even better than this series, but I'm not necessarily motivated to get to it anytime soon. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Best written story of the trilogy
• Wraps things up nicely
• Love triangle not as blaring as in the second book
• Cons
• Not entirely satisfied with the way things ended
• Climax seemed to end rather too quickly for my tastes

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐