SPOILER ALERT!

Clockwork Princess

Clockwork Princess  - Cassandra Clare 3 1/2 stars

I loved the character development of Henry and Charlotte. Their realization that they both loved the other, but they both believed that the other one had married them for convenience. I loved that.

I was disappointed with Jessamyn's death. I was hoping for character development from her, but I suppose we may get it yet in the other Mortal Instruments books since she came back as a ghost. Speaking of ghosts, we were told at the beginning of the trilogy that Will could see ghosts without their appearing to him, but we never had an explanation as to why that was.

I was not fond of Will and Tessa's reactions to Jem's death. It was not normal, and it felt forced. They both cared so much for Jem, that it just doesn't make sense for them to immediately have had sex. When a person's fiancé dies, the first thing they would do would be to mourn. Eventually Tessa and Will could have gotten past the grief, admitted their feelings and gotten married, but it felt really disrespectful to have them have sex so soon after learning of Jem's death. I can't decide if I liked the ending. I am glad that Tessa and Will lived a happy life, and I'm glad that Jem and Tessa will get their chance now, but it seemed too easy for Tessa to get both Will and Jem in her lifetime. Not to mention that eventually, Jem will die and Tessa will resort to the solitary life she had been living since Will's death. I suppose Jem's telling her about the story that took place in the first three books of the Mortal Instruments series indicates that the two of them will appear in the rest of the series, and that does make me happy.

I was surprised that Jem was able to leave the Silent Brothers. For two reasons. The first is that he now knows a lot of their secrets. He is probably the only Nephilim to ever enter the Silent Brothers and then leave them. He's probably the only Nephilim to enter the Silent Brothers for no reason but to extend his life until a cure for his illness could be found. The second is that most of the Silent Brothers were killed by Valentine and the few who are left would probably be less than thrilled about one of the ones who survived just leaving like that.

I enjoyed this book, and this series, but I did not think the plot was as concrete as the first three books of the Mortal Instruments. It may have been slightly less predictable then the Mortal Instruments, but it was also weaker. While some of the supporting characters were excellent, particularly Jem, Charlotte and Henry, the other characters were not any better than the Mortal Instruments.