Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess is the conclusion to the Infernal Devices series of Cassie Clare.  I just want to reiterate that I like this better than the Mortal Instruments (sorry Jace and Clary fans).  It picks up where Clockwork Prince left off, Tessa is preparing for her marriage to Jem; Will's sister, Cecily, is living in the London Institute; and the Shadowhunters are still nowhere near finding Mortmain.

Will is a little bit awkward on having his little sister in the Institute.  I guess he's just not used to having her around and has not yet come to terms that Cecily is not the little girl he remembers her to be.  Of course, knowing Will, he will assert that her being there is unwanted.

Speaking of Will, I think he is also having a difficult time trying to suppress his feelings for Tessa now that she is engaged to Jem.  I can only imagine how he feels, having the person that you love near (seeing her everyday, being with her everyday) and yet you cannot show her how much you love her.  What's worse (for me, that is) she's engaged to someone whom you treat as your brother!  Actually Jem is more than a brother to Will they are parabatai after all.

My heart would break for Will's sake whenever I read something like this:

"Tessa was struggling with the other girl's weight, and Will wanted to pause to help her - but Jem already had, his hand on Tessa's arm, and it was reasonable.  It was his place, as her fiancée."

Or something like this:

"xxx Will looked away from her before he could remember what it felt like to put his hands through that hair and feel the strands wind about his fingers.  It was easier in the Institute, with Jem and the others to distract him, to remember that Tessa was not his to recall that way.  Here, feeling as if he were facing the world with her by his side - feeling that she was here for him instead of, quite sensibly, for the health of her fiancée - it was nearly impossible."

 As for Tessa, I think she is still torn between Will and Jem although technically she has chosen Jem already.  I can't wrap my head around the idea of loving two people the same way.  How can one feel that way?  Surely, you will love the other in a different way or you will love one more than you love the other but not equally (can't she just give Will to me?)  Despite of this, I still like Tessa's character (way better than Clary).  She's smart, she fights for the people she cares about, she's kind and considerate and I think she's sweet.

I like Gideon Lightwood (even if he is the son of Benedict Lightwood).  He is nothing like his father and brother.  He chose to live in the Institute because he knows that his father's way is not how Shadowhunters should act, think or live.  He respects Charlotte and the people who are in the Institute.  He became loyal to them.  And it is obvious that he likes Sophie, I found it sweet when he was asking her to bring him scones (even though he doesn't like them) so that he would see her.

I also like Cecily.  I think she has spunk.  She's as stubborn as Will.  If she has put her mind on something, nothing and no one can stop her from it.  I was able to see that she really cares for her brother and she wants to understand why he chose to stay with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.  At first, she came to the Institute to somehow convince Will to come back home.  But as she spent time with Charlotte, Henry, Jem and the others and saw how Will is with them she understood that "the ties that bound him [there] were as strong as any ties of blood."

Mortmain still poses a huge threat to Tessa and all Shadowhunters for that matter.  They still don't know what Mortmain wants from Tessa.  And try as they might, they still haven't got a clue on his whereabouts.  Then Mortmain did the unthinkable - he bought all the supply of yin fen which put the London Institute in a bind.  He bargained for Tessa in exchange for yin fen that Jem needs.

Did I like how it ended?  I must qualify, though.  I like how the series was concluded in terms of the story about Mortmain and the Infernal Devices (Tessa and her ability really is something, wow!).  However, I didn't like how the love triangle between Will, Tessa and Jem ended.  Everybody won!  What's up with that?!

I cried so hard when I was reading the first few pages of the epilogue.  It was sad but touching.  I can feel that Will is really loved by the people around him, that he has touched their lives.  I was really sobbing when I read the part when Jem came and played his violin for Will.  You should read it so that you will understand what I'm saying.

Do not regret too much the choices you have made in the past xxx.  Only make the right ones in future.  We are ever capable of change and ever capable of being our better selves. - Cecily

Rating: 5 of 5 STARS