Shadowhunters Saturday – Clockwork Princess

What ELLIE Thought About the Plot

Giant Worm, the Lightwoods move in:

This was a bit of a surprise and I’m going to sound morbid, but I was actually glad that Benedict turned into a worm and got dispatched by his sons because he was a wretched character and I hated him, so karma kind of bit him on the bum. I already liked Gideon as we had seen more of him in the previous book, but it was interesting getting to know Gabriel. And the Lightwood boys moving into the Institute, Gideon and Sophie being together as well as Gabriel and Cecily makes more sense to me for what we know from The Mortal Instruments. I was glad my questions were answered because I kept wondering where they came into the whole thing. 

Jem is out of his drugs and dying:

In book 2, we learned that yin fen was getting scarce so I was expecting Jem to be running out, but I wasn’t expecting it to come to an end so suddenly. And when Jem told the Shadowhunters that they could try to find a cure, I was really hoping they would. 

Magister asks Lightwoods to spy:

This both surprised me and didn’t because I felt that Gabriel was still quite like his father. I had an inkling that the Magister was an awful person just trying to oust Charlotte, but I was really disappointed in the Lightwoods when they accepted to spy on her. But when they got back to the Institute and they said they would lie to the Magister, I was so relieved! The Lightwoods weren’t as bad as I had thought! 

Jessamine’s death: 

I have to be honest and admit that I had completely forgotten about Jessamine since she had been taken to the Silent City. I wasn’t expecting Charlotte to let her come back, but she has such a big heart. I don’t really know what my thoughts are on her death because it felt a bit like the author didn’t know what to do with her since she had betrayed all the Shadowhunters who didn’t want her to come back. It feels a little like she got killed off and now is seen in a better light than she maybe deserve after her betrayal. I was more worried about Charlotte, Henry, Will, Jem and the others fighting to be very moved by Jess’s death. 

Mrs Black kidnapping Tessa: 

I was not expecting this either as we had seen Miss Black get decapitated in book 2 and I had to read so fast after this point to find out what would happen to Tessa. I suppose we could have guessed that the Magister would come for her, but I always expected Tessa to give herself up instead of be kidnapped right in front of everyone else during the battle. 

Jem finding out Will loves Tessa: 

I always thought that Jem had known that Will loved Tessa so I found his reaction and Jem and Will’s conversation a little weird and he was quite solemn about it all. With what we know from the end of the book, I am glad that he found out from Will himself. 

Will goes after Tessa:

I was so relieved when Will sped off to find Tessa as I didn’t really think anyone else would. I quite enjoyed this part where Will was travelling through the country from London to Wales because we got a lot of insight into his feelings. 

Jem is dead!

I struggled to believe that he actually had died because I was convinced that the Shadowhunters would find a cure for him and that he would be saved and marry Tessa and everything would be fine. So, when it was all implied that he had died I was shocked and saddened. I hadn’t really rooted for Jem and Tessa because of my love of Will, but it was sad anyway, but now that I have read the ending and know that he didn’t actually die, this whole event turned a little anticlimactic. 

Mortmain creates undefeatable automations using Tessa:

This was so creepy! I always hated Mortmain and thought it was bad enough that he had a whole army of automatons, but for him to use Tessa to get the spell to turn demons and make the automatons basically alive was so creepy, especially when the automatons spoke to Mortmain!! I hated him even more for forcing Tessa to change into his father and to basically use her to make the things that would kill those she loved. 

Gideon proposes to Sophie:

Thank goodness for this! Ever since we found out that Gideon and Sophie liked one another, I was just rooting for them and so, so, so, so glad when he finally proposed to her, although the first part was a little awkward ahah! Sophie and Gideon make such a lovely, caring couple and I’m so glad they were finally together and that Sophie was able to Ascend and become a Shadowhunter herself. 

Will ‘rescues’ Tessa / danger sexy times:

I knew that Will was going to find Tessa and rescue her but I wasn’t expecting what happened between them and I don’t think the sexy scene was necessary, especially so soon after Jem’s death – well, he wasn’t *dead* but no one knew that then. I completely get that they were sad, scared, grieving over Jem and had so many thoughts running through their minds, but that was maybe a little bit precocious and made me feel weird. 

Magnus and Henry invent the portals:

One of the things I loved the most about these books in this series were all the subtle nods and references to things that we learned about and read about in the first three books of The Mortal Instruments. I am so glad that we read it in the order suggested by the author because it made so much sense and I really enjoyed finding out the origins of characters, events, objects, animals, etc, in this series. So waffling over, when Magnus and Henry invented the Portal and it worked perfectly I was so glad and had a proper “Eureka” moment! 

Jem is a silent brother:

Wow, I was NOT expecting this at all!! At this point in the book, I was so sad that Jem had died, weirded out by Tessa and Will’s scene the previous night and THEN, I was so shocked that Jem was not in fact dead – such an awkward moment! At the start, I thought it was a totally conspiracy that he had become a Silent Brother and I still don’t think it makes that much sense to be honest, but it was definitely a surprising moment. 

Tessa becomes an angel:

This was such a great moment because she defeated her nemesis, but again, really surprising. Cassandra Clare managed to write books with lots of clues but when her plot twists are finally revealed, I definitely didn’t expect any of them and I always have a “OMG WHAT?” reaction! I also liked how everything suddenly made sense and i was actually quite surprised that the Clockwork Angel actually had an angel inside of it! 

Goodbye to Jem:

This was both awkward and sad! I was glad that Jem was alive, but the fact that he was a Silent Brother now restricted him from being a Shadowhunter in the Institute and being with the people he loved. I still didn’t understand the reason why he chose to become a Silent Brother, and I found his attitude really strange when he was saying goodbye to Will and Tessa as it just didn’t feel like the old Jem, so that was quite sad. 

Charlotte is magister/Sophie is a shadowhunter/Will proposes:

After all the sadness, awkwardness and “OMG WHAT” moments, I was so glad that there were finally some happy moments! Thank goodness Charlotte was not divested of her place at the Institute and even became the Magister!! Yay!! And as I mentioned further up, I was so glad that Sophie became a Shadowhunter. Will made me laugh in the parts where he was trying to “court Tessa properly”, ahah! But as I was rooting for them from the start, I was so happy they finally got together, that Will proposed and brought Tessa to meet his parents. 

Epilogue: Tessa’s life with Will, Wills death, her life in Paris and new york with Magnus, Jem is mortal again they have cured him Tessa and Jem. 

I was listening to the end of the book on audiobook so when the narrator said “2008”, I had a “wait what?” moment. In usual Cassandra Clare fashion, the final chapter was SO long, but it had a lot of happy moments that made me a little emotional. It was really sweet reading about the life that Will and Tessa had lead and I got a little teared-up when we learned about Will’s death, but at least it was peaceful and with Jem and Tessa by his side. I liked Magnus from the minute we met him in The Mortal Instruments and loved seeing him and learning more about him in The Infernal Devices, so knowing that Tessa and Magnus spent a lot of time together after Will’s death was really interesting. As Magnus is such a big part of the other books so far, I am really intrigued to see if we will see Tessa again, I hope so anyway. The final part of the book was a little bizarre for me to be honest and unfortunately, I don’t really think I liked what happened. Tessa got her happy life with Will and Jem made his choice to be a Silent Brother and everything that implied, so I feel like Cassandra letting Jem have a cure and giving him and Tessa another chance at being together was maybe just trying to make everyone happy and give them a nice happily ever after tied up in a bow. I loved this book, but I’m a little weirded out and unsure about the final pages.