Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Paranormal
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Edition Read: Hardcover, 502 pages

Synopsis:

In Clockwork Prince, with Mortmain vanished and the clock counting down on how long Charlotte can keep control of the Institute away from Benedict Lightwood, Will, Jem and Tessa must dig into Mortmain’s past to predict what he will do in the future, 

But secrets about Mortmain aren’t all they find buried—Tessa begins to uncover the truth about her own birth, and the ghosts of Will’s past return to haunt him. As Tessa grows closer to Jem, and Will is driven further toward the brink of madness by jealousy and guilt, will they discover the truth in time to halt the next phase of Mortmain’s evil plan?

Review:

I read Clockwork Angel many moons ago and really enjoyed it.  It was my first ever Cassandra Clare novel and seeing as I enjoyed it so much I just had to read more of this authors books.  I originally bought Clockwork Prince when it was first released and it had been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust for a while, then I struck up a bookish relationship with one of my coworkers and I had to pick it up and read it.

What I really enjoyed about Clockwork Prince was that it started up right where Clockwork Angel left off and I was able to become engaged in the story right away, without having to go back and re-read the end of Clockwork Angel. The repercussion's of the events at the end of Clockwork Angel cause much drama in the clave and a possible shift in power for the London Institute.  Charlotte, Henry and the gang are given 2 weeks to figure out where Mortmain is or they must forfeit the Institute to Benedict Lightwood.

In this time there are trips to York, a traitor in their midst, new servants brought into the household, death, destruction, mayhem, defection from a family and even more drama amongst the inhabitants of the Institute.  I don't feel this book suffered from the "second book" curse at all.  I really enjoyed how this book was tailored to dealing with the fallout from the events at the end of Clockwork Angel.  I also really enjoyed the introduction of new secondary characters to the story to keep things interesting.  The new cook is more than a little bit morbid!  Will's curse is an interesting side story as well.  Enjoyed that very much as well.

What bothered me about the book was the love triangle between Tessa, Will and Jem.  It didn't really start to bother me until about 1/2 way through the book.  When Tessa was with Will she was thinking about Jem and when she was with Jem she was thinking about Will.  I know that it is possible to love more than one person at a time but I really felt that Tessa really doesn't know what she wants and thinks she has that "forever" kind of love for one of the boys.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with Clockwork Prince.  I will definitely be finishing up this series because the ending in this one is a wicked cliffhanger and I have to know what happens.  I'm hoping that Tessa, Will and Jem grow up a little bit in Clockwork Princess and I really want to know what Tessa is!

Rating: 4/5