The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

**Major Spoilers Ahead** If you want the spoiler-free Goodreads synopsis for the first book of the series, skip to the bottom of this post! 

You guys, I CANNOT believe I missed out on reading this series before! Some backstory – I started reading The Mortal Instruments when I was in high school, and I didn’t make it past book two.

If I remember correctly, I was pretty peeved when a certain spin was revealed. Now I wish I would have kept reading! (Pretty sure I’ve seen some spoilers since.) But anyway, since I’ve completed the prequel and loved it so much, I’m definitely giving the MI another shot.

This series was an emotional roller coaster ride, especially book three! I will admit that I’m not a huge fan of love triangles if I feel like it’s obvious the MC has stronger feelings for one over the other or fell for one person first. (I recognize that’s a double standard with my obsession and love for both Twilight and The Hunger Games lol.)

I just felt like Tessa’s feelings for Will were obvious from the start, and their instant chemistry was way stronger than her friendship with Jem. I know Will hurt and rejected her. Tessa had no way to know it was an act, but I personally think she should have realized something was up after discovering he pretended to drink, fraternize, etc.

I get that Tessa and Jem bonded after a certain point, and his affections were definitely obvious. Should she have waited on Will? I can see how that answer should definitely be no – he was awful to her and Jem offered a relationship based on kindness and adoration. I just personally thought it was obvious she still had feelings for Will throughout. I think the plot “rectified” this for me a bit when she talks of loving two people, and we get a deeper understanding of the parabatai bond.

“I am catastrophically in love with you.”

And okay, I DID NOT see that (okay, multiple things) coming! I knew there was a connection between Tessa and Starkweather, but I didn’t put together the puzzle pieces about her mom. And I seriously thought Jem died. I didn’t think the brotherhood was an option based on his previous conversation with Tessa. That part felt so unfinished to me in the last few chapters until the revelation at the very end.

However, I was CONVINCED that when the clockwork angel left his mark on Will he would be immortal too, so he and Tessa could remain together forever. We got this happy ending with all of the characters we’ve come to love, and then suddenly they are all dying of old age! It was the most emotional part of the book that I had the hardest time accepting. Which, giving credit where credit is due, is a testament to the writing. It made me sympathize for Magnus and Tessa, the two main immortals of the story.

THEN, we get the epilogue, and things come full circle when Jem and Tessa finally get their chance to be together. But I couldn’t get past that fact that Jem is no longer immortal, so Tessa will have to go through the loss of a loved one AGAIN. That part was really hard for me to swallow. I’d love to know others’ thoughts, but I’m such a sucker for a happy ending that it didn’t sit 100% with me.

Overall, I’m so glad that I chose to give these a shot! I listened to the audiobooks on Hoopla with my library card, but I want shelf trophies of these now, of course. If you’re looking for a read that isn’t a popular book right now, I would highly suggest diving into this world if you’re new to it like me!

Quotes

“I think if two souls are meant to be together, they will remain together on the Wheel and be together again in the life after this one, whatever happens to us now.”

“One must be careful with books,” said Tessa, “and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”

“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy–all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.”

“We are all the pieces of what we remember. We hold in ourselves the hopes and fears of those who love us. As long as there is love and memory, there is no true loss.”

Good Reads Synopsis

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…