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

⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Court of Thorns and Roses review

The Basics

Book Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Pages: 416

ISBN: 978-1-61963-444-2

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Defining Quotes

"'Because I wouldn't want to die alone,' I said, and my voice wobbled as I looked at Tamlin again, forcing myself to meet his stare. 'Because I'd want someone to hold my hand until the end, and awhile after that. That's something everyone deserves, human or faerie.'" - p. 153

Summary

We follow Feyre as she is taken from her home from one of the Fae, a magical superior species separated from humans, for killing one of the Fae's own. 

Thoughts

This is my second time reading this book because I wanted the entire story fresh in my mind when I got to the third book, A Court of Wings and Ruin. It was good to read this story again so I could slow down the pace a little more and let the story sink in. 

In the first half of the book, Sarah J. Maas takes her time in getting Feyre adjusted to living with the Fae and I could see how it could be interpreted as being slow. There is information that is purposely being hidden from Feyre (for good reason), which keeps you from learning too much at once. Personally, I think the pace was just right. I felt like I was given time to get to really know Feyre and the way she thinks, as well as the new world she was just starting to learn about (just like the reader). 

Now, I planned to read this book in the course of 4 sittings - dividing the book into quarters. It was easy to do up to the halfway point. Once I was at the halfway point, I just couldn't put the book down for more than a few hours (and that was only because I had work). The second half of this book is gripping and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. I feel like the end of this book is what really puts the cherry on top for this book. I don't want to give out any spoilers, but I feel like Feyre reacts to her situation in a normal, human way that most main characters going through exciting climaxes don't usually show. It takes a turn that no other writer (that I know of) goes in a fantasy novel and I just love it. 

Overall, I can see why this book may not be a favorite to some, but for me, it's the perfect build-up to the second book. I highly recommend this book/series to any reader, especially those looking for a strong female character that you can identify with. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Amazing main characters
• Unique development in the end
• Hard to put down after the halfway point
• Cons
• Can be slow for the first half

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clockwork Prince review

The Basics

Book Title: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 498

ISBN: 978-1-4169-7589-2

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Defining Quote

None this time around :/

Summary

We continue to follow Tessa, Will, and Jem as they try to discover more about the Magister's plans before Charlotte, the leader of the Institute, is kicked out. 

Thoughts

So, I do have some thoughts about this book, but it's probably not going to be as long as normal. The biggest reason that I continued on with this series was because I was interested in the mystery of the story. I wanted to know more about Tessa's past, as well as what the Magister was ultimately up to. In plot, I wasn't disappointed. I felt like there was consistent action throughout the book, unlike the first one, and was always anxious to find out what was the next step of catching the Magister. If the book continued somewhat on the same strain as the first one while keeping the same plot they had in this book, I would've rated this book 5 stars, easy. BUT. That's not what happened. 

At the end of the first book, I suspected a love triangle forming, and sure enough, it happened. Love triangles are my most hated trope in books, ever. There is enough conflict that can be formed just between two people. You don't need to get a third person involved to create conflict. Sometimes it can be done well, but for the most part, it just drives me insane. That's what happened in this book. If you haven't figured it out already, the love triangle is between Tessa, Will, and Jem. Now, the first book did a great job of setting up Jem as a good, close friend and Will as the love interest. If Cassandra Clare had just stuck with that, this book would be great, but NO. Jem HAS to be a love interest as well. -.- It's not convincing (for me) and Tessa is SO wishy-washy about who she loves more (when it's so painfully obvious to everyone - even in the book - that she loves Will more), it's just painful.

Now, I didn't drive down the rating too low on this one, because I realize that my peeve with love triangles is my own personal querk. If you don't mind love triangles, honestly, I think you'll love this book. I do have the third book on hold at the library because I do want to figure out the mystery, but I already looked up what happens with the whole Tessa-Will-Jem thing because it just annoyed me that it exists in the first place. This way I can just focus on the plot and stay engaged in that. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Mystery still engaging
• Action is more consistent in this book
• Character development on Will is interesting
• Cons
• LOVE TRIANGLE
• Tessa being Bella Swan-like about who she loves more

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clockwork Angel review

The Basics

Book Title: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 476

ISBN: 978-1-4169-7586-1

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Defining Quote

"Sometimes," Jem said, "our lives can change so fast that the change outpaces our minds and hearts. It's those times, I think, when our lives have altered but we still long for the time before everything was altered-that is when we feel the greatest pain. I can tell you, though, from experience, you grow accustomed to it. You learn to live your new life, and you can't imagine, or even really remember, how things were before." - p. 308

Summary

A group of people called Shadowhunters exist in which to protect humans (or mundanes) from the supernatural creatures of the world (or Downworlders). The story follows Tessa, who is trying to find her brother after recently discovering that she has the ability to shape shift. 

Thoughts

If I read this book in high school, or even college, I probably would've rated this book 4 or 5 stars. I feel like it was a good plot (which is what kept me going through the book) and the characters are developed well enough for a young adult audience (which is the group targets for this book). I rated this 3 stars for a few reasons. 

One is a tiny reason, but a reason nonetheless. There are multiple times throughout the book where Tessa and Will, the main characters, quote classics and poetry to each other. Now, I know that there are a lot of teenagers who do read classics and they may enjoy them, but I found it a little unrealistic for teenagers to be quoting and referring to classics so often and to know them SO well that they can quote long passages from the books. I'm a book nerd and I don't quote from classics as much as these characters do, and that's me at my current age (which is about 10 years older than these MCs). Again, not a big thing, but it was part of the reason that I declared a little bit from the book. 

Another reason is that I felt my interest in what was happening going in and out throughout the book. The book started off engaging, and then they're at the Institution and it seemed like a waiting period until the next big thing happened. Now, I know that it's important for there to be a break between action scenes in order to allow some breathing room, but for me, I could feel myself engaging in it and detaching from it throughout. Again, I think if I was younger, I would eat this up and not be able to put the book down. But I'm not. At 27, almost 28, I've dived into some adult fantasy that is written well (such as Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson) and loved the engaging characters and the information revealed even during the non-action moments. Going back to reading this book, obviously aimed towards teens, was difficult for me to stay engaged 100% because it dialed down too much during the non-actions scenes. I hope that makes sense. I love reading YA books, but this one seemed to not be able to branch out to older audiences (ex. Harry Potter, A Court of Thorns and Roses). 

My final reason for detracting on my score is the relationship between the two main characters. Now, I'm all about a bad-boy-who-is-actually-kind as my main love interest, but I'm finding Will to be a little too angsty for me. Again, as a teen, I would probably eat up the romance and love every word of it. As an adult, I didn't care for it AS much. I still enjoyed it to a point, but wasn't as invested. 

Overall, if you're a teenager or really just interested in an easy-to-read fantasy novel, this is a great book to check out. Like I said before, I found the plot very interesting and I'm considering continuing on with the series purely to find out the answers to the mystery they left dangling at the end of the book. If you're looking for something a bit more complex (let's say the A Court of Thorns and Roses series), you're not going to find that here. 

Pros vs. Cons

• Pros
• Good plot
• Interesting characters
• Has a good mystery throughout
• Cons
• Written on the simpler side
• Male love interest a little too angsty for my taste
• Main characters have some traits that seem a little unbelievable

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐