Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd.
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Release Date: 01/03/2011
Pages: 488
Service: Bought
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @cassieclare
'The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London's dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters - including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organisation of vampires, demons, warlocks and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...'
There were so many reasons that I was looking forward to reading this book. With one of my friends saying that I would love this book and wanting to see how Clare would put Shadowhunters in the 19th century, as well as really looking forward to seeing the Shadowhunting world in a different setting. This book was pulled off in such an amazing way!
For me, it was really interesting to read about the Shadowhunters in the 19th century was really enjoyable. I love seeing how the coped with the travel and how it was always convenient to them and how some of the things that the Shadowhunters use in 'The Mortal Instruments' start to be created in this book. Clare has found a way to make sure that these worlds stay connected, even with a different time period, plot and setting. You have no doubt that you are still within the world of the Nephilim.
The characters in this book were amazing and so were the relationships. Henry had to be my favourite and for me he was the most loveable one in the book, with all his awkwardness. Jessamine has to be on my list of the most annoying characters that are meant to be annoying. There were point where I felt bad for her, points when I liked her but they didn't last for very long. What I loved about this book was that it wasn't just the main characters I fell in love, it was all the background characters. The evil ones and the good ones. It was nice to see Magnus Bane enter the scene once again and my love for his character increased in this book.
There are sometimes times where I find the main characters of the book annoy me quite a bit and though there were some points that I found Tessa a little whiny, it wasn't often and you could understand why. Jem and Will were a pair of characters that I really like, and it was really nice reading their friendship. The way that Jem puts up with Will and how protective Will can be of Jem sometimes.
There were relationships, both friendships and other that I was really curious about and still am to be honest. We weren't told everything in this book about them and though it did annoy me slightly, there are still another two books in the series where I am hoping things will be explained. Though, I do think, they could have further explained one or two things.
Personally, I thought that the writing in this book was a lot better compared to 'The Mortal Instruments' though that might just be a personal preference. I enjoyed it a lot more and am really looking forward to seeing where Clare is going to take the plot from here and there are so many lose ends I am waiting to be tied up.
The epilogue left me wanting to know so much more and I don't think it's going to be long until I pick up the next book in the trilogy.
Favourite Quote:
Rating: ★★★★
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Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker
Series: The Chaos Walking Trilogy #1
Release Date: 22/10/2008
Pages: 479
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @Patrick_Ness
‘Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee – whose thoughts he can hear too, whether he wants to or not – stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town of where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden – a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursers can hear your every thought?’
So, this is the first book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy that I had borrowed from my sister.
I don’t think I could speak highly enough of this book; it was just pure brilliance. Normally when I read a book there is one aspect that sells it for me and makes me love it. For this book, there wasn’t just one aspect for me, it was every single point in this book that made me love it.
The whole plotline shows how Todd is used to having to privacy in his life. He’s used to everyone around him knowing how he’s feeling and how he’s thinking and how he thinks that it’s such a normal thing to have everyone know everything about you and the only way you can stop it is if you’re able to bury your thoughts under the rest of your Noise. I thought that related to a lot of people nowadays and the use of Social Media. The fact that there are a lot of people that tend to document every single thing on sites. Even though that might not have been what Ness was thinking about when writing it, that was what ended up coming to my head.
I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give away the book but one thing I loved was that you never knew what was going to happen next. No matter how much I tried to guess what was going to happen, things just kept surprising me. The whole book is filled with so many twists and revelations that you never get bored of reading.
I really loved the fact that the whole book was written as Todd would speak, so you have his accent going through your head the whole time your reading and that for me brought the book alive even more. His whole character development was amazing and I can’t wait to see what happens with him in the next few books as he grows more as a character. You could see the affects that certain events in the book has had on him and how it’s changed the way he is or the way he reacts to different things.
The end left me in pure shock and it was one of those cliff hangers that hurt my chest to read.
I cannot wait to get my hands on this book and I would highly recommend this book to just about anyone!
Rating: ★★★★★
'Since the thirteenth century, the Shadowhunters’ Codex has been the one and only manual for Shadowhunters looking to brush up on their demon languages, learn proper stele use and learn exactly what a pyxis is. Featured in both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, this guide is a necessity for any young Nephilim on their journey to becoming a Shadowhunter. This is Clary’s copy, and as an artist herself, she’s sketched pictures of her friends and familythroughout the book, and scrawled helpful advice on the margins. Of course, she couldn’t exactly stop Jace and Simon from adding their thoughts either.'
After reading the first five books in The Mortal Instruments series and knowing that I was going to buy The Infernal Devices at some point I really wanted to get my hands onto the Shadownhunter’s Codex once it was published. I am a naturally nosey person when it comes to books and learning more about the book world so I was glad when I got it as a Christmas present.
This book did not disappoint me at all. Throughout the pages you feel as though this is something the Clave has actually wrote down from the way the language comes across. Instead of the usual story writing style that Cassandra Clare usually uses throughout her books, she and Joshua Lewis slip more into an instructional guide which makes you feel as though the Codex is a real thing.
There was an immense amount of information in the Codex but not enough to make you want to fall asleep.. There was a lot of new information though that gave you a real insight into how much effort was actually put into creating this whole world of Nephilim and Downworlders and the amount of research that was put into it.
The notes that were scattered on the pages from Clary Jace and Simon were really amusing to read and you could see that in the process of putting together this Codex, Cassie Clare definitely did not forget the true personality of her characters. Even in these short notes you were able to put together the type of person each one of them was. The only gripe I do have with the notes were that a lot of the time it was hardtop know where she wanted you to read them.
One of my favourite aspects of this Codex is the fact that towards the beginning of this book Magnus Bane has his own section of writing. Throughout this small section his sarcasm was seeping through while still being quite informative.
The only problems that I really had with the book is that there were some sections, like Magnus’, where it cut through a sentence and the sentence wouldn’t carry on for quite a few pages then which made you lose the flow of reading. The notes were also a little hard to read sometimes since you couldn’t really tell where she wanted you to read them.
Overall though, I am still extremely glad that I had this as a Christmas present and it’s made me understand the Shadowhunting world a lot better. I would recommend this book to anyone who’s a fan of Cassie Clare’s series’.
Rating: ★★★★
