Lately I have been reading books that I knew nothing about other than the genre and that other people on the internet (I sound so old here) had recommended them. I actually love reading like that. I generally never read the synopsis on the back of the book anymore because there are just way to many spoilers contained in that. There is nothing like starting to read a story and knowing absolutely nothing about what to expect. To me it adds a lot to the experience and that is precisely why I am so conflicted about writing book reviews. There is a delicate balance necessary between simply recommending the book and actually telling people what it is about so they know whether it is of any interest to them. This is me trying to do exactly that:
Clarissa Clare has written a lot of books by now and they all take place in the same world (as far as I know). The world that Clare has created is a big part of what I enjoy about her work. Clockwork Angel is the first book in the The Infernal Devices trilogy but it is not the first book Cassandra Clare has ever written set in this universe of demons, werewolves, and shadowhunters. I read the The Mortal Instruments before I read this novel but in my opinion it does not matter what series you decide to start with. One thing I would definitely not recommend doing is watching the movie / TV show adaptations of her work before you start reading because they both contain a unbelievable amount of spoilers while still being nothing like the books (it can be very confusing). Don't even watch the trailers.
This particular story is set in 19th century London and you follow the main character Theresa Gray as she arrives there from New York. That is about all I want to tell you before you start reading. I know it is not much but I will try to keep the rest of this review as abstract as possible to keep the possible spoilers to an absolute minimum.
Cassandra Clare is amazing at creating worlds, characters and over all atmosphere. To me there is something very distinct about her writing style. Her stories have a lot of twists and turns and even though I find it sometimes a little too easy to see whats coming next I only ever see it coming two pages before it happens and not right form the beginning (does that makes sense?). Something else I want to add here is that after starting to write this review before I started reading the second instalment in the The Infernal Devices I have changed my opinion a lot about this book. I have not finished the second book yet but all I want to say is that even though there a lot of (to me) YA cliches in this story they turn out not cliche at all.
Like I said I have not finished this series yet (let alone the second book) but I already feel like I can make the following statement: When I finished the first book I had this weird feeling of something missing in this story and I could not pinpoint it until I started the second book. I almost feel like this is one massive book and not three individual ones. I like the first book more the more I read of the second because so many things from that story make more sense now. I am not quite sure I managed to put into words what I mean but I hope it makes sense to you.
Overall this is a great YA, supernatural series and please do not let the movie or TV show keep you from reading Cassandra Clare's books. The characters in this book a lovely and let me tell you: there is absolutely nothing in this book that does not happen for a reason. I love how well thought out Clare's books are and I here the finally of this series is as satisfying as it gets for finales. I am really looking forward to that!
Like I said I have not finished this series yet (let alone the second book) but I already feel like I can make the following statement: When I finished the first book I had this weird feeling of something missing in this story and I could not pinpoint it until I started the second book. I almost feel like this is one massive book and not three individual ones. I like the first book more the more I read of the second because so many things from that story make more sense now. I am not quite sure I managed to put into words what I mean but I hope it makes sense to you.
Overall this is a great YA, supernatural series and please do not let the movie or TV show keep you from reading Cassandra Clare's books. The characters in this book a lovely and let me tell you: there is absolutely nothing in this book that does not happen for a reason. I love how well thought out Clare's books are and I here the finally of this series is as satisfying as it gets for finales. I am really looking forward to that!
What is your favorite YA, supernatural series?
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