Review: Clockwork Angel

Cover Summary:

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....

I must admit I found this better than The Mortal Instruments, but not by much. Clare's attempt at Victorian language was endearing, and the friction between the fictional culture of Shadowhunters (a race of demon-slaying part-angels) and nineteenth-century gender, class and race politics makes for some interesting moments. For example, the heroine Tessa is bewildered at seeing women fight, only to discover her own "warrior feelings" in defense of her loved ones; Charlotte, the wife of the Institute head, is the real leader of the group, but undervalued by her peers due to her gender; Sophie, a former maid abused and dismissed by her employers, is treated with respect by the Shadowhunters for her gift of Second Sight; and James (Jian) Carstairs, an English-Chinese Shadowhunter, struggles with his threefold identity and the prejudices that come with it (as well as a demonic curse that Clara explicitly parallels to opium addiction). On the other hand, there is Jessamine, a highly trained Shadowhunter girl with a weaponized parasol, who wants nothing but to give up her life of violence, marry a good man and live as a privileged lady. In this way, the Shadowhunters' Institute provides both a haven for those who do not belong, and a burden of violence and magic that is not easy to carry, and the different characters' responses to that lifestyle make for some very interesting reading.

However, this story does have some serious flaws, which is why I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Firstly, there is the writing style itself; if Clare only stopped using so many redundant phrases ("luminous eyes that shone"; "she felt like a child playing dress-up, a silly child") and waxing poetic about the two love interests' eye colors every time she mentioned them, she could get through her books in half the time. Also, she unintentionally makes her book-loving heroine appear rather dim, since Tessa is still unable to recognize one of the villain's "clockwork creatures" as something inhuman after seeing an identical one destroyed and taken apart. Her shapeshifting abilities, and the empathy that goes with them (she can access the thoughts of everyone she changes into) ought to make her an interesting character, but as she spends most of her time standing frozen at the sidelines of battles or agonizing over Will, that potential is sadly underused.

Lastly, the love triangle. Why, for goodness' sake, do both Clare's heroines have to be such gluttons for punishment when it comes to boys? Seriously, Jace and Will are practically interchangeable, and both are more in need of a therapist than a girlfriend. What is so sexy about a guy who mocks you when you're feeling vulnerable, plays games with your mind, and enjoys killing things - no matter how blue-eyed and muscular he is? He's troubled, fans will exclaim. He's really sweet on the inside, he just needs someone to bring it out! Well, I don't know about you, but I prefer my heroes sweet on the outside where I can see it. Jem and Simon deserve better.

To sum it all up, this is why I only gave the book two stars: because the setting and suspense only go so far. It's the characters that make or break a book for me, and in this case, they broke it. I shall not be continuing the series, and I recommend anyone searching for a good "gaslamp fantasy" to pass this one by and read Mercedes Lackey's Elemental series instead.