Review: "Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices, #2)" by Cassandra Clare

When I finished my ARC of Clockwork Angel, the first book in The Infernal Devices trilogy, last summer, I immediately wanted the next book. I wanted Clockwork Prince right then, and Clockwork Angel hadn't even been properly released yet. Finally, my relief came yesterday with the release of Clockwork Prince. As I've come to expect from Cassie, my expectations were exceeded. I expected to be entertained, but I did not expect to be so touched.

Here's the inside flap synopsis:

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.

My favorite part of this book is Will Herondale's story arc. I won't divulge the details, but the mystery of our caustic welsh Will becomes decidedly less mysterious. Learning who Will is and why Will is Will was vastly satisfying and heartbreaking. I just wanted to hug him and tell him it would be all right. More than the revelations regarding Will's past and his motivations made his arc intriguing, because Will's arc was by no means static. The dynamic changes in Will, or rather the unveiling and rediscovery of Will's character, was fragile and beautiful and heart wrenching.

Few modern writers are able to fully grasp and reproduce the heartbreak of gothic literature, but Cassie does it masterfully in Clockwork Prince--particularly, though not exclusively, in Will.

But, really, we all know the character who has my heart in this series--Tessa Gray. As I declared at the end of Clockwork Angel, I was neither Team Will or Team Jem, but Team Tessa. I still am. That girl is the bee knees, y'all. I just adore her. Watching Tess in a more stable environment this time around allowed her to blossom in a way that was endearing. As Tess tries to come to terms with who and what she is, as well as her feelings for Will and Jem, we also get to see her begin to touch on the implications of her own immortality. There is a sadness for me in this thread. I don't know what's going to happen with her future and who will or will not be by her side or for how long, but I keep coming back to a remembrance that Magnus Bane had regarding Tessa in City of Fallen Angel.

He saw a girl with long brown hair and a serious face. In a world where everything went away from him eventually, she was one of the few remaining constants. 

For some reason I cannot put words to yet, this remembrance holds a good deal of sorrow for me, and it kept coming back to me as I read Clockwork Prince. The idea of mortality was quite prevalent in this book with Tessa's immortality, with Jem's illness, and with Will's arc. There was a sobriety to the tone of this book, though that does not mean that it was light on witty banter and levity. 

One of the underlying themes of the story was the common language that Tess and Will share--books and words. As a reader and writer, this naturally resonated with me on a visceral level. While I enjoyed Will and his caustic wit in the first book, this theme made me feel for him. I get Will. I'm pretty sure anyone who was an adolescent who found solace and strength from stories can't help but identify with Will and Tess. At the end of this book, I find Will Herondale appealing in a way I've found none of Cassie's other male leads. Don't get me wrong, I adore my geeky Simon. Will's earnest fragility and vulnerability, however, that he can only throw into books was something I understand all too well.

As always with her writing, the final paragraph sprang a twist on me that has me ravenous for Clockwork Princess. Also, I got my wish from Clockwork Angel. There was a lot more Magnus Bane in this story. There should ALWAYS be more Magnus.

Unlike Cassie's other stories that I consumed and thoroughly enjoyed, Clockwork Prince touched me. The interplay of death and life and love and betrayal and forgiveness and books and words touched me in a way I did not expect. Really, very well done, Cassie.