The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare | Rating: ★★★★☆

“One must always be careful of books,” said Tessa, “and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”

When I first heard of this trilogy and how it was meant to be a prequel of The Mortal Instruments I thought to myself: how can she pull this off? How could anyone pull off such a risky move? I’m not opposed to prequels in any way, however, there was a massive part of me that was skeptical on how this might work at the end of the day. It’s no secret that I love the world of Shadowhunters that Clare has created for us, and I am admittedly a sucker for period pieces.

Which is why I gave it a chance. And I’m glad I did, in spite of its flaws, because it's certainly worth the read.

I think that it’s safe to say that I fell even further in love with this trilogy than I had with The Mortal Instruments series.

Which is rather shocking for me because I fell fast and hard for TMI’s characters when I finally did. For me, the selling point of this from the first novel of three up until the final pages: was how lovable the characters are — you feel so much sympathy for Tessa and the way she’s being treated at the start. And when everyone’s favorite old fashioned Shadowhunters come to the rescue — well, let’s just say this isn’t like most “damsel in distress” scenarios.


What’s nice about this series is the heart of it — these stories have a huge heart and isn’t something that you can avoid. And it’s all about finding your strength despite what cards life lays out for you.

Granted, this trilogy does play on the familiar YA formula of love triangles — but hold on to your hats, kids. This love triangle manages to have a good end to all ships involved — and the friendship that formed between the three involved in the triangle is one that is so strong every obstacle that came their way was virtually nothing when compared to their connection. Honestly — these three characters had so much love and respect for one another it was impossible for me to root for one character over the other. I loved each pairing that came with it and perhaps you will too. It's refreshing to have a love triangle where I didn't root for just one couple.

My only complaint in this trilogy is how quickly some things moved and that there were some characters in these stories I wished to know more about. And the dialogue was often iffy, sometimes repetitive and didn’t quite fit in with the time frame the story takes place in. It really, really had unfortunate moments which sounded like they were speaking presently instead of in the past. But again, this is a young adult series so this isn't all that shocking and can be easily overlooked.
For fans of the original series: you’ll find familiar faces, families and words in this story that tie it into the world we know in The Mortal Instruments. You'll see relatives from the past and get a good idea of our favorite Shadowhunters family tree that we, perhaps, would have not known had this trilogy not been printed. It's a delight to see how the worlds collide and how the history of it all meshes with what we already know. And yes, it has that signature sarcasm that we've come to love in Cass' writing.

So don't you fret!

Overall, the series is very entertaining and enjoyable. I would recommend it, gladly, to anyone who loves these sorts of magical worlds. But above all else, I would recommend it to those who enjoy the world in which it's set in.