Clockwork Angel (advance reading copy) tick tock, tick tock, time to get it!

Tessa Gray’s world is turned upside down when, after the death of her parents and her aunt, she receives a letter from her brother in England requesting her to join him there. Victorian England has more for Tessa than she could have ever imagined. The world she thought she once knew lives right alongside a world she never knew and she is trapped between the two fighting, quite literally, for her life.  She is not alone, and together with a mysterious group called the Shadowhunters, and a host of others, she works to come to grips with who she is and to try and rescue her brother from the grasps of people who threaten to kill him.

This book leaves me tangled up in how to review it. I really liked it and I can’t quite put my finger on the why. The world in which Tessa finds herself is so familiar at times, and so new at the same time. Not having read the Mortal Instrument series first, I can honestly say that this was unlike any book I have read. I liked the new twists and combinations to some old things. Vampires, werewolves, warlocks, angels, demons, humans, and other beings all mixed together and intermingled. I loved the idea of mysterious overlapping worlds, places, and people that exist but few can see. I love London, and to throw this whole world into that, took me to some awesome places. The characters were complex and realistic and I even repeatedly called one of the characters a jerk (I think I also described the same guy as a dillweed somewhere in a conversation as well). Sometimes in books that take place in days gone by the characters don’t often fit the setting. Sometimes their responses, especially between genders, often feel out of place and inappropriate for the time. The responses of the characters in this book had the opposite effect on me in that they kept reminding me that this is Victorian England and not modern day. This book was unpredictable and finished strong. If you are a reader then you should add this to your “to read” list. If you are a Cassie Clare fan already, this is a “can’t miss”. For the rest of you, I would definitely give it a try. This book is set to release 8/31/2010.

Now, since we are on the topic of Clockwork Angel, I should probably address the team Will/Jem debate from a guys perspective. Like I said from nearly the beginning of the book, I don’t even see why there is a debate. Will is a jerk. I don’t care if he has issues he has to work through and he has a bunch of stuff that leads to him being the way he is, he still really is a dillweed (there is the conversation for those who are not my wife and therefore were not here to hear it the first time). I’m thinking that given the current knowledge about both characters there is no way that Tessa should be with Will. If not Jem, then Tessa should just chill with the not being with anyone. If you like Will because you think that he’s just complicated and if you could just get around him you could fix him, not going to happen, first of all because he is a character in a book and secondly because you can’t fix that and thirdly because you couldn’t fix him if he was real. His personality is such that any time life gets complicated and he hurts he’s going to hurt others. He might resolve his current issues but if new ones come up he is likely to respond the same way. Jem has come to terms with his lot in life. He’s already matured with what has been put before him. With Tessa’s life already a mess, she doesn’t need what Will brings. Spoken from the mouth of a teacher, big brother, husband, and dad. That’s my two cents worth. So, team Jem, I guess, but I think the little clockwork angel is pretty cool too.