Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Published: December 2011

Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books

Pages: 497

Copy Provided by: Simon and Schuster Canada

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

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.

Review:

Firstly I want to send my profuse thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me a copy of the ARC of this title.  I was so excited to receive it!  I am currently away visiting family so I had my husband bring it out with him on his last visit.  Believe it or not I've been waiting for about a month to receive it!  Our phone call the night before his flight went something like this - "Hi honey, are you packed yet?  Did you remember to bring Clockwork Prince?  Please make sure you pack it in middle of your suitcase so it doesn't get damaged..."  Priorities!  (hee! hee!)

So let me tell you about Clockwork Prince.  A couple days ago I came across the trailer.  I was so excited to see that there had been one created but I have to be honest here.  I just didn't "feel" that it captured the true essence of the characters as I pictured them in my mind.  Sorry to say, it's just not making my blog post cut.  I have had such high expectations for this series and Ms. Clare has either met or exceeded them all.  For me, this is one of my favourite, if not THE best series I've ever read.  Cassie Clare is freaking brilliant and she mixes the perfect amount of wit, intrigue, humor, mystery, action and romance into an incredibly complicated world of Shadowhunters and the supernatural beings that co-exist with them.  She executes her stories so well that I feel as if the characters are tangible individuals that I could converse with.  They make me giggle, enrage me and I sympathize with their situations.  

Oh...and what crazy situations they get into this time around!  Tessa is so stumped by her love triangle.  Should she choose quiet, thoughtful Jem or handsome bad boy Will.  When I met Cassie last year, she was taking a survey and asked each of us which character we preferred - Will or Jace (from The Mortal Instruments).  My answer was Jace hands down but after reading this installment, I have to say, Will is growing on me.  One of the things that I found intriguing in this book is how Jem is portrayed as Asian.  I'm not sure if he is full or half but she uses a few Mandarin phrases in the book and also talks about his background a little.  Looking at the outside cover shot, I think this was a fantastic profile of how I picture him in my mind.  

I'm not certain if you've noticed but I have been rather vague about this plot.  There is so much happening in the story and it is so involved that I don't want to give anything away.  All I can tell you is that you have to read it for yourself to fully savor it all.  And, if you haven't read Clockwork Angel yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

Here are some of my favorite lines.  I am taking quotes from the ARC and pages and exact references could differ from the final edited version.  

Will asks Magnus to call upon a particular demon and it reminds me of one of those situations when you are traveling and someone says - "Oh! You're from Canada?  Do you know David from Toronto?" hilarious!

Page 38

"I don't know, Magnus," he said.  "He doesn't look like the right one to me."  "You said he was blue.  This one's blue."  "He is blue," Will acknowledged, stepping closer to the circle of flame. "But the demon I need - well, he was really a cobalt blue.  This one's more....periwinkle."

Will commenting to their new cook at the London Institute

Page 57

"Lord, you're Irish," said Will.  "Can you make things that don't have potatoes in them? We had an Irish cook once when I was a boy.  Potato pie, potato custard, potatoes with potato sauce..."