ARC Tour: Clockwork Angel

Cassandra Clare
Releases August 31, 2010
Source: Review copy provided by Book It Forward ARC Tours for review.

This is a definite must read from Cassandra Clare. Infernal Devices is a prequel series to The Mortal Instruments series so I was familiar with the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders but with the addition of the historical Victorian London. I enjoyed the polite speak between the characters and how they must observe the rules of society.

The protagonist, Tessa, is an orphan besides for her older brother Nate, comes to London to join him after the death of her Aunt to be cast into a magical dangerous world. Tessa has a rare ability even among this supernatural world that many want to have her for this ability. The Magister is the mysterious one trying to get Tessa for a reason unknown to her.

Tessa ends up in the London Shadowhunter Institute where we meet Charlotte who runs the Institute with her crazy inventor husband Henry. I liked who they talked about the demon sensor used in the Mortal Instruments books so some of his inventions will work just not yet, Henry is known for his screw ups. There is Jessamine who does not want to be a shadowhunter but a Lady of London’s society. Will and Jem are both orphans who live in the Institute who have hidden backgrounds that Tessa will hopefully discover. Will is hard to understand what is going on with him but I look forward to figuring it out with Tessa. Thomas, Sophie, and are some mundanes with the sight who work in the Institute.

The story is very well written and it kept me interested the whole time I read. The ending is written so it can pick up right where it left of for the next book of the Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince.

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: Jem, 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.

Infernal Devices Series

#1 Clockwork Angel (August 31, 2010)

#2 Clockwork Prince (September 2011)

#3 Clockwork Princess (December 2012)