The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Princess Book Review & Discussion (Reread)

OH MY GOSH. I’m all choked up with feels at the moment. This book was so good!

If Clockwork Angel was 10/10 and Clockwork Prince was 8/10, Clockwork Princess was for sure an 11/10!!! 😍

Clockwork Prince felt so long because nothing was happening. This book felt long because SO MUCH WAS HAPPENING. All the sh*t was going down. I would be so enraptured by the plot that I would glance down at the percentage bar line on my Kindle and be surprised that I was only 30% into the book. I would say that the first 50% of the book was super intense and fast moving. The next 25% was very slow-paced in comparison, but the last 25% was when everything came full circle and all the little bits and pieces were tied together. 

    I’m honestly going to miss reading these characters that I’ve truly grown to love. 💕 It feels as if I, myself, had been a member of the London Institute–sharing in their joys, grieving during their sorrows, fighting alongside them in battle.

If you haven’t read this series yet, what are you doing? Go pick it up! If you have, I encourage you to reread it again but take your time. Appreciate the writing, the plot, the literary references, the characters for what they are and what they can teach you.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

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One of the first scenes in this book is Charlotte introducing 12-year-old Jem to 12-year-old Will. Will is being his usual antisocial, angsty self: “I need someone who can keep up with me, not some sickly creature that looks as if he’s doddering off to the grave.” Oh Will. sigh. He quickly learns that Jem looks sickly because he is sickly. This poor little orphan his own age is dying from a demon drug addiction. Of course, this allows Will to open up to Jem, leading to one of the greatest storybook bromances of all time.

We then jump straight into a battle scene where the gang has to fight Benedict Lightwood who has turned into a worm. I know it’s supposed to be a super intense scene and all, but all I can imagine while reading is the worm from Spongebob. 😂

In the midst of this worm battle, all Will can think about is Tessa which leads to two thoughts: 1) Darn it Will! Focus on the fight, or you’ll all be dead!! 2) This boy is whipped AF.

I didn’t understand the A Tale of Two Cities references when I first read this series, so I’m a lot more appreciative and understanding of the references this time around. If you haven’t read A Tale of Two Cities, I recommend watching or reading the summary to get a gist of it to understand why Will sees a parallel between the two love triangles. Essentially, Will consistently compares himself to Sydney Carton, a man who dies for his love, Lucie Manette (Tessa), so that Lucie can marry Charles Darnay (Jem). There are also other little nuances such as Sydney viewing himself as unworthy of Lucie’s love because Charles is more respected and of a higher class than Sydney.

We definitely got some of that Herondale sibling bonding in this book. I loved seeing Will as a caring older brother. I loved seeing Cecily tease the brother she hasn’t seen for five years. I especially loved the scene where Will is wandering through the black market looking for Jem’s medicine and he catches Cecily following him.

Will: “Don’t you even care where I’m going? What if I were going to Hell?”

Cecily: “I’ve always wanted to see Hell. Doesn’t everyone?” 

Consul Wayland is such a snake. 🐍 I was honestly surprised because he supported Charlotte against Benedict in the earlier books, but we learn it’s because he thought he could control her since she’s a woman. Of course, Charlotte is too kick a**  and #girlboss  to be pushed around, so he writes to the Council in hopes of getting her removed from her position. He then tries to coax the Lightwood brothers to spy on her by taking them to a strip club LMAO. Then, when that doesn’t work, he threatens Gabriel to turn against her.

But he doesn’t do it! I was SO PROUD of Gabriel! He really came around in this book. I’m so glad he ends up with Cecily, too. 👏 Cassie does a really great job at bringing things full circle and referencing old inside jokes. When Cecily and Gabriel first meet, he rates her knife throwing skills. At the end, when they kiss, she throws back the same line he said: “Your skill and technique may, perhaps, require work, but the native talent is certainly there. What you require is practice.” 

OMG Gideon is so cute hiding scones under his bed because he wants Sophie to deliver them each time. It’s so cute how he accidentally blurts out that he wishes to marry her while advocating for her ascension. And I love how Gabriel and Cecily are listening against the door to Gideon proposing to Sophie.

I was flailing around like an idiot when Jem threw his little pack of yin fen to the fire, and Will thrusts his hands in the fire to save what is Jem’s lifeline. AGH MY HEART. 💔

I never liked Jessamine, but I was a little sad when she died. Her last wish to Will is that he takes care of her dolls because it would represent that she is not being forgotten by everyone there. I really wish we could’ve seen more of a conversation occur between her ghost and Will at the end.

OMG Will and Tessa getting the frick frack on in Tessa’s cell. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Mortmain can walk in at any time! An automaton can walk in at any time!! Of course, they’re both too hot and bothered to think clearly with their brains at this point. We also learn that this is how the Herondale star birthmark first started. 🌟

In the end, they’re all saved because Tessa changes into Ithurial from a piece of the angel trapped in Tessa’s clockwork angel. The way that they defeated Mortmain felt too familiar to how Clary and Jace defeated Valentine in the City of Glass. 🤔 I definitely think it makes sense, but at the same time, it felt too easy. I was hoping there would be more of a battle. I’m also surprised that the rest of the Council managed to survive the automatons unless it’s supposed to be that the gang defeated Mortmain just in time…which is honestly cutting it close LOL.

I LOVE HENRY. He is so precious. I love how he wants to name the baby Buford. A++. I was shooketh when he almost died. I totally would have understood Cassie if she killed him off, but at the same time, I’m so thankful she didn’t because Charlotte loves him so much and it would’ve broken my heart to see her raise the baby without him.

The ENDING was SO BEAUTIFUL. I’M IN TEARS. 😭❤ Everything was tied together so beautifully that each person got closure and his/her own happily ever after. Sophie ascended and married Gideon. Cecily and Gabriel got married. Henry and Charlotte have a beautiful baby that isn’t named Buford. Jem survives. Will and Tessa end up together.

When Will passed away, MY HEART BROKE. 💔 I was feeling all the feels. I’m happy because he lived so long for a Shadowhunter. He had grandchildren! I’m sad because human life is still very delicate and fragile. I was a blubbering mess when everyone visited him in his hospital bed. Eventually, he passes away in the presence of Tessa and Jem–the love of his life and his best friend.

“The children had spoken fondly of the way he had always loved their mother, fiercely and devotedly, the way he had never had eyes for anyone else…They spoke of his regard for books, and how he had taught them all to love them too, to respect the printed page and cherish the stories that those pages held…They spoke of his unrelenting fear of ducks…how he taught them the song about demon pox. Cecily had reminded him of the moment at her wedding to Gabriel when he had delivered a beautiful speech praising the groom, at the end of which he had announced, ‘Dear God, I thought she was marrying Gideon. I take it all back.'”

I love how Cassie leaves a little sneak peek of her next book at the end. Jem’s uncle mentions the sword, Cortana, which belongs to the heroine of The Dark Artifices, Emma Carstairs.

Overall, I loved rereading this series, and I’m so glad I did. It was so fun to reconcile with some of my favorite characters and write discussions for each book. This was an amazing journey, and this series will forever be one of my favorites. 💕

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HAVE YOU READ Clockwork Princess? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS! 💕