Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Clockwork Princess: Review

Synopsis:

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.


***

I will try not to contain spoilers on this one because that will be damndable, but believe me, that will be extremely hard.

I am still having a hard time believing that Clockwork Princess is actually released, and that the series is over. Yep, it's the final installment of the NY Times bestselling The Infernal Devices trilogy, and have a real honest-to-god ending (not like CoG, at least). And yep, it fits almost every description Cassie threw at us that will torture us to death. Almost.

I think it's safer to talk about the exciting part first (who knows talking about excitement is actually the SAFEST of all?). I do believe that my heart has been pounding like it's gonna jump out from my chest right from the start of the book (well, maybe not in the first chapter, since I've read that part). Things are just getting crazier and crazier throughout the chapters. The secrets behind all the mystery is answered. Well, nearly, I guess. They will surely leave your jaw hanging open for like... hours, I guess. Not counting the hours you are reading CP2, of course.

And the not-so-safe part, which is... Cassie's writing skills. As usual, Cassie's words are appreciative. And in Clockwork Princess, the words are like the combination of Lauren Oliver's poetic words, and Julie Kagawa's energetic words, and Veronica Roth's meaningful ones. Well, seriously, who can reject them? They are pure addiction. I am reading Clockwork Princess for the second time now. Only because her words are swirling in my head over and over. Yep, Cassie's words have that effect on me. 

Here's the most dangerous part of the book: THE FEELS. Yep, we are warned in more ways than one about the feels in Clockwork Princess. And surprisingly, I'm still intact, not broken apart into trillions of pieces. I'm internally bleeding, sure. But I'm LIVING, not dying of feels. That's probably one of the most surprising thing since mankind is created. I mean, Cassie is famous for torturing hurting our fans with all kinds of feels. But this time... it's not as heart-breaking as I thought it was. But it definitely is bittersweet. And in more ways than one, very UNNERVING. But it's true. I finally get what Cassie means by "it's the only ending". And yep, I can admit that this IS the only ending that our dear characters deserve. I'm grinning and crying softly at the very same time when reading the epilogue.

But just because I'm still intact doesn't mean the internal damage didn't... you know, do its damage. I can't concentrate at school. My mind keeps popping up quotes and scenes in Clockwork Princess, even when I was having the math test. And I have to keep myself from total break-down in front of a bunch of mundanes. They were like, "are you having a fever?" Nope, they have no idea what kind of internal battle a fangirl has to fight with herself after reading a book like that.

And just because it's the highest point of bittersweetness doesn't mean there aren't any happy parts. In fact there are many. More than you thought. Hilarious part, of course. I'm still laughing at the "Benedict's speech being gibberish" part. And really sweet parts. Yep, you will surely be grinning at some point, and grinning AND crying at some other points. 

I miss the characters already. Tessa, Will, Jem, Charlotte, Gideon, Sophie, Gabriel, Henry... all of them are very strong characters. They are not real people, of course. But their emotions are REAL. That's why the book is so addicting. Cassie just has the ability to make everything SO real. Reading the last book is like saying the last farewell to our fellow characters. And truthfully, I'm not prepared for it.

Here comes the fun part. The not-too-spoilery spoilers. (Yep, I promised that I will try not to contain spoilers. But I don't really think they are that spoilery...)

{BEWARE: IF YOU HATE SPOILERS, DO SKIP THIS PART}

1. What is Tessa? And what about the whole "the girl who can command the power of angels?"

Well... the answer is revealed in Clockwork Princess, obviously. But that's up to YOU to find out. I've found out, surely. :D

2. Who will Tessa end up with?

That's the part. And my answer is: Depends.

3. How is Clockwork Princess related to The Dark Artifices?

That's another exciting part too. And again, it's up to YOU to find out. Although I've already had some interesting theories in my mind...

4. Who the heck is Brother Zachariah?

That is answered in Clockwork Princess too. And believe me, once you find out, you won't be able to read City of Lost Souls (or even City of Fallen Angels) again. So who is he? Another thing that's up to YOU to find out. (I feel like I will be punched for this)

5. How can the Herondale bloodline and the Carstairs bloodline continue?

That's the huge spoiler, besides the whole "who will Tessa end up with" and "who is Brother Zach" part. I was reading the kindle version of Clockwork Princess, and the hardcover version that I pre-ordered ages ago is still shipping, I don't know EXACTLY who Emma descents from.  Although I think I have the answer for that, even though I don't have that family tree yet. Another thing that's up to YOU to find out.
 
(End of spoilers)

Last lines:

1) It's probably the hardest review I've written yet.

2)After reading Clockwork Princess... well, I have a feeling that City of Heavenly Fire will be much, much worse than this.

Rating: 1110/10 (I'm so very tempted to give 11 marks out of 10 XD)

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