Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Oh, the tragedy. I am not referring to the plot of the book/series, but the unfortunate turn this series has taken with the third and final installment of The Infernal Devices.
I am sitting here at my computer, fighting the urge to go into depth and detail about all that turned this series from a promising fantasy trilogy into a heaping mess of teenage angst and “wannabe” emotions. Although, a few quick remarks on plot, characters and general execution by the author will follow.
Plot: being the last book in this series I expected more focus on the actual “action” part of the story. The villain had not made an appearance since the first book and I was under the impression that it was about time to give this conflict between good and evil its due attention. Unfortunately, I was wrong to hope. As quickly as the final battle arrived it was over, leaving me still in anticipation and unwilling to accept that it was over. After that, as before and during 99% of the second book, all attention was directed towards the Will-Tessa-Jem triangle, which felt squeezed of its potential long ago.
Characters: I bought the bond between Will and Jem and their genuine brotherly affection for each other. I felt Jem’s character to be a bit flat, but even that I could still endure. Will just became a mess, a lovesick puppy, whose witty remarks were desperately missed. Tessa absolutely infuriated me. Who was she? What was her actual purpose? What character and personality traits did she possess that made two boys go completely gaga over her, while at the same time not one other character in the series seem to like her. Her character changed between being bold and speaking out of line to acting like a damsel in distress, who could barely hold a sword and managed to get kidnapped while still being held captive. She was inconsistent and not worthy of the title “heroine” of this story.
Overall, I have to say that the author seemed exhausted and tired of the story halfway through the third book. She mixed up names, her sentence structure became very awkward and the description of settings and characters were constantly repeated. I felt she lost sight of the actual purpose of the story after the first book.
I began to feel angry while reading Clockwork Princess, but was too stubborn to quit.
If I may speak frankly, I would recommend the first book, Clockwork Angel and then read the Wikipedia summary of the other two.
