Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Note: This review was originally posted on my old now deleted book blog.

 

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Infernal Devices Series #1

Genre: Fiction, YA, Paranormal, Romance

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Release Date: 2010, August
Format: Hardcover, 479 pages

Source: Purchased - Ebook

Rating: 4.75/5

Synopsis (from Barnes and Noble):

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Review:

This is the first book by this author that I have ever read.  I definitely will be reading more of her books in the future!  Awesome Sauce is what it is and I LOVE me some Awesome Sauce!

Even though I think this book was Awesome Sauce I did think that it got off to a slow start.  I also was confused as to how exactly Will found Tessa at the Dark Sisters house.  Did he senses her while she was in someone else's body, a random tip?  That bothered me a little bit.

There were times when I thought Will was more than a little bit of an ass.  Now I like "bad boys" but there's a difference between being a "bad boy" and being verbally and emotionally abusive.  I think at times Will walked a little bit too close to that fine line for my taste.  I guess that makes me a member of Team Jem then.

I found the writing style to be of my liking also.  Once I got past the slow beginning I thought the story was a definite page turner.  The action throughout the book was very well described also.  You felt like you were there.  I also liked how the bad guy wasn't completely obvious (at least to me) until you got closer to the end of the book.  Just when you think you have it all figured out it turns out our completely WRONG!

Overall, I really enjoyed Clockwork Angel.  The cliff hanger ending has me thinking that next September will NEVER get here!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Note: This review was originally posted on my old now deleted book blog.

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Genre: YA Dystopia

Synopsis:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Review:

Alrighty then....I am jumping on the "fan girl" band wagon!  I LOVED this book!  I'm really glad that I paid the extra money to have it arrive at my house on release day.  Best $28 I've spent in a LONG time!  FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!  And just for effect I'll add a SQUEEEEEEEEE in there too!

This book has literally jumped its way to the top of my MUST READ list to all of my friends/family/co-workers.  Divergent has been compared to The Hunger Games trilogy and I can honestly see a lot of similarities between the two series.

Leading up to me purchasing Divergent I hadn't heard much about it.  But when I looked it up on Goodreads close to its release date I saw a plethora of "Awesome," "YOU MUST READ THIS," "It will hook you and not let go" type of reviews.  I was still a little skeptical, because its sort of a natural tendency for me to be a little bit leery about purchasing an item that gets so much positive hype.  Let me tell you this....Divergent DEFINITELY earned all that positive hype.

I mean look at the cover!  The cover is what sold me on buying the book.  I'm a sucker for a great cover!  If you haven't picked up this book yet you should!  What are you waiting for!?

There are so many great things about this book that I really don't even know where to start!  Honestly, there isn't just one or two things that stand out to me that make this book great.  It's the total package.  The characters, the story itself, the world that the author creates...all great things that meshed together in a solid bond to create an UNFORGETTABLE book!

This book REALLY does have the power to suck you in and not let go.  It happend to me and it has happened to others who have read Divergent.  The only drawback is that we have to wait until 2012 for the next installment of the series:(

Rating: 5+/5

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