Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Do you have a favorite author?  Is this author your favorite because they write the exact story you want to read . . . over and over and over again?  Characters names may change, the book may be set in a different country, but overall, you're getting exactly what you wanted because nothing ever changes and yet you are still rewarded with the refreshing sense of wondering "what's going to happen next?!" even though you already know.  Cassandra Clare is not my favorite author - but I do have one, and I love her books for just this reason.  If Cassandra Clare was my favorite author, this book would have sent me to book heaven (which I imagine looks something like Beast's library in Disney's Beauty and the Beast).  As it is, however, I like Cassandra Clare well enough that her books always keep me very entertained (and up way past my bedtime).

Clockwork Angel is book one of a new prequel series for The Mortal Instruments.  I very much enjoyed learning about some of the history behind what happens later in the other series as well as the steampunk feel of this world.  The characters, however, felt somewhat recycled (girl who doesn't know what she is meets boy who hates life and wants to push said girl away -until book 3 I'm sure) but as I said before, when you enjoy a story it usually isn't due to the extreme originality, but more to the familiarity.  Oh, and the fact that Magnus Bane (lovely, hilarious man that he was in The Mortal Instruments) just so happens to be in this series due to the longevity that his warlock blood provides him.  So hurrah for that!