Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Release date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. Elderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 528
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository
Ebook available from: Barnes & Noble | Amazon

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

Hooooo, I knew I was going to love this. All I heard were ridiculously good things, and I loved loved loved Clockwork Angel. I'd quite like the Mortal Instruments novels, but I adore the Infernal Devices. I believe that it's the setting, since I'm a sucker for anything Victorian, especially in London. While I knew I was going to love the book simply because of what it was, I loved it for so many other, more worthy reasons.

There are so many things I could talk about in my love of Clockwork Prince, but then this review would be even longer and more rambling than normal, and I think you'd all fall asleep. The biggest reason I'm in love? Characters. Not just Tessa, Will, and Jem, though they'd be enough in themselves, but Jessamine, Magnus, Charlotte, Henry, Sophie, Gideon, Gabriel... Need I name more? I'm not going to go into all of them, but each and every character has something worthy of my love. They're all real and complex, with the insecurities and bad choices that come with being real.

I can't not mention our main characters though. Tessa is growing and becoming more and more aware of her unique powers and the positive and negative aspects of them. She's dying to know just who and what she is. At the same time, she's focused on saving not only herself but those she loves from the Magister. She's going through so much, but she's growing up and becoming such a wonderful character to read. I especially loved just how aware of the relationship between Will and Jem she is. She's not selfish, and understands that hurting one is hurting the other, but making one happy is breaking the other's heart.

Jem especially grew into his own during Clockwork Prince. We get a good glimpse of him in Clockwork Angel, but only here do we see the depth of his goodness and really understand Tessa's dilemma. Where Will is distant, rude, and brooding, Jem is warm, kind, and gracious. But while we get so much about Jem, and really grow to love him, we really get as much about Will. We learn about his family, and what a good person he really is. By the end of the book, you understand just why he is the way he is, and your heart has broken for him several times over. I honestly don't know what the ending of this is going to be, but I can promise that it's going to leave just about everyone sobbing.

I honestly could talk about this book all day, but I fear I'd lose every single one of you. Start the book for the previous one and/or your love of the Mortal Instruments, but finish it, cry, laugh, and scream over it for the characters. Cassandra Clare has really developed her ability to tug at your heartstrings and leave you dying for more to a tee.

Risk a paper cut? Why are you even reading this? Am I really not convincing you?