Edifying and Edgy SPLIT - CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare

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: Jem, 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.

Julie and I have another SPLIT.  We both LOVE LOVE LOVE Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instrument Trilogy and recommend it to people all the time.  We were both really excited to get our hands on the the first book in her new Infernal Devices Trilogy, CLOCKWORK ANGEL, but when all was said and done, we were both a little disappointed.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in this book. I was looking forward to it as I loved the Mortal Instruments books. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It seemed to drag along. There were a few exciting parts in the book and some surprises that helped to keep me reading, but I must say it was a struggle to get through. You don’t have to read The Mortal Instruments to read The Infernal Devices. My understanding is there are 3 books planned for this prequel. I’m not sure that I will read the next 2. 

I rated CLOCKWORK ANGEL 4 out of 5 glasses. While it took me a while to get through and I had a hard time getting into the Steampunk aspect of the story, I could definitely get into the mystery.  I really enjoyed the relationship between the best friends Jem and Will. It seemed like Cassandra Clare may have been trying to capture the same electricity she created between Clary, Jace, and Simon, but the relationship between Tessa, Jem, and Will didn't seem to work as well.  Diving back into the Shadowhunter world was exciting though. I'm glad I read the book and will definitely read the next two in the trilogy.

New Feature - Edifying & Edgy SPLIT - ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Well, as much as Julie and I love each other, we don't always agree about the books we read.  We already have the Edifying Meets Edgy Halfway posts that allow us to come together and gush about the books we both love, but....like I said, we don't always agree.

Recently, Julie read a book that she really didn't like. As you'll see from her in just a minute, she almost didn't finish it. The thing is, I really enjoyed it when I read it (back in December 2008). When we were discussing what we wanted to post on E & E next, Julie came up with the brilliant idea that we should highlight the books we disagree on too. So, here you go!  

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess's personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl's soul and plan the Master's fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages.

I'm not one to give up on a book easily. But this one I came close to setting aside. The main thing I didn't like about it was the whole "guardian- angel- living- a -life -of -debauchery" scenario. Zachary(the guardian angel) also admits to watching Miranda(the girl he is guardian over) shower and dress etc etc which kind of creeped me out about an angel. His casual references to "the man upstairs" was offensive to me. The ending of the book was exciting and redeemed it just a bit.

ETERNAL was a fast and enjoyable read. The pages fly by and the end comes too soon. I didn't mind seeing Zachary's "human" side coming out as he fell in love with Miranda while acting as her Guardian Angel and I loved watching him struggle to find a way to get into Miranda's life after he was made human.  It was also nice reading about vampires that actually fed on humans.  ETERNAL is the companion to TANTALIZE. The third book in this series is called BLESSED (2011) and the characters from both TANTALIZE and ETERNAL will cross over and I can’t wait to see what happens when they meet.

Do you want to win a copy of ETERNAL and decide for yourself?  If so, fill out the Google Form below.

Which side are you on?  Show the world.  Be proud of your reading tastes!

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