Author: Cassandra Clare
Format: Hardcover, ebook
Pages: 496
Original Release Date: August 31, 2010
ISBN #: 978-1416975861

Imagine for one moment that you are in a strange country, where you know absolutely no one. Your brother is supposed to be there, but no one seems to know where he is. You are held captive and his life is being threatened to keep you compliant. Welcome to Tessa Grey’s life. Tessa is the main character in Cassandra Clare’s newest Shadowhunter book, Clockwork Angel.

Some of the new characters that you will meet are part of the London Institute. Charlotte Branwell, and her husband Henry, run the Institute. They live there with William Herondale, Jem Carstairs and Jessamine Lovelace. In The Mortal Instruments, the readers get to see that the Shadowhunters living in the Institute have an adoptive family dynamic. This same dynamic is true for Clockwork Angel. Charlotte is the definite mother of the group, and Will, Jem and Jessamine look up to her as such. Charlotte even shows the pain a mother knows when she feels her children pulling away from her. As a fan of The Mortal Instruments series, I was ecstatic when I found out that Ms. Clare was working on another series of books that predates that story. I enjoyed getting to meet new characters, most of whom are ancestors of the characters from The Mortal Instruments. I can see parallels between Will and Jace and also Jessamine and Isabella.

As with The Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel is action packed. This time the Shadowhunters are fighting more than just demons. They are going up against something that could turn out to be their destruction. However, the fighting is not just against outside forces. Tessa battles with herself as she learns who she is and what happened to her brother. She also battles to be accepted in a world she doesn’t belong in.

The book was a quick read, and I would recommend having a weekend to finish the whole thing because once you start it you will not want to put it down. All the characters were fleshed out very nicely and they interacted with each other with a great chemistry. Any fan of Cassandra’s books knows that she loves adding romantic tension to the story, and we love the way she does it. This story has a romantic triangle that’s had people picking “teams” for months. I, personally, can’t help but root for Tessa to choose Jem. I think he is good for her because he is so gentle and tries to listen to her. Will is the typical brooding my-life-is-so-messed-up-no-one-can-understand-me-man. Most of the time I wanted to slap him. Other times he made me weak kneed. I think if Tessa was to end up with Will, she would really have to be on her guard and make it clear that she will not tolerate any of his childish brooding.

I think it was brilliant of Cassandra to include scenes of Will letting his guard down, especially with Jem and a couple of times with Tessa, to show the readers that will is not all bad. I cannot actually think of any scenes that made the story drag. That being said, there were moments that made me gasp in shock and anticipation. There were even some moments that made me teary eyed. Most of all the story made me laugh.

Most of the time when I turn the last page of a book I will sit there with the book across my chest absorbing what I’ve just finished reading. Clockwork Angel was no exception. I will patiently await Clockwork Prince. To Cassandra, I would like to say…amazing job! I can’t wait to read what comes next!!

************************BREAKING NEWS******************************

(haha, I’ve always wanted to say that, lol.)

Yesterday, Cassie and the lovely people over at Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life revealed the cover of the next book in the The Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels!!! The cover is the brainchild of Cassie’s input and request, and the artistic talents of Cliff Nielsen (who is responsible for the rest of the series’ amazing covers, as well).  Here’s the beautiful next installment of the Shadowhunters Saga: The Mortal Instruments Cycle Two: Book 1 – City of Fallen Angels

The EW Shelf Life reveal video can be found HERE. Cassie blogged about the cover reveal, and some of her favorite aspects of the cover on her website HERE… and made some comments about the design choices from her twitter account  HERE.  I, for one, absolutely LOVE the cover, and can’t wait until April when we get our hands on the real live book!! What are YOUR thoughts on the cover?

 - Jennifer