Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 496
Genre: Fantasy

The year is 1878 and Tessa Gray is waiting for her brother on a dank London dock. She has crossed the Atlantic and is anxiously anticipating their reunion. Unfortunately, Nate is nowhere to be found. She is worried, but quickly approached by two women professing they are there on Nate’s behalf. They promise to take sixteen-year old Tessa to her brother; however, these Dark Sisters have other plans for Tessa.

Clockwork Angel is the first book in the Infernal Devices young adult fantasy series. In this book, author Cassandra Clare introduces the reader to Tessa Gray, a young woman with an untapped extraordinary ability that soon puts her in danger. Tessa is thrown into the dark underworld of Victorian London and its Pandemonium Club. The Dark Sisters, aware of the ability still dormant in Tessa, kidnap her for their master, the Magister. There, they intend to coax out Tessa’s ability to transform and use it for their own dark and dastardly purposes. The Magister operates the Pandemonium Club and he is determined to take Tessa’s power and make it his own.

Her escape from the Dark Sisters brings short-lived relief, as Tessa soon discovers she has become the prey for an assortment of other demonic creatures lurking in the London underworld. Alone in a strange city and hunted by those who covet her power, Tessa is taken in by the Shadowhunters. The Shadowhunters have sworn to protect humans from the ravages of the underworld beings. Tessa finds not only refuge in the London based institute, she also makes some unlikely friendships. In exchange for her help in defeating the Magistrate and his underlings, members promise to help her find her brother.

Tessa learns she is not quite human; instead, she is what the Shadowhunters call a Downworlder. Downworlders are the creatures of the supernatural world, both good and evil. During the course of the story, Tessa develops special bonds with two of the Shadowhunters. Jem is quiet, but friendly and outgoing. Will is more reserved and aloof, but both have dark secret pasts. Ultimately, these friendships will put Tessa in a situation, in which she will be forced to make a choice between her brother and her friends.

Clare is no stranger to this genre. The Infernal Devices serial is a historical backdrop to her Mortal Instruments series, which takes place in the future. In Clockwork Angel, the reader learns that Magnus, the warlock has been shaped by the events of his earlier life. This is a crucial point into understanding the Magnus of the Mortal Devices series. Readers of all ages will enjoy this imaginative tale of the supernatural.