In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
(Excerpt from GoodRead)
Okay, so I’m a big enough person to admit when I am wrong. In this case, I am wrong about two separate things. The first was my thoughts about Sophie (but apparently there will be a third book so you never know! I may still be right!). The second was my thoughts on Will (if you’ve read my review on the Clockwork Angel, then you know what I’m talking about). But we’ll get back to that later. First, I want to talk about Benedict Lightwood. Does anyone else get the whole Lucius Malfoy vibe? Long, blond hair, narrow face, rich, cocky, smooth, powerful, influential and has a drive to overthrow Dumbledore–in this case Charlotte. If they make a movie of this book, I am casting my vote on Jason Isaac!
Anyway, moving on.
The book starts off exactly where Clockwork Angel ended with Tessa still at the institution and all the bad stuff left open in the first book dangling in front of them. The first thing I noticed when I began to read was Tessa actually laughing and making jokes with Jem as he showed her around London. It was a very ‘ABOUT DAMN TIME’ moment for me. Throughout the book, she was less stuffy and more relaxed, but only around Jem, which was fine. I honestly couldn’t fault her for being short with Will after what he said to her in the attic.
Then, because we can’t just have a Tessa tug-o-war for however many number of pages this book has (I read the Kindle version), the plot begins and our characters are tossed into shark infested waters and left to drown–or get eaten. In this case, the shark in question is Benedict Lightwood who has his eye on the institution and overthrowing Charlotte, because heaven forbid if a woman did anything but look pretty.
This is about the time we meet Gideon and Gabriel, Lightwood’s sons. My first thought when Gideon took an interest in Tessa was ‘oh great, our triangle is going to stretch into a square.’ Luckily, he was more interested in ribbing Will then Tessa so I was able to exhale a sigh of relief and read on.
There was a whole lot of betrayal, action, information and angst as the story unfolded. Alas, we’re no closer to learning Tessa’s secret identity than we were in the first book. If anything, we’re left with even MORE questions and no third book in sight *sigh* but what can you do?
Granted, I did almost like Tessa more in this book. I’m certainly not a fan-girl in love with her, but I did love Will even more, if possible, after his confession and then the pain, the horrible, crippling pain, he once again has to endure because of something he couldn’t control. Poor bloke. I still adored Jem. He reminds me of a kicked puppy, all big eyes and unwavering trust. I’m trying not to resent Tess for what happens at the end. It wasn’t her fault really. How was she supposed to know? Will wasn’t exactly prince charming to her, where Jem had been. *double sigh* I think what I disliked about her part here is rashness. she was rash. She acted without thinking. Or at least, that’s what it felt like to me. I felt like she was just going along with Jem’s beautiful and heartfelt *beep* (I ain’t tellin’!) just because she couldn’t have Will. Jem was her scapegoat, me thinks.
I could be wrong. I hope I am. She certainly doesn’t care for him. If she did, she wouldn’t hurt him by thinking about and loving Will when *beep* (Yeah, I suck like that. lol).
All right, my last complaint, and trust me, this grated on my nerves the way cheese grates on a grater.
I love poetry! Love, love, LOVE the stuff. Frost. Poe. Shakespeare. Yeah, I’m totally down with it. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD why are authors suddenly packing their books full of the stuff?! The characters are spewing it, there are poetry blurbs on every single freaking page like it matters. I don’t even read them! I swear, this book would have been twenty-times smaller had all the poetry been removed. What is with all the damn poetry?! UGH!!! I get it, the century the book is set in, people worshiped poetry and read them as religiously as the Bible, but do you need to have pages of poetry on every other page? Do you really need to then have your characters spout poetry at every turn? Oh and let’s not forget the cook, singing morbid songs of death at every turn, which, really, I could live with, but then every start of every chapter there was a blurb of poetry again.
I can’t fault Ms. Clare. She’s not the only author has begun to do that lately. It seems like every book I pick up now has poetry dripping from it. Really, if I wanted to read poetry that badly, I would crack open a poetry book! One or two, fine, but to bulk up the book with the stuff? *tears out hair*
Okay, I’m done.
So, in conclusion:
Will I read the next book? Yes. If for no other reason than to see how Tessa is going to dig herself out of this grave.
Will I tell my friends about this book? Yes.
Did I enjoy it? Yes.