Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess
by Cassandra Clare
Published: August 2010, December 2011, September 2013
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: YA, Fantasy
"The Infernal Devices is a series of novels by author Cassandra Clare, centering on a race called the Shadowhunters introduced in her The Mortal Instruments series. The series is a prequel series only in that it takes place in an earlier time period to the Mortal Instruments series, and contains some of the character's ancestors. Clare has insisted that the series' can be read in any order" -Taken from Wikapedia
After devouring this trilogy I think that it is safe to say that it is now firmly in my top 10 favourite series/trilogies of all time.
Honestly, it baffles me how Cassandra Clare can write these fantastic, complex character that actually communicate and have relationships that are both believable but also heartbreaking. There isn't a single character in this trilogy that I hated and not just because you were supposed to hate them, I just hated them because the were so one dimensional and boring, which was the issue with The Mortal Instruments.
I do feel as though I cant help but compare TID to TMI because the difference in the writing and characters is astounding. I feel as if this trilogy really showed that Clare can form a fantastic world with equally compelling characters.
I felt like Tessa, Will and Jem, whilst being in a love triangle it wasn't as tedious as Simon, Clary and Jace because each of the characters took each other's feelings into account. For the most part I felt like these relationships, and not just the love-relationships but the friendships were real and raw and when they could they shared their thoughts. Throughout the books you couldn't help but route for them all, what I really enjoyed about this trilogy is that all the characters had their limelight, Sophie, Charlotte and Henry and the Lightwood brothers all shone in their own right and that was amazing. The villain, Mortmain, was unpredictable and constantly threatening unlike the pathetic Valentine in TMI.
My only issue in the whole three books is that in my opinion there was a bit too much Welsh involved that sometimes felt forced and just necessary, and I'm am saying that as a speaker of the language, I just felt like it was a bit clunky, it was specifically irritating in the Clockwork Princess but that is really my only pet peeve.
Basically what I am trying to say is that you have read any of the Mortal Instruments series and have despaired, then I would urge you to give the Infernal Devices a go as it is all of the good of TMI but so, so much better.
All 5/5 STARS
