Book Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare *spoiler free*

By: Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Released on: March 19th, 2013
Source: from publisher to review / purchased
Series: The Infernal Devices #3
Purchase from: Simon & Schuster | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
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Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

My Mini Review:
Cassie is a literary genesis! I'm now dying to talk about this book. I already gushed and gushed over it with my Alyssa at TMI Source, but I felt the need to jump on here really quick and say WOW! Clockwork Prince is Cassie best book yet!! I laughed, I cried, I sighed, I balled, and I felt totally complete with this book. Clockwork Princess is full of so many feelings. I absolutely LOVED it! That's all I'm going to say about Clockwork Princess right now. I'll have a review up later this week or next week, since I'm headed to CA this week for Cassie's signing. Don't be afraid to pick up this book. It was everything I hoped it would be and nothing at all what I excepted. This was the perfect ending for The Infernal Devices.

My Longer Review:
They say that all good things come to an end, and this was an end I did not want to come. For over a year now I have freaked out, stressed over, and anxiously waited the fate of those characters I have come to love in The Infernal Devices. And WOW did that end come, and leave me breathless! Like, I could not have asked for a more PERFECT ending to my favorite series. The way Cassie wrapped up Clockwork Princess and her series was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! It was nothing at all what I was excepting and everything I hoped it would be. 

Let's talk about the book.

I LOVED this book!! Like hard core LOVED it, and I mean everything about it. I have never laughed so much, sighed so frequently and bawled so often, like I did with Clockwork Princess. You know you've read a rarity when an author can effortlessly pull you into their world, make you love their characters as much as they do, and allow you to feel every emotion they do. That is exactly what Cassandra Clare has done for me with this series, and more specifically with this book. Cassie really is a literary genesis. She knows how to weave together her character's snark, their heartbreak, and those moments that catch my breathe and make me reread a scene, so beautifully. This book gave me feelings of love, hope, excitement, heartbreak, worry, and everything in between.

Clockwork Princess is perfection on paper.

Everything about this book was real while I was reading it. When it was over I wanted to crawl back inside and escape into this lovely Victorian Era Shadowhunter world. While reading Clockwork Princess I'm there. Where ever the characters went I felt like I went there with them. I'm in London, at the Institute, in the carriage, sitting in the library, at Magnus's, on the bridge, in the country side, etc. Oooh, and that one scene that happens with those two people....you know with the um dragon thing. Yes, I was so there. Okay not really, but *sigh* That was the best written you know what scene ever! There are so many things I wish I could discuss with you guys, but that will be reserved for a later date when I will talk about the spoilers.

Character wise.

These characters could not have grown more than they did. All of them. I loved seeing how each character grew, and matured, and changed. From Will, Tessa, Jem, the Lightwoods, to Charlotte and Henry, Cecily, Sophie, Magnus, and everyone in between. This is where Cassie really got me as a reader. What I was not excepting was to see how much Will and Jem had switched roles, and yet it made perfect sense. These two are truly one. I LOVED seeing Will for who he was. Finally. He was the character I always knew he could be. Tessa couldn't have been any stronger and braver than she was. Jem could not have done more than he did. The thing I loved about all three of them, is the undying love, respect and gratitude they each equally had for each other. Yes, equally. All three loved each other equally, yet differently. What Will and Jem had was nothing Tessa could ever have with them, and what Tessa had with Jem, was nothing she could have with Will. What she had with Will was nothing she could have with Jem, and yet, the LOVE they each have for each other was their driving force in the choices and decisions each of these characters made. It's made what them do what they did in the end, and it's what made the ending and the epilogue so beautiful.

You know what else made these characters shine? Their moments together. Their stolen glances, their private conversations, their undying love for one another, and subtle moments when they touch. The sweet finger interlocking, the way their knees touch in the carriage, when one of the guys softly moves hair out of Tessa's face, those tender kisses that quickly turn into passionate ones, and the way the characters gravitate and move around each other. If you want to read a story that has all the right moves, and is written with beauty, passion, and includes all those moments that make you feel weak in the knees for it's characters, then read one of Cassie's books. She knows how to write a scene that makes you ache for her characters and yet you feel so satisfied with what you get. See, now I want to go re-read a few scenes.

The Epilogue

This ending was perfect! There was nothing left in my mind that did not make sense or that wasn't explained perfectly. Cassie wrapped The Infernal Devices up PERFECTLY! I knew how things ended with the series, I know the direction other characters are going in, and in what series I can except to see some of them. Though you'd think it was sad to get to the last page, my heart was over joyed at the future that lies ahead, and what the past held. Yes, I cried like a baby when Tessa reminisces on all that occurred in her life during The Infernal Devices time (none of this is a spoiler since we know Tessa is talking to Magnus at the end of City of Glass), but I also felt such hope for her future. I loved finding out what's to come for her and a few others in City of Heavenly Father and then The Dark Artifices. While I'm sad this series is over, I could not have asked for a more perfect story or a more perfectly fitting ending for my all time favorite YA series. Thank you Cassie!