SPOILERS AHEAD: Ahhhh, I loved this book so much! I feel like a broken record with how many times I've said I love this series. I think it was the magic, romance, and themes surrounding identity, family, sacrifice, and true love that pulled and reeled me in. I also think that each and every character's development was phenomenal. I even came to adore the Lightwood brothers despite their strange introduction (Gideon and Sophie's relationship was so sweet). Will's progression was probably most impactful to me, rivaled only with Jem's, though their growths are so contrasting. And the epilogue... wow, just wow. I started crying as soon as I began to read about the heartache Tessa had to shoulder as an immortal being. Having to watch Will grow old and die and then choose to embrace a life with Jem, who was just as mortal as his parabatai, made me cry even harder. It was all so bittersweet! But I wouldn't have wanted any other ending. I closed the book, and felt like I knew the characters, or at least wished that I did. I think that is the sign of truly good writing. 
Overall, I would recommend this series to anyone and everyone who has ever enjoyed a book founded on magic and turbulent romance.



Some of my favorite quotes from Clockwork Princess:

"Heroes endure because we need them. Not for their own sakes."

"No one understands what you feel but me, and no one understands what I feel but you, so can we not feel together?"

"It was as if he had taken his bow and used it as a paintbrush, creating a canvas upon which his soul was clearly displayed,"

"'Every heart has its own melody,' he said. 'You know mine.'"

"I feel like you can look inside me and see all the places I am odd or unusual and fit your heart around them, for you are odd and unusual in just the same way."

"If there is no one to learn from the past, there is no one to carry on its lessons."

"You are not the last dream of my soul. You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming."

"Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read."

"For the first time in many long years she felt her heart open, and knew love as more than a memory."

I picked this book up the second I finished its predecessor, Clockwork Angel, and may I just say that this series has not yet given me a reason to be disappointed. This second installation to Clare's The Infernal Devices has me hooked and invested in the welfare and love lives of her characters in a way that I have not encountered in a series in a very long time. The love triangle within this story is so well-crafted and complicated to the point that all of the relationships feel perfectly raw and realistic. I can't count the amount of times that I either swooned, teared up, or felt some combination of both while reading some chapters. And the sophisticated writing level and description are not absent from but rather enhanced in Clockwork Prince as Tessa and the other members of the Institute attempt to locate the whereabouts of the missing Magister before they lose the Institute to the suspicious Benedict Lightwood and his sons. Tessa also attempts to navigate her feelings towards both Jem and Will (love triangle!) as well as to learn more about just who -- and what -- she is and what her Changing power means. We learn so much about Will, his background, and the motives behind his behavior in this book that I absolutely adored; he may be one of my favorite literary characters of all time, as well as one of the most well-written and developed I have ever come across. I really can't say whether I'm on Team Jem or Team Will right now, if that's even a thing!
As I am currently writing this at 10:50pm on Christmas Eve, I won't be reading a whole lot of the third and final book in this series, Clockwork Princess, right now, but I certainly can't go to bed without peeking at the first chapter. :)



Some of my favorite quotes from Clockwork Prince:

"Jem put the full force of himself into each smile, so that he seemed to be smiling with his eyes, his heart, his whole being."

"Just the way he said her name undid her, loosened something tight and knotted underneath her rib cage, making her breathless."

"His eyes were as blue as lakes; she felt as if she were falling into them."

"... entangling gazes with Will was confusing at best, dizzying at worst."

"His beauty did not blaze like Will's did in fierce colors and repressed fire, but it had its own muted perfection, the loveliness of snow falling against a silver-gray sky."

"I had come to think I would never love anyone, but I love her."

"Jem smiled at her, that smile that was like a light suddenly being turned on in every room of a house."

"He wanted to sit and listen to her talk about books until his ears fell off."

"'My Tessa,' he said, and this time she did not tell him that she was not his."

"I can offer you my life, but it is a short life; I can offer you my heart, though I have no idea how many more beats it shall sustain."

"These were the boys she loved. For better. And for worse."

This novel has so many of the things I look for in a good book: magic, rich description, amazing dialogue, so many creative characters and plot points, and, of course, romance. I wasn't able to put this book down, and I am so excited to read the other two books that make up this prequel series. Clockwork Angel throws readers into a version of London humans -- or "mundanes," as the Shadowhunters call them -- are unable to see or understand. This is a world full of demons, non-human creatures called Downworlders, and the angelic Nephilim (or Shadowhunters) who all operate in a reality entirely set apart from the world that Tessa Gray thought she came from. Upon the discovery of her strange and frightening shapeshifting ability, Tessa is ushered into the Shadowhunter's Institute in the heart of London, soon meeting the Nephilim who live within its walls. There are mysteries, strange magic and lore, so many well-written and complex characters, and a plot that had me turning each page faster and faster. I think I loved the careful sense of planning and unique creativity that this story possesses the most; Cassandra Clare's imagination is truly phenomenal, and the world she has created within the pages of Clockwork Angel truly have me captivated. I am and will always be a sucker for amusing and troubled male characters as well, so of course William Herondale is one of my new favorite fictional characters. I also adore James/Jem Carstairs' calm and empathetic nature despite his tragic past. Like I said, I am so excited to start reading the next book to return to these as well as the other fantastic characters. Luckily I don't have to painfully wait for the next installment, unlike with The Inheritance Games! I haven't read The Mortal Instruments series that precedes The Infernal Devices in publication but comes after the series of events that occur in the latter. However, I may end up reading it if I love this trilogy at its conclusion as much as I do right now.


​

Some of my favorite quotes from Clockwork Angel:

"'How can you not understand?' He pointed at her books. 'You read novels. Obviously, I'm here to rescue you.'"

"'One must always be careful of books,' said Tessa. '"and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.'"

"Sometimes, when I have to do something I don't want to do, I pretend I'm a character from a book. It's easier to know what they would do."

"You've always been what you are. That's not new. What you'll get used to is knowing it."

"... she felt caught in the eddy of a powerful wave that threatened to pull her over and under, to crush and break her, to wear her down to softness as the sea might wear down a piece of glass."

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time! I don't even know where to start -- the characters? The writing style? The complexities of the plot? It all blew me out of the water! 
In a nutshell, this book has Knives Out and Clue vibes all around, which I absolutely loved. It follows Avery Kylie Grambs' curious inheritance of 46.2 billion dollars from a man she has never met before in her life. She is quite literally swept up into the Hawthorne family's world of press, money, and socialite intrigue, as she is required to live in Hawthorne House for a year if she wishes to receive the full inheritance, as instructed within the conditions of the will. Of course, there are four attractive grandsons intent on uncovering the reason behind why the money was left to Avery instead of them. And, of course, a complicated love triangle arises. It becomes apparent that the late Tobias Hawthorne did not die without leaving one last game behind, and Avery, alongside the Hawthorne grandsons, become determined to solve his final riddle. 
One of my favorite things about The Inheritance Games was its rich and unique characters. This is a book full to the brim with many different individuals, key word individuals. Each character is uniquely their own, from their speech, mannerisms, desires, pasts, etc. The delicate balance between description and overkill is maintained beautifully throughout the book as well. Everything unfolded before my eyes like a film while I painted the intricate details of the character's faces and clothing myself. Also -- can we talk about how beautiful the cover art is? Really study its details after you've read it and you'll see so many Easter eggs...
There is certainly more than meets the eye in this amazing novel (and its cover :)). I was on the edge of my seat every time I turned a page; I had to force myself to read slower so I could enjoy it for longer! It's been confirmed that there will be a second book to make the series into a duology, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I may go crazy in the time between now and its release. 




Some of my favorite quotes from The Inheritance Games:

"I knew better than to put any confidence in the assurances of good-looking guys."

"I wondered if he could tell how fast my heart was beating. I wondered if his was racing at all."

"Everything's a game, Avery Grambs. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win."

"He didn't move, didn't blink, wasn't physically aggressive in any way, but he bled power, and he knew it."

"Kissing him felt like fire."

"You don't have to kiss me. You don't even have to like me, Heiress, but please don't make me do this alone."

"He looked at me, and I could feel him trying to unravel my thoughts and impulses, to solve me, like one more riddle."

I absolutely loved Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott's Five Feet Apart. So when I heard that they were releasing another YA drama novel, I jumped online to preorder a copy. I have to say that while I really enjoyed this story, I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to. It also doesn't compare to Five Feet Apart in my mind. I guess there were just some parts of the overall dynamic of the plot and the narrative itself that I found a little cheesy and hard to fully run with. I did, however, think that the characterizations of our main protagonists, Kyle and Marley, were very well-written. Both characters deal with so much pain and loss that it is virtually impossible for them to not be different people by the end of the novel, and I thought that their development and growth was portrayed very well. I also really liked most of the descriptions. There are some witty turns of phrase sprinkled throughout the entire thing. However, I wasn't really a fan of the plot twists. For me, there wasn't even much of a twist. I was able to piece together enough clues through the context to see the most major one coming from a mile away, which was frankly kind of disappointing. But the build up to the second plot twist felt much better than the first one; there actually seemed to be a twist! It left me sighing in relief because I thought I was going to end up hating the ending, haha! My main point of question was how some of the psychological elements of the story worked. I found myself shaking my head at some of the logic employed, wondering if I as a reader was supposed to believe that some of the stuff happening was credible. I think that this is the kind of book that would be more enjoyable during a second or third read, once the reality of the characters' situations is something the reader is already aware of. Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Five Feet Apart and readers looking for an easy to follow, somewhat cheesy dramatic love story.



Some of my favorite quotes from All This Time:

"... a flash of that particular shade of blond that manages to hold whatever light is in the room."

"The reality of Kim being gone is a series of everyday heartbreaks. Moments and reminders that chip slowly away at me until there's nothing left."

"The wattage of her grin could power nine suns."

"Without an audience, a storyteller is just talking to the air, but when someone's listening..."

"I never knew love could feel like this. That it could get so deep inside me that I have two hearts beating in my chest..."

"There was a place where I loved you, a place you built with your words, and the happiness we shared was as real as anything here in the real world."