Despite certain predictable reveals, the plot itself, which starts off slowly, picks up and is pleasantly convoluted with multiple satisfying surprises.

Similarly, consideration of the balance between truth and secrets, lies and stories, is intriguing as it’s applied to characters, relationships, and historical lore. While many elements regarding the fae and a love triangle will feel familiar to fans of the genre, and the magic could have been more fleshed out, discussions of power, inequity, trust, and hope expand the worldbuilding in refreshing ways. In the process she discovers love, historical secrets, atrocities, and her own hidden strength. When Jas’ contract is sold to the fae, Brie braves the golden Seelie queen’s court, meets the noble Prince Ronan, and travels on to the Unseelie king’s shadow court. While the land of Faerie tempts other girls with word of a castle, a lavish ball, and a fae prince seeking a wife, Brie mistrusts the creatures who capitalize on humanity’s greed. Brie struggles to meet the payments for the magical contracts binding their lives to Madame Vivias, supplementing her cleaning work by stealing from the rich. So what if there are anachronisms, character inconsistencies and weird tonal slips? There's too much overwrought fun to care.īrie risks the deadly land of the Fae to save her sister.īrie doesn’t trust many people other than Jas, her eternally hopeful sister, and Sebastian, mage apprentice and Brie’s secret love (as if she had time for romance). The supporting characters (unusually well-developed for a love-triangle romance) include multiple compelling young women who show strength in myriad ways.

Somehow there's room for an interesting steampunk mystery amid all this angst. His trauma puts all previous romantic difficulties to shame, from the Capulet/Montague feud all the way to Edward Cullen's desire to chomp on Bella Swan. But poor, wretched Will-who 'would have been pretty if he had not been so tall and so muscular'-has a deep, dark, thoroughly emo secret. Jem, after all, is gentle and kind, her dearest confidante Will is unpleasant to everyone around him. It's not always clear why Tessa prefers Will to his beloved (and only) friend Jem, the dying, silver-eyed, biracial sweetheart with the face of an angel.

Our heroes are Tessa, who may or may not be a warlock, and the beautiful Shadowhunter warrior boys who are moths to her forbidden flame. There's betrayal, mayhem and clockwork monstrosities, and the Shadowhunters have only two weeks to discover-oh, who are we kidding? The plot is only surprisingly tasty icing on this cupcake of a melodramatic love triangle. This sequel to Clockwork Angel (2010) pits gorgeous, attractively broken teens against a menacing evil.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare