Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 476
Genre: Young Adult|Steampunk|Urban Fantasy
Publication Date:
Rating: ****

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

I have to say that I enjoyed this one more than City of Bones and it was a lot easier for me to get in to. However, after gaining a little more knowledge of what exactly is going on, I do want to go back and try to read The Mortal Instruments again.

This was a slowly progressing read to me, until the last 100-150 pages, where it did finally pick up. I did really enjoy reading about the world Ms. Clare created, but I felt like it could have been a little more fast paced. It would pick up a bit, then slow down, then pick up, etc. I still enjoyed it, however.

There were dark bits and humorous bits. There were secrets to reveal and mysteries to unravel. I know there were things I didn't see coming and it was exciting at those times. I was disappointed in the lack of romance. There is a little, but not like I had hoped for. I liked the steampunk and historical aspects and the paranormal parts that were intertwined were good as well. Really the only complaint I have is the slow pace of the story/plot.

Would I recommend this? Sure. It's a great story if you don't mind the slowness of it. I feel like it had good, strong characters, although I know some readers have compared them to the characters from The Mortal Instruments, which I haven't really read, but if you have that's a possibility.

There is a huge cliffhanger ending, just so you can be prepared, and I already want to get the next book, Clockwork Prince, to find out what is going to happen! I am hoping that now that a lot of the details and explanations of things are kind of out of the way the next book will be a little faster paced. I truly am excited to see what is going to happen next (and to read more about Will, who is one of my new story crushes *girly squee!*).

Paranormalcy - Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Pages: 335
Genre: Young Adult/Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 9/1/2010
Rating: ****

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

I can say that Paranormalcy ended up being different than what I expected - in a very good way! Anything that started out with something like this:

He pulled his exaggerated white fangs back behind his lips. "What, imminent death isn't exciting enough for you?"
"Oh, stop pouting. But, really, the widow's peak? The pale skin? The black cape? Where did you even get that thing, a costume store?"

is bound to be entertaining. It honestly hooked me from the start.

I wasn't sure how much I would end up liking Evie at first - she is a big girly girl and usually I'm kind of eh on the super girly thing, but I ended up really liking her character. She's quite the comedic heroine.

When we meet Evie, she is working for IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Committee), where she catches and tags paranormals in order to ensure the safety of humans. Her best friend is Lisha, a mermaid living in a tank at the Center and she also has a creepy stalker ex-boyfriend, Reth, who is a faerie. Overall, as odd as her job and friends are, she is pretty comfortable with her life until paranormals start dying mysteriously.

Soon, after discovering that paranormals were being murdered, she meets Lend - different from any paranormal she has met. Lend was a fantastic character! He was a genuinely nice person paranormal. He really helped Evie find out more about who she was throughout the story.

Another that kept me reading was the mystery of who was behind the killings. One moment I would think I might be on the trail of the truth, when I would be given a new piece of information and then would be thrown off again. There was much to unravel - who was behind the killings? What did the prophecy mean? What were the motives? Of course, there was a lot to learn about Evie too!

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Even with all the mystery, it was an easy, fun read, and it leaves me wanting to read the next in the series, Supernaturally.