Clockwork Failure?

Jimena+Prado+and+the+novel+Clockwork+Angel+by+Cassandra+Clare.+Photo+taken+by+Pedro+Adame.+

Jimena Prado and the novel “Clockwork Angel” by Cassandra Clare. Photo taken by Pedro Adame.

Jimena Prado, Staff Writer

Cassandra Clare will forever be my favorite author. I was never disappointed with any of The Mortal Instruments books. So when I heard there was a prequel to the series, I didn’t hesitate to buy The Infernal Devices Clockwork Angel. When I read what it was about, I got even more excited to read the series. The story takes place in London around the 1840’s: the era of horse drawn carriages and letters actually being written to acquaintances. The novel also has a love triangle going on: classic story of the girl (Tessa) unable to choose between the two handsome men. One is a bad boy who pushes people away, but he is also soft-hearted and just wants to be loved, that being Will. Then you have the other guy: A big softy and a kind gentlemen toward everyone he meets, and this being Jem. You can see why I was excited to get started on the series, but I was a little disappointed with how it turned out.

I felt as if the book could have been more descriptive, but Cassandra Clare held back in the plot. *Possible Spoiler* For example, there was supposed to be a love triangle as I stated previously, but this vibe wasn’t present in the novel. When Tessa was with Will, she felt like she was on top of the world. However, the feelings between Tessa and Jem were very different. I feel like Cassandra Clare didn’t give readers much of the love triangle; she mainly focused on Tessa and Will’s love instead of Jem, the other person battling for her heart. Another issue I had with this book is how differently Tess treated Jem when she found out he was dying from a disease. Tessa still loves him Jem, just in a different manner. A few things I did enjoy about the book was the introduction of the ancestors of the characters in the series. I also liked how this prequel offered something fresh and new. In this series you hear new things like a demon drug called Yin Fen and how demons and shadowhunters can have a kid as long as the shadowhunter is not runed (marked).

Overall, I was slightly disappointed with the love aspect of the book. However, I enjoyed the plot and characters. I liked witnessing the character development and the ancestors of the characters in the sequel series. I would only recommend this book to fans of Cassandra Clare’s writing or those interested in Shadowhunters. I wouldn’t really recommend The Infernal Devices Clockwork Angel to people who are looking for a romance story.