Elle (ellexamines)'s Reviews > Clockwork Prince

actual footage of me thinking about the fact that I Cried Reading This Stupid Book:


I really could just leave my prereview here as a review, so like, here's the review: *sips from an open bottle of vodka* any ending that doesn't involve all three of them dating is not valid. it's just not

Okay, just to get the honesty out of the way: these get moments of being Too Trashy. You can only fit in around 50 literary allusions before it starts being kind of annoying. [WE GET THE TALE OF TWO CITIES THING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD]. Also, it totally has that overdramatic fanfiction quality, but it kind of… works.

Yeah, I’m aware that I liked this book more than it might have deserved, and I’m aware that people make fun of this series for The Love TriangleTM. Cool. So I just came here to say: all of them are in love and it should end in all of them dating. I am not giving up this opinion. Jem and Will are both in love with Tessa, canonically, and Tessa is in love with both of them, canonically, and let’s just be really fucking honest with ourselves and say that Jem and Will are completely in love. It's 2018 and it's time to admit that, as a society. I am aware that this is not what occurs in this series and it is my firm belief that under different circumstances, they would all be dating, and I do not care who fights me on this.

I guess we stopped pretending this was a review, so here’s the part of the review where I scream about the characters [aka the reason why I would die for these occasionally trashy books]. It will still be spoiler-free.

“Yes, she doesn't really look like either of us, does she? Perhaps she's a girl who's fallen madly in love with me and persists in following me wherever I go.”
“My talent is shape-shifting, Will, not acting,” said Tessa.

[she really said this, out loud, she really said this and I would kill for her]
Okay, seriously, I love Tessa. Like, I’m actually pissed off by how much she gets slept on, because she’s such a good protagonist?? She’s a total Gentle Soul who loves her friends but also has the ability to drag everyone within an inch of their lives and uses it. Every time Tessa burns someone I have ten years added to my life, she's an icon and I love her

Oh, Jem?? I love Jem. Jem has never done a thing wrong in his entire life. The only man I trust. He projects being So Confident and So On Top Of It and he’s struggling so much. Help him.

Oh, and I guess we’re talking about Will now, too? Will and Tess are my least favorite couple within The Love TriangleTM, but I still… kind of love Will as a character? So, this book had one of the best backstory reveals in any book I’ve read recently, and I think this particular backstory is quite brilliant in how it explains his personality and some parts of his character in book one that kind of didn’t make sense. I think it probably should have been revealed at the end of book one [these books are drawn out] but it really is That Backstory Reveal that changed me as a person and gave me a whole new attitude towards Brooding Bad Boy Backstory RevealsTM.

Let’s talk about Jem and Will and Tessa as a dynamic. First of all, I love them. Second of all, I would die for them. Third of all, help them. The plot of these books is just “two of them worry about the third person” repeated over and over for six million pages and don’t get me wrong, I think that’s beautiful, but also, help them. And before you ask, yes, I actually genuinely mantain that the three of them should end this series dating, and I’m 85% sure that is exactly how I am supposed to feel. I am also around 72.4% sure that had this not been published in fucking 2011 [a hell time] that is actually how it might have ended.

Anyway.

This book had such a delightful cast of side characters. I love and would die for Henry and Charlotte. That one cute scene between them was... really fucking cute. Like, cliche, but also I was crying? Sophie is such a good character and always has been. I wanted a little bit more out of Jessamine, but I think she’s given a decent amount of nuance [and hey, she got me to sympathize with her and root for her redemption arc even though she’s kind of awful].

Oh, you know that thing I talked about in my review of book one where I was like “they’re finally going to address how the downworlders are treated?” I lied, they didn’t talk about it even though the lead character Literally Is A Downworlder, and no one is more emo about it than I am. talkaboutsocietalinequalityinmytrashliterature.jpg

“Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?
“It’s biannual,” said Jem. “And no, this is not that meeting.”

Oh, also, I thought this book was fucking hilarious. Every single line is the most iconic thing I’ve ever read and I love it.

s/o to this asshole and my ex girlfriend for screaming about this with me, y'all really ruined my life hope it was fun. and also, if one more of you tells me that I'm going to die when I read Clockwork Princess, I will genuinely threaten to never read it

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