Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray took a boat to London to be with her brother, Nate, after her Aunt Harriet's sudden death. On her arrival, she finds herself kidnapped by two strange women, named the "Black sisters," that tell her that her brother is imprisoned until Tessa can prove her worth. While the older women hold her captive, Tessa is taught how to use a strange talent that she never suspected she had. When the Black sisters are satisfied with her training, they tell Miss Gray that she is to be married to the mysterious "Magister". Then, on the night before her wedding, she is freed by a blond haired boy with strange tattoo-like marks all over his body.


Tessa finds herself in a new world. Warlocks, Vampires, Werewolves and Demons are real. The Nephilim, half-angels half-men, hunt demons and keep the human populace ignorant of their "Downworlder" neighbors, and Tessa is staying in the Nephilim's Institute. Here she gets to know Will and Jem, a pair of shadowhunters (a more familiar name for the Nephilim) and together they start the search for Nate, Tess' brother. This search leads them ever closer to the dangerous "Magister" and his clockwork army.


This book is extremely entertaining! It took me three days to read this book, only because I had to stop myself to read for my classes. She uses a ton of sarcasm and witty comments to make her characters more enjoyable and familiar to us, the reader. Though Tessa is the main character, she isn't the character that you fall in love with. Will and Jem, the shadowhunters, are the ones that steal the show. Will is the sarcastic character that never lets you more than skin deep. He uses his wit to hide away his true thoughts and emotions. Jem is the opposite. He is all accepting. He doesn't judge, he doesn't turn away. I can't wait to find out more about these two in the next installment of the trilogy.


Clare takes an interesting look at stereotypes and racism. She uses the shadowhunters, the downworlders, the mundanes and the demons and shows the hatred and prejudices that each group holds for the other. She uses Tessa to question the views of the Nephilim and through this, show the folly of our views against others that are not like us. There are also themes such as identity and good and evil that are prevalant throughout the novel.