Reviews - Clockwork Prince

11.2k reviews for:

I've always hated love triangles. I fear I may never read a book with a good love triangle before. This book KILLED ME. The absolute ANGST OF IT ALL.
The only correct answer, of course, is Tessa picking neither of them.
"Later she would remember the way he looked, hanging on to the door, hatless, calling to both of them,"
If they don't end up in a poly relationship I will scream.

bookmwitx's review against another edition

4.0

8.86

brits_reading_corner's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I kinda wish I hadn't read this so soon after City of Ashes. Clockwork Prince is part of the prequel series of City of Ashes. They are both book 2 in their respective series. And while the plots aren't technically the same, they are VERY similar. Therefore, unfortunately, the plots of the books are almost the same so it was boring/predictable.

Speaking of plot, it didn't really feel like there was much of one. It was a lot of filler and set up for the next book, which is the final one of this series. There were only two minor things that were kind of interesting imo but I'm gonna hide them beind spoiler cause they are kinda spoilers.

First, I didn't really understand how Tessa and Jem had romantic feelings for each other, enough so that they became engaged at the end of the book. Like, sure, they spent a lot of time together in this book, but it wasn't in a courtship/dating kind of way, so their interactions weren't of the romantic sort (except for one scene but that was kinda ick for a YA). It's almost like it was written simply for the drama instead of it being an actual part of the story. The drama part being that Tessa loved Will first but he pushed her away because he thought he was curesed but by the end of the book we find out the curse was fake so he declares his love for her but she has to deny him cause she's engaged to Jem. ALSO can we talk about being engaged at 16/17??? How did anyone think this was ok????

Second, the author dipped her toes in the incest vibes again with this book but it's not as bad as City of Ashes. Tessa is a shapeshifter, so she shapeshifts into her brother's fiance to get info but the brother (obcvioysly) wants to be romantically affections towards his fiance. Nothing actually happens since Tessa (rightfully) thinks it's gross. But the fact that it's even part of the plot still gives me the ick.

I'm gonna read the last book cause there were a lot of secrets and misinformation passed around in this book and I'm hoping that the finale explains it all. I'd love to get closure on this regardless of whether I enjoye it or not lol

thejinxedphoenix's review against another edition

3.75

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jennielouhoo's review against another edition

It was a really good book, however there wasn't enough action in this one compared to the first book in the series.

alexandra_92's review against another edition

5.0

There is NO SBS (Second Book Syndrome) here! The story is amazing and despite the love triangle, it doesn't dominate the plot! And I can never be able to choose between Jem and Will!