{Audiobook} Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Narrator:  Daniel Sharman
Series: The Infernal Devices, 3rd & final book
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: March 19, 2013
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

*** This is a completely spoiler free review.  I promise.  I wouldn't do you like that.  =) ***

*Sigh*  This is how you write a series finale.  This is how you put an end to the dreaded love triangle without truly taking the choice away from everyone involved, without tastelessly casting someone aside.  This was the most inherently beautiful yet exquisitely painful ending I've ever read, and I was nearly inconsolable when I finished.  Not because of what happened, though there was cause for uncontrollable blubbering at times, but because it's over.  It's over and I already want to go back and read all three books again...and again...and again.


I almost wish that this were the series Cassie had decided to turn into six books instead of the original three. Okay, that's not true.  Not really.  These characters deserved to have their story told in a reasonable amount of time and without dragging it out just because I couldn't let them go.  But I already miss them so and it's so hard to say goodbye.  The same is true of any series finale, I suppose, but I'm finding it more difficult than usual with this one.  I didn't even expect to like this series when I started Clockwork Angel.  Yet here I am, sobbing over fictional characters that stole my heart and made me feel like no others before them.


I laughed with these characters, cried with them, and fell in love with them as they loved each other.  They each grow into who they were meant to be in this story, even those who seemed insignificant in the beginning.    Everyone made sacrifices and they all had a role to play.  And they played them so well, all the way up to that bittersweet ending.  And then there's everything we learn about Tessa and what she is and where she came from...


I'm not going to discuss the love triangle.  You know what you want to happen or what you expect to happen.  But as I said, it was handled admirably, and I couldn't imagine a more fitting end.  Admittedly, I could have done without the epilogue, though.  Oh, the feels.  I didn't tear up once during the book, not until that epilogue.  I'm going to be honest, though.  I'm not a huge fan of epilogues in general.  They sort of seem like a cop-out, almost like an alternate ending on fast-forward.  Still, this one should make at least a few fans happy.  ;)

And I am happy, despite the intense feeling of loss I'm currently coping with.  I just have to keep reminding myself that I can visit these characters again whenever I want.  Tessa is still the darling of the Institute.  Jem is still the soft-spoken violin-player.  And Will is still incorrigible.  This is how I'd like to remember them always.  But this is how I want to remember Magnus:

“A very magnanimous statement, Gideon,” said Magnus.
“I’m Gabriel.”
Magnus waved a hand. “All Lightwoods look the same to me.”

Bahaha...someday, Magnus, you will be eating your words.

As far as the audiobook goes, I thought I'd miss Ed Westwick reading to me.  But Daniel Sharman far surpassed my expectations for the audio.  As in, why didn't he read the other two books?  You'd assume a  guy reading all of the book, including Tessa's parts, would make it hard to distinguish between speakers and perspectives, but you'd be wrong.  And, oh, my, the accent he lent to Welsh-born Will.  Ed Westwick, who?  :P

I am unbelievably happy, both with the narration and with the story.  When it comes time for a re-read of the series, I'm not even sure which way to go about it.  The audiobooks and story alike were superbly done.  I highly, highly recommend this series.  I'm serious...I wasn't even that interested in the story when I picked up the first book, and now it's one of my favorite series ever.


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