Review: Clockwork Angel

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not even the nerdiest of the nerds recites this much goddamn poetry and literature.

There was not a single thing in this book that came as a surprise.

The story goes back in time to the earlier days of the Shadowhunter society you may know of from The Mortal Instruments series. Here we meet perfectly ordinary - oh no wait she has a power no one can explain WOW so powerful - Tessa Gray. She meets the mysterious, arrogant, drop-ya-knickers STUD Will Herondale who saves her and brings her back to the Shadowhunters lair. Things happen involving Vampires, Warlocks, Angels, Metal Men (and women) and other creatures of the Otherworld. There is a love triangle. OBVIOUSLY.

So much of this book wasted time talking about the attractiveness levels of every single character. This is a huge turnoff for me with YA stories and part of why I am so over them. Tessa sees Will and is like, 'oh my god he's so chiselled I just want to run my hands all over his body and make him mine' and that's it - BAM! she's in love. Doesn't matter that he's an arrogant d*ck, treats her like crap half the time and is rude to everyone around him. He's hot. So. That's all that matters. Oh! Also, he recites poetry and literary references back at her. *gags* NO ONE ACTUALLY RECITES POETRY FFS. Also, how has she possibly had enough time to be so widely read but to also have memorised so much?! We all know it's one or the other.

But don't forget Will's opposite best friend, the strong silent type that suddenly becomes his own kind of hot when Tessa stops looking at Will for five seconds.

So much of this story was about the love triangles and who was into who and the action was so mundane in contrast. The fight scenes are either drawn out to the point of monotony or skipped over quickly to get back to the feelings.

It travels along at a decent pace, and there's a story there to keep you invested, but it's also highly predictable so all the twists fall a little flat. That could also be though because I've read a lot of YA fantasy that have all the same tropes though so take that into account when considering my harsh criticisms. I'm aware this series has a cult following (and they just released a manga version!) so if you're less jaded than I you'll probably have a good time with it.

I think I'm getting old, guys.

Those who enjoyed the original series should get a lot of fun out of travelling back to the earlier days, and there might just be some familiar faces to get you excited. There's enough to be curious about to take you into the second book, but personally I'm happy to park it here and just google the rest if the curiosity becomes too much.

View all my reviews