Clockwork Prince

Oooohweeeee, I love these books. I have previously tried to read The Immortal Instruments series, but could barely make it through the first chapter. The Infernal Devices on the other hand, I find completely engrossing and delightful.

Clockwork Prince is the second in the series (see my review of Clockwork Angel here, in the assignment portion of this blog). Tessa Gray has taken up residence at the London Institute, a training facility and school for Shadowhunters (elite fighters who face down evil and protect humans or–mundanes, from things that go bump in the night). The London Institute is in trouble though, its director Charlotte Branwell, and her bumbling but genius husband Henry, are under intense scrutiny as their methods and results are being challenged by the stuffy and bullheaded Benedict Lightwood. In order to prove the Clave (the Institute’s governing body) that the Branwell’s are fit to run the Institute they are tasked with finding the mysterious and illusive Magister, who wants Tessa for his bride, and has previously frustrated all attempts at capture. Oh yeah, and they’ve got two weeks to recover him, nbd right?

Meanwhile Will is meeting in secret with the warlock Mangus Bane and visiting opium dens in-between bouts of maddening flirtation with Tessa. Jem has focused his affections upon Tessa and, in effort to fool the head of the Yorkshire Institute into thinking she is his fiance, has given her his family ring which he doesn’t want back after the ruse is up. Tessa is caught in a trap between Jem’s sweetness and light and Will’s brooding intensity, and feels her affections pull at her in unimaginable and sometimes unseemly ways.

This book is a fun read and is ideal for anyone who enjoyed the first book and will appeal to readers who are intrigued by the steampunk genre, historical or victorian fiction, and urban fantasy. Go on then, get to it! Read!