(Duh.)

The Infernal Devices is a Best-Selling trilogy written by Cassandra Clare. This trilogy is a prequel to the Best-Selling Series The Mortal Instruments, also written by Cassandra Clare. Theresa Gray, also known as Tessa,stumbles into a world of Shadowhunters, after arriving in Victorian England. Kidnapped by the Dark Sisters, Tessa finds out a secret about herself she never knew. This is when the Shadowhunters come in, and help her to discover her identity, and a series of adventures unfold, leaving Tessa marveled.

Plot:

Now, you’ll get to see more of Herondales, Lightwoods and the fabulous Magnus Bane, of course. The essence of the Victorian England was rightly delivered by Cassandra Clare. The story takes place in the 1700s. The Pandemonium Club, which was mentioned in City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments, is forming under the leadership of vampire Alexei de Quincey. We have a special appearance by Camille Belcourt in all of the books, looking stunning as always.

Then, there is this sort of stupid person. His name is Axel Mortmain, who is trying to create these (awesome yet) evil clockwork angels and then he binds them with demon energy, so that they were living but not really. (That is so cool.)

After Tessa ends up getting kidnapped by the Dark Sisters, because she has these shape shifting powers, like the Eidolon demon, and they are training her for the ‘the Magister’, William Herondale, a much hotter version of Jace, rescues Tessa and takes her to the Institute where she finds out about her being a possible warlock. *PLOT TWIST* She doesn’t have a warlock mark. So, apparently she’s so weird combination of two creatures.

So, now that Mortmain is after Tessa, she becomes a damsel in distress again.But this time, Will isn’t the only Shadowhunter helping Tessa. James Carstairs, who later falls in love with Tessa, and almost gets married to her, as well as the Shadowhunters around the world and Magnus Bane helps them get rid of Mortmain. (As the series expands.)

All throughout the trilogy, there is action, drama, adventure and romance, all packed into one heck of a series. I, for one, couldn’t put any of the books down because they were so well written.

Characters:

• Theresa Gray, a shape shifter, American, falls in love with both, Will and Jem, but ends up getting married to Will. Her love for books is the primitive thing we learn about her. Tessa and Will bond over the mutual love for A Tale of Two Cities.
• William Herondale, is a Shadowhunter, son of the controversial Edmund Herondale. He runs away from home when he was twelve, and ends up at the London Institute. As I mentioned before, he is a much hotter version of Jace, and has the same sense of humor, attitude, and almost everything that defines Jace, except Will has black hair. He ends up getting married to Tessa, as I mentioned above. He has a very special bond with his parabatai, Jem and would do anything to keep him safe. Literally, anything.William in seen with Magnus Bane, in many scenes and hilarity ensues when two fabulous creatures come together.
• James Carstairs, a Shadowhunter, is half Chinese and half British. After a battle at the Shanghai Institute, his parents die due to a demon attack, but he miraculously survives. But, the Greater Demon’s poisonous attack leave him addicted to opium, a drug, which makes his hair white and his eyes grey. He can’t live without the drug. The drug also shortened his life. When it finally consumed him, and he was on the verge of death, he decided to become a Silent Brother. Jem is later seen in The Mortal Instruments as Brother Zachariah. The last book, City of Heavenly Fire, Jem finally gets rid of all the drug he had in his body and becomes a mortal again. He meets Tessa in New York, and the two rekindle their romance.
• We have the Branwells, Charlotte and Henry Branwell, who are the care takers of the London Institute.
• Jessamine Lovelace, is an equivalent to Isabelle Lightwood, but she is not as badass as Isabelle. She dies in Clockwork Prince.
• We even have the Lightwoods, and some hilarious turn of events with them, in which one of them turns into a worm.

One of the special things about these books were the poem lines before every chapter. They gave the essence of the Victorian-era England and even the chapter titles, they were very apt.

The books in the trilogy:

• Clockwork Angel
• Clockwork Prince
• Clockwork Princess

Favourite Quotes:

“They say you cannot love two people equally at once,” she said. “And perhaps for others that is so. But you and Will—you are not like two ordinary people, two people who might have been jealous of each other, or who would have imagined my love for one of them diminished by my love of the other. You merged your souls when you were both children. I could not have loved Will so much if I had not loved you as well. And I could not love you as I do if I had not loved Will as I did.” — Tessa, Clockwork Princess.

“I can offer you my life, but it is a short life; I can offer you my heart, though I have no idea how many more beats it shall sustain” — Jem, Clockwork Prince.

“It is the mundanes who look at me and see something they do not understand—a boy who is not quite white and not quite foreign either.”
“Just as I am not human, and not demon either,” Tessa said softly.
His eyes softened. “You are human,” he said. “Never think you are not. I have seen you with your brother; I know how you care for him. If you can feel hope, guilt, sorrow, love—then you are human.” — Clockwork Angel.

What critics say:

“A purple page turner.” –Kirkus Reviews.

“The tale drags in places, but this crowdpleaser’s tension-filled conclusion ratchets toward a new set of mysteries.” —Steampunk.

Overall, this is an amazing read. And I would recommend you to read these books, if you haven’t already. And if you have, go read them again!

*P.S. If you read this review, and got the books spoiled for you, that’s your fault because I had put up a spoiler alert at the start of the review.*

Do share your thoughts about this review and also what you thought about the books!

About the cast:

Lily Collins, plays Clarrisa, aka Clary.

Jamie Campbell Bower, plays Jace Wayland, one of New York’s Shadowhunters, who falls for Clary. His character is very shrewd, fearless and self indulgent. Although he is also a person who doesn’t really open up to anyone, which Jamie, unfortunately didn’t manage to portray.

Robert Sheehan, plays Simon Lewis, a mundane with no special powers. He is Clary’s best friend since she could even remember, and miserably in love with her.

Other characters, such as Isabelle Lightwood played by Jemima West, Alec Lightwood played by Kevin Zegers, Lucian Graymark played by Aidan Turner, Jocelyn Fray played by Lena Headley, Magnus Bane played by Godfrey Geo and Hodge Starkweather played by Jared Harris were given secondary importance even though the books clearly gave them equal importance as Clary, Jace and Simon.

Pros of watching the movie:

• You don’t need to read the book.
• You’ll understand everything that’s going on even if you haven’t read the book.

Cons of watching the movie:

• You’ll want to kill the director. (If you’ve read the books.)
• It’ll be as if you’re being tortured. (If you’ve read the books.)
• You’ll want to kill everyone who comes near you. (If you’ve read the books.)
• YOU’LL WANT TO BURN EVERYTHING. (If you’ve read the books.)

About the music score:

There are around 20 songs in the movie, scattered. To be honest, I didn’t really see the need to have a music score, since the movie was already so influenced by animation and graphics. Anyway, the background score was worth mentioning since the song When Darkness Comes caught a special interest in me. The music score is composed by Atli Örvarsson.

Listen to the sound track here

Before the film was released, it was announced that a film adaptation of the second book City of Ashes, would start production in September 2013 with a 2014 release date. In August 2013 after the film opened below expectations, Kulzer, Constantin’s co-president, explained even if it performs moderately, it would warrant a sequel, noting increasing book sales, and soundtrack revenues. Although, the series is  now being rumored to be made into a daily soap. (I don’t know why they’re trying so hard.)

FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOKS. 

So, if you are a fan of books and were looking forward to watch the movie, then this is going to be a disappointment for you. If you are like me, a person who hates books being adapted into movies, then I’d rather you not watch it, because I’d been tortured to the limit after watching this movie. The movie is nothing like the book. It’s as if they’ve taken Cassandra’s book, stolen her setting and everything and then made it into a story of their own. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t watch it.

FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOKS.

Go read the books.

CRITICS SAY:

Slant Magazine – “The movie blasts by for a while as an odd and busy slice of highly watchable garbage.”

The A.V. Club –  “Borrowing every single component of its complicated plot from other sources, The Mortal Instruments is hodgepodge claptrap, but there’s a faint flicker of fun in its introducing-the-world passages.”

Reviews given by various people.

Official Poster of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. The poster shows (right to left) Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood and Simon Lewis.

Thank you for reading! Do tell your experience in watching the movie in the comments, and rate the movie.