Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #2)

Clockwork Prince picks up shortly after the conclusion of Clockwork Angel, although enough time has passed for both relationships and routines to be established. Tessa has come to feel at home in the Institute, so it is unfortunate that Charlotte's position of leadership there is threatened. If they do not find the Magister in a timely manner, then Charlotte will lose her authority, and Tessa will find herself homeless. Racing against the clock, the team struggles to outsmart the devious man who has been calculating his revenge for decades.

Not going to lie, this book took well over 100 pages to enrapture me, but, once it did, it was hard to look up for even a moment. As the story progressed, I forgot all about the earlier tedium and was swept away by this dark world.

Tessa really grows as a character in this. She is no longer married to the idea that she has to look and think like a proper lady. She is expanding her knowledge of the reality of the world and her ability to defend herself. She yearns to learn more about what she herself is and what she can do. There's just something about her in this book that makes her so much less delicate and so much more admirable.

I guess you could say she also grows... sexually as well. It would probably be difficult not to, what with fellows like both Jem and Will professing eternal and undying love for her. However, this love triangle thing is a dilemma, sometimes a brutal thing to read. It's especially difficult to experience because the reader becomes privy to things that the characters are not.  

This is something I have a problem with. We are allowed to be in the know because the perspectives from random characters appear throughout the book. Tessa is the primary narrator, of course. The role of secondary narrator probably belongs to Magnus Bane, but there are several other characters that have random, singular chapters throughout. I found this to be a little bit jarring and almost... too intimate. I felt like I had no business in knowing what was going on in a character's head for such a small number of pages and that their chapters exist only for the purpose of info-dumping. Had there been a little more consistency with the characters used, I possibly would not have even noticed it, let alone have been bothered by it.

I hate hate hate love triangles, even if they are done well- nay, especially if they are done well! Because if they are done well, then you fall a little bit in love with both parties, and your heart is going to be a little bit broken no matter what the outcome is. Most people seem to easily flock to one side or the other, but I (again, only if it's done well) flounder and flitter hopelessly between the two until I've mentally exhausted myself. This is truly a very trying process and is better left avoided most of the time.

This love triangle is particularly harsh for the following two reasons:

1. Because the two young men are not only best friends, they are parabatai (a very intense form of Shadowhunter partnership, more or less).

2. Because it's not so easy to blame Tessa for the awkward situation they are all in. If she were at all malicious or beguiling, then it would be simple to pin the blame on her and hate her. But she is not a hateful character, and therefore tension is just unbearable.

But she did not love anyone else in the world. These were the boys she loved. For better. And for worse.

It's a shame she can't just marry them both. And what about Magnus? He's still my favorite.

Really, there is a lot more to this series than just the aspect of romance. It takes place in an intricate, well-planned, and consistent universe with an ever-increasing panoply of supernatural creatures. As time passes, you can begin to see the story lines weaving together, although all of said lines are seamless. There is so much foreshadowing, but at the same time, no real hints. I was enraptured to learn the fate of Nate and Jessamine. I love the side characters, both the old ones and the new ones. I love the side romances-Henry and Charlotte, Sophie and Gideon.

Now I'm a little scared to read Clockwork Princess. Not because it will not be enjoyable, but because these characters are so very real and close to my heart that it's going to break no matter the conclusion.

Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #1)

Let me start by saying I have not yet read the Mortal Instruments Series. Clockwork Angel is the first book I have read by Cassandra Clare, and I intend to read the rest of the Infernal Devices series before beginning Mortal Instruments. Ahem.

Clockwork Angel introduces us to Tessa Gray, concluding her journey from New York to London, where she expects her brother and a bright new life will be awaiting her. Unfortunately, neither expectation is present upon her arrival, and instead she is abducted by two hags who confine her in order to train her to "Change."

Apparently Tessa is able to turn into other people, to assume their bodies, personalities, and memories. She had no knowledge of this ability prior to her arrival in England, but her captors are both resilient and insistent in her training, and she becomes skilled in this ability quickly. When she is finally able to escape, thanks to the help of Will, she is exposed to a whole new world, filled with supernatural creatures and the politics that concern them. She meets the Clave of Shadowhunters, part angel and part human, who offer her sanctuary and aid in finding her brother in exchange for her help in return. 

My favorite thing about this book is the way that Cassandra Clare incorporates so many mythical creatures and combines them for one solid story. I don't often encounter books that deal with all this supernatural variety (angels, demons, faeries, vampires, warlocks, etc.) and make it work. You would think this many creatures would seem like overkill, but it really isn't. In fact, it all works together rather nicely.

I personally find it to be a good thing that the mystery of Tessa's origin is not immediately (or really, ever) revealed. It would certainly take away a lot from the merit of this story if it were all wrapped up neatly for us. But, at the same time, aside from a baseline frustration that comes along with wanting to know what's going on, I find this story well paced in the fact that it reveals its secrets in a timely fashion. It's not too drawn out, but things also aren't revealed entirely too soon. The former would make it irritating, and the latter would make it boring.

On the subject of Tessa's origin... how is she not ecstatic to discover what she is able to do? I realize that she is an 1800s lady and that there is a great deal of unpleasantness in this supernatural world, but she seems resentful of her abilities, or, at best, indifferent. Never once does she relish what she is able to do, nor does she appreciate the edge it gives her over everyone else. This is not mere shape-shifting (although that would be phenomenal all by itself); this is the ability to become another person or being, to know their thoughts, their pasts, their secrets. This is essentially the ability to become invisible, to walk through walls, to go anywhere or do anything, all because you can assume more than just a person's face; you can learn what they know, speak as they speak, do what they can do. I'll stop ranting about it, but, for the book's entirety, I was blown away at Tessa's response (or lack thereof) to her newfound power.

I loved the literary references thrown in throughout the book, particularly the reference to Dante and the cold ninth circle of hell. I often read about characters that proclaim to enjoy reading, but unlike many of them, Tessa truly seems to love it. She backs it up her claim with numerous titles, particularly relevant to the time period in which she lives. I've even taken a few of her beloved titles and added them to my To-Read shelf.

It would seem that we have a love triangle on our hands, although this one is much more subtle and less obnoxious than I find most others to be. Will and Jem are pretty solid characters, and I'm interested to see where this is going. But, personally, I am rooting for Jem, because I think bad boys are just a little overrated. On that note, it’s a shame that Magnus isn’t in the mix.

Ultimately this is the start to what appears to be a very solid series. I find it to be engaging and well researched, although I think bits of it are predictable, such as the fate of Tessa's brother and the true identity of the magister. But, for the most part, the twists are thrilling and the imagery is compelling. It’s certainly worth reading; this is obvious even from the beginning. I blinked and the first 100 pages had blown by.

Review: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

I’ll Give You the Sun is the story of twins, Jude and Noah, coming of age socially, artistically, and sexually. The chapters alternate between Jude and Noah's perspectives, Noah’s taking place when they are around fourteen and Jude's when they are sixteen. During the two-year gap between time frames, their mother dies, Jude goes from being that girl to hiding in heavy clothing, and Noah denies himself from both his art and his sexual preference.

First off, the chapters are so long that it takes some getting used to. It's not really that big of a deal, as there are natural stopping points along the way, but the book is so harshly divided between Noah and Jude, in a sort of then and now kind of way, that there is bit of whiplash when transitioning between characters. You forget the specifics of what happened to Jude in her last chapter, because there is such a long Noah chapter in between, and vice versa.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the characters. I certainly did not like the book for at least the first third of it and was not entirely sure why other than it had to do with the people in the story. In the beginning I did not care for either twin, especially Noah. This is not because of the angst (although he is one of the most angst-ridden characters I have ever read about); it was a little more complicated than that. I just found Noah to be a rather self-obsessed person, even after taking into account the fact that he’s a newly adolescent boy with a big secret.

I definitely don't think the twins are ever shown having a good relationship, even in Noah's chapters before the great divide occurs. There's always sort of a past tense feel to the good times. They think a lot about how close they used to be. The time when they were close seems like so very long ago, but how far away can it really be if they are fourteen? There are less than a handful of interactions between the twins in the whole book. The love between them is all tell and no show.  

There are also way too many coincidences here, even for a book that is meant to thrive on coincidences. Everything from both twins' secrets and their relationship affairs to their mother's death to the art school is so intertwined that it just somehow feels... fake. Not saying that this has to be a realistic book or anything, as I quite enjoy books that aren't, but this stretches the imagination a little too far, annoyingly so.

And there's something just a little too... crass about the writing itself. I don't mean profanity or even anything explicit (and heaven knows I'm not a prude). There's just something that feels a bit perverted, like everything leads back to mounting sexual tension and its awakening. And toilet-licking? What’s up with that?

While I did not care tremendously for the characters, the plot, or even the writing style, there are things I appreciated while reading this, especially the fact that both characters are artists, and very different artists at that. Jude’s sand sculptures, dressmaking, and ideas for stone carvings, Noah’s various paintings both real and imagined. The way that art saturates every aspect of this book is fantastic. But even that’s sort of overdone.

I’m glad so many people enjoyed this book, but I hope I’m not going to get any hate for not falling in love with it along with them. I’m not going to lie and say that I loved it, because, really, aside from the art aspect, I didn’t even like it. Everything is just so unnecessarily full of angst and, for the most part, clichés.  It’s also incredibly frustrating to realize that, while each twin only had one half of the story, they could have had the whole picture with just one candid conversation.

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu (The Young Elites #1)

Adelina Amouteru is a maimed survivor of a blood fever that wiped out multitudes of adults and left even more children scarred. From this fever has risen a group called the Young Elites, marked young people with supernatural abilities born from their illnesses.

Adelina herself lost her mother and an eye to the sickness. For years, she has lived in fear of her hateful and volatile father who favors her beautiful and perfect sister, Violetta. When Adelina overhears her father making a bargain to sell her, she flees for her life and ends up killing her father with powers she did not know she possessed.

As always, I am blown away by the intricate world Marie Lu has woven together. I'm particularly impressed with this world because it is entirely original (or at least as original as a fictional world can be). Unlike Legend, which is dystopia, a future version of the world its readers live in, the world in The Young Elites has its own countries, creatures, races, religions, and even illnesses. I personally loved how detached from the reality this book is. It's been a long time since I've read a good fantasy. Every word and sentence in this book feels well thought out; it all seems to matter.

Not to mention how likable I find Adelina to be. For writers it's a difficult job to make a precocious character relatable to his or her audience. Much of the time they come across as pompous or holier-than-thou or just plain better, but Adelina seems like a very real person with a whole lot of reasons to give into the darkness that makes up her character.

And can I just add her darkness is fabulous? You don't often find this kind of legitimate dark emotion, especially not in YA. Despite the fact that it's fantasy, this sort of emotion is REAL, while so much else seems forced or insincere. There are some incredibly powerful scenes where Adelina is struggling with herself, half of her thrilling at her ability to make the world suffer and the other half lamenting over who she is becoming. I am ecstatic to find out in later books whether her powers seize control over her or if she will learn to tame them into submission.

One thing I do not like is the flipping back and forth between perspectives. I am very picky about this sort of thing anyway, but, since most of the book is told by Adelina, the other POVs seem unnecessary and honestly a little... inconsistent. The fact that other perspectives appear so infrequently makes them feel like a cop out; it's like those breaks exist only to tell the reader something that they couldn't learn from Adelina. This is fine, but I would have preferred either the whole story be told by Adelina or for it to have been broken up more steadily throughout AND for there to be consistency regarding first person and third person voice...

This is not to say that the other characters are not good or well rounded. In fact, I like most of them pretty well. There are a few who I do not care for-like Dante and Terren. This is not because they are bad characters (bad meaning "villainous"), but because they seem less complicated than the others. Dante never once wavers from whom I initially thought he would turn out to be. For that matter, neither does Terren. I have read plenty of reviews that say he turns out to be double-sided and deeper than he initially seems to be, but it never quite feels that way for me. He's also just the same character I thought he'd be.

Now Enzo... He's fantastic-dark and dangerous and complicated. The romance with him is subtle, but it's also filled with insatiable tension and holds the potential for so much more. 

Marie Lu has singlehandedly changed my mind about series. Until this year, I had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with them and I just could not fathom how so many authors stretch a book limp over the course of three or more books when it could have been a perfectly good standalone. However, Legend and now The Young Elites are proving to me what a good series is: fantastic world development, intricate characters, and intoxicating romance. 

Though I did not find this book to be quite as compelling as the Legend series, I am still anxious and excited to see what is waiting in The Rose Society.

Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is essentially everything the title promises it will be and more. Told from the voice of Arnold Spirit (AKA Junior), this is a stark, eye-opening portrayal of what it means to be an Indian in a modern day white man's world.

Junior has grown up on a reservation with his family, but he finds himself struggling to fit in. As a teenager, he has already been to forty-two funerals and recognizes his inevitable future if he holds onto his way of life. When he realizes early on that he is destined for alcoholism, poverty, and a young death if he follows the footsteps of those that came before him, he applies to a ritzy school off the reservation, where the population is predominantly white (and the mascot is actually an Indian).

Though Junior does well enough at his new school, he finds himself ostracized from both sides, from his family for betraying them, and from his new classmates for trying to fit in when he so clearly doesn't. It's difficult to imagine the hellish struggle he must encounter on a day-to-day basis, but Junior takes everything in stride. He actually does not complain a whole lot given the dire circumstances that make up his life.

One of his coping mechanisms is the artwork that decorates the pages of his "diary." Said art is nothing short of superb. I feel as thought it contributed a great deal to the story as a whole, gives the reader a much deeper insight into Junior's mind, and provides an even richer dimension to the humor with which he relays the story. Most of the drawings are very simple, but they are still a great insight into how he sees the world. They invite us into his universe. I applaud cartoonist Ellen Forney for both her creativity and her ability to draw in the role of a teenage boy. Though the illustrations are very subtle, you can see a great deal of talent.

Given his circumstances, Junior is surprisingly well adjusted. He is smart, witty, loyal, and delightfully self-deprecating. He functions through his art. He is devoted to his family, to his tribe, and to their way of life, but, at the same time, he is unwilling to give up the prospects for his own future to appease other people's feelings. He has found a healthy balance between respecting others and his own self-preservation.

Though Junior is the voice in which the story is told, the side characters are just as relatable. I especially enjoyed hearing about his sister, who is a twenty-something still living in the parents' basement doing nothing and going nowhere. According to Junior, his sister just froze after she finished school. She has sort of been living as a non-person, drifting through life neither caring about what will happen nor acknowledging time as it passes. It's only when she sees her younger brother attempting to rise above their circumstances that she begins trying to live her own life.

Every single one of the characters feels real-Rowdy, Junior's parents, even the classmates at his new school. Particularly within the tribe, it is astounding to see people with great differences become so unified due to death. For a moment, everyone can put aside all petty squabbles and disputes. This story has a whole lot of important issues: racism, death, alcoholism, stereotypes, struggles that go along with growing up... It's so refreshing, stunning, wonderful.

The most daunting thing that this book depicts is that this is the reality for an entire group of people. They are still confined to specific areas with little work and little opportunity and have somehow survived decades of scarcity. It's just a little mind-blowing. Unlike most other American Indian literature, which conveys a version of history and not issues from the present-day, this is a contemporary portrayal of a teenager fighting his way out of the mold with all the strength he has.

I kid you not: at times, the writing in this book is laugh-out-loud funny. But, on the other hand, it can be gut wrenching and tear jerking, too. This is the rare kind of book that can snatch you up, drop you down into the pages, and force you to not only sympathize for the character as a witness but to make you experience everything alongside him as well. This book is comedy, tragedy, fiction, and reality all weaved into one. I'm so terribly glad I read it. I wish more books existed exactly like this one.