Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Actually, I am still on the fence about the rating: 4 stars, 4 1/2 stars, I really can’t decide at this point.
Clockwork Angel was really good. It combined my love of Victorian London, its grime, its darkness and mysteriousness as well as Victorian literature with fantasy. Something I find difficult to come by and the author accomplished the merge of both splendidly.
This book falls under the category of young adult fiction/fantasy, therefore it is not too heavy. The author creates a world that intertwines that of the humans, yet keeps it oddly and distinctly separate from those that are ordinary.
There are few very minor points that were not really annoying, but rather noticeable. For one, the character of Tessa seemed at times a bit inconsistent, moreover I had the impression a few times throughout the book that she wasn’t necessarily the protagonist at all. I am sure that since this was only the first installment of a three-book series her character will grow and become more complete. Secondly, the descriptions of characters and settings began to repeat towards the end of the book. Obviously, part of this is due to the fact that those two were barely changing, but the words used were the same ones over and over again. On the other hand, the author very uniquely described the inner struggle of the characters in a way I have never come across before.
Considering that a new world had to be constructed, the pace was good, not too slow or too fast. At the end questions were left unanswered in order for the reader to be frantically reaching for the next installment. Less than halfway through this book I was certain I will be finishing the series.
