The Infernal Devices Series Review

Let’s get this out in the open, quickly: The Infernal Devices was such a disappointment. It lacked originality, unique characters, and even back-bone.

Synopsis

Set in the late 1800s, Tessa Gray gets pulled into a dark, supernatural world with the discovery that she has powers beyond her understanding, or any of the Shadowhunters who come to her rescue. In the time that follows, Tessa must discover just who she is, who she loves, and what happened in the past to make her so unique.

Spoiler Review

*This review contains spoilers for some of The Immortal Instruments series.*

What surprises me the most is the high ratings these books have received on goodreads. All three books received over 4 stars, out of five. I wouldn’t give the series 2.

This book’s premise is a mirror copy of The Immortal Instruments. Some girl from outside of the Shadowhunters world gets pulled in and realizes she is special, only nobody knows why. She immediately falls for an emotionally-unavailable, dark, mysterious boy (with a familiar quick wit) only to realize that another boy loves her. Only in this story, Tessa is torn “perfectly” between these two boys, loving them both equally.

The problems I had with this series were numerous.

• The angel necklace was “convenient” in my opinion, and completely unnecessary to the plot. Why you would name any of the books after it is beyond me.
• Speaking of which, the second book’s title The Clockwork Prince? This it what Mortmain is called. This second book is not about him enough to warrant this name.
• I cannot stand that so many authors are making their girls fall for mean boys. For once I would like a character to be upset at the mean thing the supposed “love of their life” says, not because it implies the guy doesn’t like her, but because she expects him to be better than that.
• Not enough self loathing. (Sarcasm.)
• Why was there not more Magnus?
• And honestly, was anyone else expecting Magnus and Will to get together? Because it was constantly implied and would have been so wonderfully progressive to actually carry through with.
• Cecily and Gabriel? Sophie and Gideon? Talk about that too-perfect relationship match-up. (Clary/Will, Isabelle/Simon, Alec/Magnus, Maia/Jordan)
• You get all the answers, all at once, as rushed together. Lame.
• Then it ends, and you say Tessa gets Will AND Jem? Come on. He is so much more interesting as a Silent Brother, but you make him human again and it’s like neither of them have grown up at all, have not changed at all. Cool.

Good News

The plot itself is fairly intriguing. I did wonder how Jessamine was lying while holding the Mortal Sword, or why this necklace could save Tessa, or how she could possess powers. A lot of the book hardly progressed the plot and was super boring. The answers were mostly cop-outs, in my opinion. But you know, I read it all, so really some part of me didn’t hate it all. :)