Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1) by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis:

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

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 organization 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...
 

Rating: 🌟🌟

After dropping The Mortal Instruments series when I was 14, about a year later I picked up The Infernal Devices. I wasn't too impressed with TMI, but I loved TID! Only the first two books were out at the time I picked up the trilogy. But by the time Clockwork Princess came out, my hype was all but dead at that point. I didn't really remember what happened in the previous books, and pretty much spent the majority of Clockwork Princess confused. When I finished it, I swore off the Shadowhunters books and planned to never read them again.

Well, here we are.

I've been reading the Shadowhunters books as total guilty pleasure reads as finals bear down on me. I reread the first three TMI books, and surprisingly loved them. I won't say I exactly had high expectations for this book, but I did expect to like Clockwork Angel more than I actually did. Whereas when I was 15 I loved everything about it, this time around I thought it was kind of boring.

Very, very few things happen in this book. Will is just Jace in a new skin - though I didn't know it was possible for a character to be more of an asshole than Jace. Jace, at least, I can stomach. He has some redeemable moments. Will just made me want to pull my hair out. Tessa, too, feels very similar to Clary, but has enough characteristics that set her apart from Clary that I grew to like her, however tenuously. Jem, just as I remember, is a gem of a character.

Really, this book just left me feeling lukewarm. I remember I preferred Clockwork Prince to this one when I was younger, so I'm leaving my hopes that this trilogy will get better with the sequel.