Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: March 19, 2013

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy--aren't all brides happy?

Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

Here's the thing about Clockwork Princess, I was absolutely terrified of the book. As much as I was dying to read it and find out how everything would end, I was still terrified of what it would do to my poor heart. And at times I was perfectly legitimated in my fear because Cassandra Clare really knows how to break my heart over and over again. But at different times, she also managed to help piece it all back together.

All Tessa Gray wants is to protect those she cares about. But there is only so much that is in her control. With Jem seemingly getting more and more sick every day, Tessa can't help but feel like she has to do something to help him. And with the threat of Mortmain looming over the London Institute, everyone is on edge, afraid of an attack that can happen at any moment. But what if there was something Tessa could do that would protect the Shadowhunters? Should she risk her own life in order to keep everyone she loves safe…or will they even let her?

As I've said, I was absolutely terrified when I started reading Clockwork Princess. Having read all of Cassandra Clare's books to date, I know what she is capable of doing and how that has affected me in the past. And my fears were completely legitimated. As those who were receiving my texts while I was reading can attest, there were many moments when I was afraid that the story just couldn't hurt me any more than it already had. Because, honestly, that's what the story did: it broke my heart over and over again. But don't get the wrong idea because it is a fantastically written story. There were so many scenes that took be completely by surprise, both good and bad. And some of those scenes are what helped me piece my heart back together. Until the epilogue came along (please excuse the mini rant that it about to come). The thing about Clockwork Princess is that it had the perfect ending, one I was completely satisfied with. And that ending came before the epilogue. That's not to say that the epilogue wasn't good, because parts of were. But then there was that another part of me that made me kind of mad. And the way things played out, it felt a little like a cop out to me. And I'm sure some of you who've read the book might agree. So my final say on that? The book should have ended before the epilogue and still been just as fantastic, if not even more so.

Here's the thing about the characters in Clockwork Princess: I adore them all…well at least the good guys. Over the course of the three books I have come to care about so many of them. But if I'm being completely honest, in Clockwork Princess, Gideon, Sophie, Cecily and Gabriel completely stole the show. Those four characters quickly became some of my favourites in this series. Without giving too much away, the interactions between these four people were often what helped put parts of my heart back together. But that doesn't mean I still don't love Will, Tessa and Jem. Because those three people have a special place in my heart. The thing about these three characters is that Cassandra Clare managed to write their stories in a way that made it so I have never really been able to decide who Tessa should be with. And somehow this leads me back to the epilogue. Again I apologize if this quickly dissolves into me ranting some more. Without revealing what happens, with the way things played out, I was perfectly happy with who Tessa ended up with at the end--the end that came before the epilogue. But then the epilogue came about and all of a sudden it made me feel like the relationship Tessa had had with one of the boys was rendered meaningless because of what happened in that part of the book. But moving on from my anger with the epilogue, Will, Jem and Tessa are what broke me in this book. And as much as they were responsible for my heart breaking, I will not stop loving them because that's just how attached to these characters I've become. 

Pushing my anger with the epilogue aside, Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess was a fantastic read. Any moment I wasn't reading I spent wishing I could be back in that world, watching everything unfold alongside some of my favourite characters. As much as this is a story that will break your heart, if you haven't already discovered the world of the Infernal Devices, you should consider doing so.