The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I am reading the book The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, published on March 19, 2013. This book is the third book in the series and is fantasy mixed with a small amount of mystery. This story has a very unique plot filled with make believe creatures and imaginative situations.

This story is told in a third person point of view and has a few main characters. The protagonist, who is also the most important character, is Tessa Gray. Tessa is very brave and is always willing to face danger and pain to protect the ones she loves. Tessa is also very stubborn, and it is almost impossible to change her mind.

Tessa Gray will never stand by if friends or family are in danger and when she sets her mind to something it will always happen. “In saving the few she loved, she would doom them all. And yet to condemn Will and Jem, Charlotte and Henry, Cecily and the others to death was unthinkable… ‘Yes, I will take that bargain.’” (pg. 459). This quote shows that Tessa is willing to put herself in a dangerous position to save her friends from torture and death. The antagonist of this story is Mortmain, who goes by The Magister. The Magister sought revenge against the Shadowhunters because his family was killed illegally by them. Mortmain is full of revenge and hate and acts upon these emotions in horrible, twisted ways.

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This story starts off with a teenage girl who is part human and part warlock named Tessa Gray. Tessa has been taken in and befriended by the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. While staying in the institute, Tessa becomes close friends with William Herondale and James Carstairs, two Shadowhunters who are her age. After living in peace with the Shadowhunters, Tessa soon falls in love with both Jem and Will but Jem has asked her to marry him. Tessa agrees to the marriage even though Jem has a disease and gets sicker and sicker every day. Unfortunately, there is no medicine left for Jem’s illness because the evil Mortmain has bought it all. Will is doing everything and anything he can to find more medicine to keep Jem alive.

The climax of this story is when the Magister is holding Tessa hostage because he needs her in order to complete his evil plot to destroy all the Shadowhunters. The Magister has made a huge army of clockwork automatons, and the Shadowhunters do not know where this army is hidden. Tessa and the Shadowhunters need to stop the Magister but they also need to find the medicine to stop Jem from dying. The resolution of the plot is when the Shadowhunters find the Magister and his army and destroy all the evil. This story has a proper ending that brings every situation and problem to an end but leaves a small amount of room to imagine the continuation of the character’s lives.

This story’s setting is in different parts of England in the 1870’s. This story starts off in London England in the London Institute. As the story continues, the setting starts to include other towns like Wales and Yorkshire but the main setting is London. The setting of this story is interesting because the plot brings in the history and the landscapes of these famous places. This setting adds to the story because it gives you the feel that you have been to these towns and you know exactly what happens in each one.

The Clockwork Princess Has a very powerful theme. The message of this story is to always be loyal to your friends and family. “‘As Shadowhunters we are meant to be selfless. To die for mundanes, for the Angel, and most of all for each other.’” (pg.366). The principles of a Shadowhunter are to never think of themselves first, they are a family and they must be willing to put themselves in danger to protect each other.

Even though none of these Shadowhunters are blood related, they're all loyal to each other and trust one another with their lives. It is important to always be loyal to friends and family because if you are, you are giving them someone they can trust, someone who will be honest with them, and someone who will always have their back. “‘We have faith in you, even if the Consul does not.’ He ducked his head. ‘You have my loyalty from this day forward. For what it is worth to you.’” (pg.367). To be loyal means to be true, faithful, honest and trustworthy to the ones you love and care about.

The writing style of this book is very unique and captivating. The author wrote this book very well and the story is powerful, descriptive, imaginative, and creative. Cassandra Clare made this book descriptive and creative all while including real facts or building off of things that actually happened. “Will’s soft voice filled the room, along with the muted glow of the light from the fire in the grate. Tessa was lying on her side, her brown hair spread over the pillow…” (pg.513). This is an example of good writing because it gives you an insight into the situation and it is detailed enough to where you can picture it perfectly.

After doing research on Cassandra Clare, the author, I have found that a lot of work went into this book. Cassandra Clare chose to make this book have a lot of history and facts in while including the made up world. As it says in the notes in the back of the novel, “...The London and Wales of Clockwork Princess is, as much as I could make it, an admixture of the real and the unreal, the famous and the forgotten.” (pg.569). The author of this book chose to include real places and historic landmarks and made her own twist on it by giving details about the Shadowhunter’s history. Cassandra Clare wrote each setting her own way and used her own experiences and views of the places to describe them.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about fantasy, romance, action or adventure. This storyline has all of these which makes it a good book that is hard to put down. I would also recommend this book to people have read and liked The Mortal Instruments series, also by Cassandra Clare. This book is exciting, memorable, powerful and fast-acting. I would not recommend this book to someone who does not enjoy mystery or intense fantasy stories.

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