With the release of Chain of Gold on March 3rd, 2020, Shadowhunter fans everywhere are gearing up for the first book in Cassandra Clare's newest trilogy. Some (like myself) are refreshing on old characters about to make reappearances by rereading The Infernal Devices Trilogy. It was, in fact, this trilogy starring the shining trio of Tessa, Will and Jem, that probably started all of the spinoff trilogies to begin with. Clockwork Angel was just the beginning.
Cassandra Clare is an American author with an adventurous childhood, advantageously applied to her fantasy collection The Shadowhunter Chronicles. She began her writing career in 2004, with City of Bones, the first book in the six-book series The Mortal Instruments. Since then, the Shadowhunter world has exploded, with spinoff trilogies The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, and The Last Hours. With such a vast world of fantasy, it's easy to get lost. Here, I will be reviewing Clockwork Angel, the first book in The Infernal Devices trilogy. If you find yourself interested in learning more about the Shadow World, click here for more information on where to begin. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Cassandra Clare's work, you can find them all here.
Clockwork Angel opens with our newest heroine, Tessa Gray, as she sets off to London from America to reunite with her older brother, Nathaniel. Once she arrives in London, however, she doesn't get the reunion she desires: instead, Tessa is swept up into the strange world of clockwork humans, Dark Sisters with strange connections, and someone called the Magister. And at the center of it all are the Shadowhunters, a race of half-human, half-angel warriers whose mandate is to protect ordinary humans from the demons. Tessa, who learns she has a strange ability under the tutelage of the Dark Sisters, is fearful for her brother, herself, and the world she once knew. But with the Shadowhunters, and her new friends Will and Jem, she might just find her brother, find herself, and find understanding.
One of the long-lasting legacies of The Infernal Devices trilogy is the development of the friendships between Tessa, Jem, and Will. Will and Jem are already close because of their parabatai bond - a bond that ties two Shadowhunters together, not just in battle, but in life - but when Tessa is thrown into the mix, suddenly friendship starts to get complicated. The bond between these three is just starting to grow, developing under pressures that include chronic illness, potential romantic intentions, and deception. But with those things are also honesty, commonalities, and a desire to understand. Friendship is difficult: it certainly is going to be for this trio. And it is going to be fun because the dynamic between them is unique, and their personalities are starting to fit together like puzzle pieces. Soon, the entire picture will be complete.
This book is set in 1878 London, and you'd think there'd be complications when mixing historical fiction and fantasy. However, Clare does a good job at keeping the worlds distinct, and blending them with careful precision. It is through Tessa's eyes that we understand the Victorian time period, customs, and literature. And it is also through her eyes that we learn the Shadowhunter customs that counter the mundane world. It is an interesting and perfect time period for this novel, with the themes it has. Victorian London was notorious for its dirty streets, dirty people, and coverups. The snippets of poetry Clare uses to begin each chapter reflect the romantic and disenchanted notions of the time period, and reflect accurately the moods of the characters as they uncover a mystery, learn more about each other, and finally learn what they're up against.
Tessa Gray is such a fun character to follow throughout this novel, because she has believed all her life that she was a human - mundane, and nothing special. When she learns about her strange identity as a shape-shifter, she has to grapple with this new identity, as well as learn the customs of this new world, find her brother, and save her friends. Identity is a theme that transcends both fantasy and historical fiction to reach wider, young adult audiences, because identity cannot always be on someone's mind (for Tessa's case, she's not always thinking about her shape-shifter identity because of the battles she's thrown into and the mystery she's trying to help solve). However, identity does change how people perceive these events, and changes their reactions to them and the people around them. As Tessa is uncovering who she might truly be, readers are learning what kind of character she is, trying to figure out who her friends are, and guessing what sort of role she's going to play in the books to come. These are the elements of this story that keep readers reaching for more, not just from the Infernal Devices series, but also from the Shadow World.
If you're interested in more of my reviews on the books from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, you can find them all here.
*This review is also published on my Goodreads page*
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