The Infernal Devices – TRIPLE Book Review

Series: The Infernal Devices

Author: Cassandra Clare

Books:

1. Clockwork Angel
2. Clockwork Prince
3. Clockwork Princess

Previous books by this author:

1. City of Bones (My rating: 9.0)
2. City of Ashes (My rating: 8.9)
3. City of Glass (My rating: 9.3)
4. City of Fallen Angels (My rating: 9.2)
5. City of Lost Souls (My rating: 8.7)

Reviewer: Nick

When I started reading these books, a friend told me that The Infernal Devices was better than The Mortal Instruments. I was skeptical, first because I thought TMI was very good, and second because (excluding The Heroes of Olympus) sequel/prequel series are never as good as the first ones (See The 39 Clues: Vespers Rising, The 39 Clues: Unstoppable, Wolves of the Beyond, Deltora Shadowlands (although Dragons of Deltora was fine), Warriors: The New Prophecy, 

Warriors: Power of Three, and 

Warriors: Omen of the Stars. Did I miss any? Oh yeah: Warriors: Dawn of the Clans. How could I forget?) But SHE WAS RIGHT! It's is better!!!

If I had to describe Clockwork Angel, I'd say it was everything like City of Bones, but better! The main storyline is similar (more on that later). But the two main things that set the two series apart are the time periods and the characters.

First, the setting. One thing I loved about The Mortal Instruments (that I think went unappreciated) was the fact that Clare was so comfortable writing modern characters the the reader could relate to. Remember, Clare is an adult. So making Clary, Jace, and Simon seem like normal, modern teenagers despite the fact that they're, you know, supernatural beings was quite the feat. However, I think she did an even better job portraying Victorian London. Clare makes you feel like you lived in London in the 1880's—and boy, do you not want to leave.

At first glance, Tessa, Jem, Jessamine, and Jace—oops, I mean Will—are just carbon copies of Clary, Alec, Isabelle, and WillJace. But this is not the case. Tessa, Jem, Jessamine and Will are much better characters than their TMI counterparts. I've always thought of Izzy and Alec as being one-dimensional characters. They have a lot of potential, but Clare doesn't realize it in the TMI books. And Jace has far too many of the "tortured hot guy" clichés. On the other hand, Clare went all out in The Infernal Devices. Will takes self-destructive to a whole new level. Jessamine has an internal struggle about her whole identity (Tessa's not short on that either). And Jem proves you can be the good, dependable guy without being gullible. 

The supporting characters are a great improvement over TMI as well. You have the head of the London Institute, Charlotte, and her husband, Henry, who play a much bigger role than Maryse and Robert Lightwood. First of all, they're awesome characters. Charlotte is probably my favorite out of all the characters. A woman running one of the most powerful Institutes in the 1800's is a hard job, but Charlotte does it and is awesome at her job.

You can tell Clare loves to incoporate political themes into her books, and it really showed here. The inner workings of the Council and the Clave are showcased, and that's just a lot of fun.

Anyway, I have to wrap this review up because I forgot about it for a month and now have no idea what I was going to do with the rest of it. I think that, overall, The Infernal Devices was way better than The Mortal Instruments. Cassandra Clare definitely learned from her mistakes, and put those lessons into these. I'm going to predict that she will just keep getting better. And on that note, I can't wait for the third Shadowhunter series, The Dark Artifices, to come out in 2015.

Final score:

Clockwork Angel: 9.4 out of 10

Clockwork Prince: 9.5 out of 10

Clockwork Princess: 9.7 out of 10

If you liked this book, then you'd like:

• Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Next review: Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

 — Nick

We're sorry. Don't hate us.

If you're one of the few people who actually pay attention to this blog, we're sorry for not doing anything this past month. Here's a random picture of a cute cat:

You can't possibly hate us after looking at that now, right?

Anyway, we haven't been posting lately because of a bunch of reasons, but mostly because we're lazy. ;) We've realized that doing Quote of the Day was a little too much, so we're back to Quote of the Week until the summer. Quotes will be posted on Sundays. I'll start with one right after I post this.

Also, we're really sorry about not doing the awards thing (which still has no name!!!) on the 18th like we said. Well, better 8 days late than never. I'll be posting that later.

In other news, we'll probably be getting back on track with regular reviews and Book of the Month soon. Stay tuned!

— Nick

Happy New Year! And the Nominations Are…

Happy 2014! Here at Booknerds Love Books (DUH!), we're going to try to make 2014 an awesome year!

We'll start with that book awards thing I told you guys about on Christmas, remember? It's still got no name, but here are the nominations:

Best Movie Adaptation:

The Book Thief

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Best Quote:
"People talk about the pain of grief, but I don't know what they mean. To me grief is a devastating numbness, every sensation dulled."

 — Allegiant, Veronica Roth

"There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.

But sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life.

That is the sort of bravery I must have now."

— Allegiant, Veronica Roth

“Life is a book and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read.”

— Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare

"Your brain does amazing acrobatics when it doesn't want to believe something."

— Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein

"Things don't magically take off and fly just because it's a little windy."

— Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein

Best Book:

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Champion by Marie Lu

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Most Anticipated 2014 Movie:

Divergent (Mar 21)

The Fault in Our Stars (Jun 6)

The Hobbit: There and Back Again (Dec 17)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Nov 21)

The Maze Runner (Feb 14)

Most Anticipated 2014 Book:

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan (Oct)

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (May 27)

The One by Kiera Cass (May 6)

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman (Feb 25)

Tremor by Patrick Carman (Feb 25)

Who do you want to win? Tell us in the comments, and stay tuned for the winners, who should be announced on January 18!

— The co-authors (aka Nick did most of the work :P)

Update!: John Green Stuff

Yes, I stole Ivy's thing. Whatever, I wanted to talk about this. – Nick

For those of you who don't follow John Green on Youtube, I suggest you do so right now. His blog is the best way to get news on his books, and it's also hilarious. Go here.

Those of you who do follow his blog probably know the following two news things, but read anyway because I'm gonna talk about them.

A new book?

First up, yes, John Green is writing a new book!! It's probably going to be called The Racket, and only a little of it has been written yet. John can still scrap it if he doesn't like it, but still. It's a John Green book; how can it not be good? We still know absolutely nothing about the content of the book, but I'm pumped for it. It's been too long since a John Green book came out.

TFiOS poster!

The first promotional poster for The Fault in Our Stars was released! Here's what it looks like:

Amazing, right? There are three things that stand out to me when looking at this poster:

1. The same font as the book. I don't know why I love this font so much; I just do. I think it represents the story well: the fact that it's not a fancy, perfect love story, but a messy one that's realistic.

2. Hazel's cannula. It's a great sign that they're adding small details like this. In the book, a big theme is that they don't just have cancer, they have to go through cancer and all of the trouble it gives them, like having to wear a cannula all day long.

3. The tagline. When you looked at the tagline for the first time, you probably (like me) thought that it was horrible. It makes the whole story into a terrible pun. It seems like such a bad way to sum on the story. Not really—think about it. Isn't that exactly what Hazel would say?

On that thought, here's to hoping that we get a trailer soon! The Fault in Our Stars comes out June 6!

 — Nick