Magic, Love, Mystery, Suspense, 1878. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is about a 16 year old girl named Tessa Gray, who moves to London to live with her brother Nate. But, upon her arrival she is taken aback when she is greeted by two women known as the “Dark Sisters”.
Deceived by a letter that wasn’t real in the first place, Tessa is taken captive by the sisters and forced to learn how to use her power that she did not know she possessed. She is made to believe that if she does not cooperate with the sisters they will kill her brother.
While captive, she learns that the Dark Sisters are in an organization called the Pandemonium Club. The night she is meant to meet and marry the Magister, the head of the organization, she tries to run away only to be caught and punished by the sisters. When locked in her room waiting to meet the magister, a mysterious boy named Will, finds his way into the house and helps her escape. He takes her back to the London Institute where shadowhunters live.
At the London Institute, Tessa can feel normal again. She makes friends with the Shadowhunters. Yet, for some strange reason Tessa can’t understand why Will keeps her at such a distance, when there is clearly a mutual attraction. He isn’t the only one that is attracted to her, and she isn’t the only one attracted to him either.
As Tessa and the Shadowhunters continue to try to figure out who the real magister may be, they are deceived by false facts that could lead everyone into their own death traps. Tessa is torn between trying to find her brother and helping her new friends save the world. The secrets of the past, present, and future lead the story into the revealing ending that answers all questions and strikes up new ones. This book was a great read. What made this book an enjoyable read was that Clare captured the imagery wonderfully with her detailed story. The plot was well developed and had plenty of twists. She built the climax and suspense of the story with every conflict that was introduced. The element of a surprise ending only added to the reader’s anticipation of how Tessa was going to survive her fight against the Pandemonium Club. People who enjoy a book with mystery, suspense, and love triangles will like this book.
Clare has a talent for writing well-developed and entertaining characters and her ability when it comes to creating dramatic, complicated conclusions to her books will get Clockwork Angel plenty of attention and will leave the reader impatient for the sequel.