Clockwork Angel: Volume 1 (Infernal Devices, #1)

by Cassandra Clare

Jennifer Ehle (Narrator)

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still. Discover the "compulsively readable" (Booklist) first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series--now with a gorgeous new cover, a map, a foreword, and excusive bonus content! Clockwork Angel is a Shadowhunters novel.

When Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

• ISBN10: 1442334614
• ISBN13: 9781442334618
• Publish Date: 31 August 2010
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Format: Audiobook
• Duration: 13 hours
• Language: English

Reviews

[mrs_mander_reads]

I feel like I'm constantly writing reviews that hail books as the "best I've read in awhile!". But this time, I really mean it. I was 250 pages into this book before I even noticed it. The story is compelling; I found no elements unbelievable, the plot was seamless. There is not a single character that I dislike. Even the villains are perfect. I can't wait to get the second book. I have the first book of The Mortal Instruments, but I can't decide if I want to finish this series first. I just don't know!! Read this book.

[tweetybugshouse]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was a bit weird with the clockwork steam-punk twist that was thrown into the story, but it starts to feel in some of the characters from the Mortal Instruments series, which I read before I knew about this series. The story gives you a look at the world we fell in love with in the Mortal Instruments series, but throws a much darker feel over it. This is a great start to a series that will keep me enthralled until the end I am sure.

[angelarenea9]

I think that as far as writing goes, this book is defiantly better than some of the previous ones and I really enjoy the plot. I did not, however, like that it seemed as though there were a lot of reused characters and scenes. I often felt like I was rereading the Mortal Instruments books. I guess that the point may be to draw parallels between them but I think that if that was the case it was poorly done. Characters who resemble their ancestors is one thing, but it is another think when they are just a patchwork of the original characters. Tessa seems to be a Simon/Clary Will a Jace. Jessamine reminds me of an angry Isabelle. The list goes on and on. The only character that I felt was truly a new character was Jem. I think that the reason I noticed this was the small scenes that were almost identical in events and even wording. (Clary/Tessa yelling at Alec/Charlotte, feeling bad for yelling, but continuing anyways is the example that really stuck out to me although it happened all through out the book)
I was really impressed with the way that the author described Victorian times. I am no expert but she seemed to incorporate little details that I wouldn't have even thought of.
Altogether I thought that it was pretty good, I hope that there is more Magnus Bane and Camille in the next book.

[elysium]

16-year old Tessa is heading to Victorian England in search of her brother. She’s kidnapped by mysterious Dark Sisters and learns she has the ability to transform into another person. She also learns there are Shadowhunters who are fighting against the demons.

Hmm…. What to say about the book? So this is a prequel to Mortal Instruments but I’ve only read the first book City of Bones.

Tessa is a likeable person but just couldn’t connect with her. I liked Jem who was a sweetheart but couldn’t see what’s the deal with Will. Most of the time he was just annoying and rude. I also didn’t see any chemistry between Tessa and Will or is it supposed to be in later books?

I don’t really know what to say about this. This was easy and quick to read but in couple of months I won’t be able to remember what happened here. It was entertaining but that’s it. I’m in two ways if I should try the second book but we’ll see.

[sstaley]

If the whole book had been as good as the last 100 pages I would have rated this much higher. I read The Mortal Instrument Series(The first 3 books) very quickly. So I was a tad disappointed that this book didn't have the same feel to it. I wasn't connecting to the characters in the same way. I am starting Clockwork Prince and hope that it is a better read for me than this first book in The Infernal Devices series.

[ellieroth]

JEM ♥



Merged review:

Bueno, este libro me hizo desesperarme la mayor parte del tiempo. Nunca había tenido tanto problema con una protagonista cof cof desde Bella cof cof, hubo momento en que quise dejar el libro por lo pesada que podía llegar a ser. Lo bueno (espero no sea spoiler) es que llega su redención. Pero aún así me dejó un mal sabor.

[cornerfolds]

I have recently taken to listening to audiobooks rather than music on my way to and from wherever I'm on my way to. I love to read and, by doing this, I feel like I can get in that extra bit of information that I didn't have time for before. While it had its downfalls, this particular audiobook was definitely entertaining.

Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel is a story about a girl who is thrown into a world that she has no knowledge of and is forced to survive. Along the way, she meets several characters, one of which she falls in love with. After completing the entire first installment of this series, I am unsure of whether I like Tessa Gray. She had a few moments that made me want to punch her in the throat. For example, the scene in the de Quincey's house. I was so livid with her that I literally walked into work on edge. To be completely honest, my dislike of Tessa probably had a lot to do with the performance given in the audiobook by Jennifer Ehle. Her annoying, shrill voice made me want to give up completely in several instances. Because of this, I have based my rating on the book content itself and not her performance.

On the same note, Cassandra Clare got under my skin on a couple different occasions. One particular issue I had with Clare was that she mentioned how much Tessa liked novels, both explicitly and implicitly, at least 20 times throughout the book. I realize that this fact is very important to Tessa's character, but it came up over and over to the point of it becoming annoying.

Bringing it back to the characters, Will is a shadow hunter and an apparent badass. It is never really clear what his issue is, but he obviously has one. It seemed a little too forced, however. His character went from passionate enthrallment to, "get the f*** out!" from one sentence to the next. He seemed a little bipolar, in my opinion. Hopefully we'll find out what his problem is in the next book.

Alternatively, I really enjoyed Jem's character. At first, I thought he would be too dainty, but he ended up being one of my favorites.

Overall, the book was extremely entertaining, at least for my purposes. I'll admit that by the end I was rooting for Tessa. I've already begun reading (listening to) the next book and I hope to get some answers in this one. I can already tell that the voices are going to be much more desirable. In my honest opinion, Ehle should never narrate another book, and I'll be sure to avoid any that she does grace with her screechy vocal skills.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Cassandra Clare’s prequel to the Mortal Instruments series reminds me of the writing of Neil Gaiman – very much so, in fact. I liken her to something between Gaiman and the author of one of my favorite series – Jonathan Stroud. Clare adds her own elements to the story, and twists Victorian London around a little bit to her heart’s content. And I find her London beautiful and haunting and sad and grey. I love the idea of her clockwork mechanisms and the Shadowhunters and the quirky husband who lives in the basement and invents things that do not work. I want to hear so much more about these things.

But I didn’t.

Instead, Clare tells the story of Theresa Grey, a dreary mortal-who-isn’t-really, who spends a great deal of time worrying that people are not behaving like perfect ladies and gentlemen, worrying about her no-good brother, and pondering her origins. After a while, her daydream like comparisons to literature I am not intimately familiar with become dreary and it is easy to find oneself skimming forward a bit.

I wanted desperately to like this book, and I think I would have, if I had been in anybody’s mind but Tessa’s. Jessamine’s snobbery and secrets are equally alluring to William’s, and even the small stories that do get shared are interesting of their own accord. Maybe Tessa’s word be too, if it was unraveling a bit more rapidly! Clare tends to drag on a little, generally caught in a scene that – to me at least – feels mundane. Nonetheless, despite my issues with the flow of the writing and excitement of the protagonist, Clare paints such a vivid, peculiar world that one cannot help but to be intrigued. Even though I found this book a bit slow and boring, I absolutely would not toss aside Clare’s work altogether, because there were many aspects of the novel I enjoyed. In fact, when my (endless) reading list starts to dwindle down, I don’t doubt that I would pick up the sequel, or perhaps City of Bones. I simply became bored with this, but not so much that I couldn’t push through the more tedious points

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Clockwork Angel has an interesting premise, based on the interactions of various supernatural groups and the humans who associate with them during the Victorian era. It is the first steampunk book I have read that leans more toward fantasy than science fiction, and I enjoyed the blend of history and fantasy immensely, as it made the story exotic on more than one level. However, it is a bit disappointing that the tale does not lean very heavily on its setting at all; it gives the distinct impression the exact chain of events could have happened in a book set in the present.

The story itself is little on the long side, but it features some great characters, including absolutely wonderful villains, and it offers a few nice plot twists. Things in Clockwork Angel are never as straightforward as they seem. Also, a lot of hard choices need to be made about whom to trust and what to do when there is a conflict between friends and family and what might be right.

On the romance front, there is not really a triangle, but there are two different guys for Tess to be interested in. Will is a bit of a mysterious bad boy with a difficult past, which many readers have found appealing. For those who prefer nice guys, there is Jem. He is an incredible fighter who likes poetry and is protective of Tessa. He also, like Will, happens to be quite handsome. On the downside, I think he came across as a little too sensitive at points. It is hard to argue he is not manly, with the warrior thing going on, but the thought is tempting.

Clockwork Angel was exciting and quite fun to read. I will definitely be checking out the sequel, but this is not one over which I will suffer sleepless nights until I find a copy. Nice, but not mind-blowing.

Re-read


It’s been quite some time since I’ve read Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument Series, but I have to say, I think I like the Clockwork Angel Series better. The plot, characters, and setting is much more interesting and developed than the other series.

When I first started Clockwork Angel, I was immediately drawn into the plot. This plot was more interesting and well thought out. Just when you think you may have figured something out, a twist in the plot happens that takes you completely by surprise. This book really kept you guessing and really keeps you interested. I absolutely loved it!

The character, though, are what really made me love this story. I actually loved Tessa. She was still a “lady” but learned to trust her instincts and be brave in the face of danger and she could be just as much of a smart aleck as the boys when she wanted to be. But now to the love interests…Will and Jem…swoon. These boys were like light and dark, yet went so well together. Their relationship made this book really enjoyable. Will, the dark and handsome bad boy. I absolutely loved him, but you wanna know who stole the show for me? Jem. That’s right, I love Jem. He is so amazingly sweet and kind and always knows exactly what to say to make a gal feel better. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Will, with his arrogant and witty attitude, I just love Jem more. Every time he talked I just melted! And his history! OOoo I just love that boy! Honestly, he made the story for me. Forget Tessa, I’ll have him for myself!

Between an intriguing plot that really pulls you in and makes you want to know more, and the great characters, this book truly is amazing. However, there is a cliffhanger! Good thing the second book is already out