The Infernal Devices

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
This is the first book of The Infernal Devices Trilogy which is the prequel to The Mortal Instruments Trilogy (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass) It's a prequel not in the sense that it tells the back story of the characters previously introduced, instead it tells the story of the mythical shadowhunters in another time period. Whereas The Mortal Instruments takes place in modern day NYC, The Infernal devises instead tells the story of the London institute in the early 1900s, although there still is a cameo or two.

The story follow Tess, a mundane (aka human) girl who moves to London to follow her older brother. Of course once there he finds herself a captive of the Dark Sisters and through them becomes entangled in the mysterious world of shadowhunters.

Overall I really do enjoy the story of the shadowhunters, and loved hearing more about their history. But what bothered me about the book is that the characters are almost mirror images of the ones we've previously met. Both times there a girl who thinks she ordinary who gets lost in this world. Both time she falls for a shadowhunter boy that one the surface is hurtful, but is only because he's hiding a troubled past. In fact the characters from one trilogy to the next are so similar I have to think it's intentional. Because otherwise why wouldn't one come up with new unique characters that enhance the story?

Even with that complaint I still loved the book. I couldn't stop reading it once I was back in the world of the shadowhunters. And unlike the first trilogy when I could read them all back to back, this time I actually have to wait months if not years for the next in the trilogy to be published! But I'll definitely be waiting!

5/5