Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Genre: Supernatural, Historical (*scoff*), Romance
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 479
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★.5
Series: Clockwork Prince (#2) | Clockwork Princess (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I already know I love the Shadowhunter world, and Cassandra Clare is great at writing diverse characters and making them mesh together. Henry and Charlotte are so far my favourite characters of the series. More of them please. And I could go on at great length about these things, but, chances are, you’ve already read this series anyway – I know I’m a little late to the game – so I’ll jump straight to my issues instead. Everyone likes a little controversy, right?

I don’t like Will. There I said it! The humour’s there and everything and in many ways he’s just a carbon copy of Jace, who I LOVE. So why can’t I seem to like William Herondale? It’s mostly his attitude. I absolutely hate when people use their troubled past as a reason to be a jerk and everyone else is happy to accept that like, “oh, that’s just Will!” I’m sorry, no. There’s no excuse! You may be funny, Will, but you’re also a bit of a dick at times, let’s be honest. Jem however, what a cutie. Love him. He needs constant hugs and love. He’s so gentle and caring. He doesn’t let his troubled past get in the way of his life now. He lives with his burden and I’m glad I’ve already spoiled the love triangle by reading City of Heavenly Fire first.

Funnily enough, I don’t have much to say about Tessa. She was a pretty weak character and a bit of a hypocrite. She loved reading these great Romances and Gothic novels with kick-ass women like Jane Eyre and yet she was an anti-feminist. How can you love Jane and everything she stands for and not want to rebel out of your society? Women aren’t supposed to do that! Fighting is for the men! she claims. Uh…no. I wanted her to be more passionate and much more like the women she loved reading about. Unfortunately, she didn’t have many traits in terms of personality and all we really know is that she’s quick to fall in love and trust people and she has an extremely strong attachment to her brother. Basically, she’s no Clary and Will is no Jace.

A lot of people love TID more than TMI, which is fine because everyone’s tastes are different and in the end I think it just boils down to which one you read first. After reading Clockwork Angel all I can say is that I miss my 21st century gang. As for the 19th century setting itself, I felt it was very inauthentic. There’s even a little disclaimer at the back that basically says “I, Cassandra Clare, acknowledge that London was not like this.” but it’s not even the setting that bothered me! Although, it seemed pretty cliche and relied too heavily on what the characters were wearing (bodices, bodices, bodices and a petticoat or two), calling each other Miss, Sir, Master or Madam and books that were published around the time to make you think that this was happening in the 1800s. It was the language! For the past year in my English Language A Level I have had to study Language Through Time and a lot of emphasis was on the 18th-19th century (which is not considered Old English, by the way, but Late Modern English) so I know what’s what and I can tell you that the dummy auxiliary wasn’t even a thing! No one said “I don’t know” it was “I know not.” Negatives were constructed in a completely different way! There were a few good practices sprinkled throughout but otherwise there was nothing to suggest that this story wasn’t happening in 2015. It may seem like a silly thing to get het up about, and I’m probably only frustrated by it because I’ve had to study English Language and be tested in it, but still. Rant over.

Apart from my issues with the characters and the setting/language it was an intriguing story and I look forward to continuing. Should I have put more praise in here? Oh well.