Summary: In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
Review: Plenty of people told me that The Infernal Devices was even better than The Mortal Instruments but I didn't think it was possible. How could it be? I adored and couldn't put down The Mortal Instruments! But truly, they were right. I finished Clockwork Prince last week but I haven't been able to read anything else because I'm just not ready to move on. I keep re-reading the last few chapters over and over again. I dream about it at night.
This one was non-stop un-put-down-able. (Look. I'm so smitten I'm making up words.) There is fantastic character development and incredible realizations. Love triangles are so overdone, right? This one knocks me off my feet every time I read (and re-read it). And while I can't imagine myself in Tessa's place (unless loving my husband and Nathan Fillion counts), Ms. Clare makes it palpable. The reader is right their with her. Whatever I imagined Will's dark past to contain, I was only half right. Ms. Clare made it far more dark and twisted than I could ever have conceived. And Jem? How could you not love Jem? The more I know about Charlotte and Henry, the more I love them too. And poor Sophie and Jessamine... life is not easy on either of them, when they both wish they could be what they are not. It's also fabulous to see this whole other side of Magnus too; I'm actually quite interested to go back and re-read The Mortal Instruments just to see how my perspective regarding him has changed.
As for the plot, Cassandra Clare had me totally fooled again. Or perhaps I just didn't want to believe it. Most of it, I can't even discuss because I don't want to give anything away. I will say that every time you think you've come to the bottom of the conspiracy, you realize you've only just scratched another layer off the surface. We are no closer to discovering what Tessa is, or how she fits into the Magister's plans. I have a guess, but I won't even hazard it, for trying to unravel Ms. Clare's plots before she is ready to reveal them is like trying to catch water in your fingers. And the last page? Blew. Me. Away.
Final Take: 5/5
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