Dear Ms. Clare,
I do not know if you’ll actually ever happen upon this (here’s for trying), but whatever the case, let this be a letter for all those who have read The Infernal Devices, and love the series as I do.
I fell in love with books as a child (after I got over the whole, “Oh, learning to read is a drat task!” conundrum, of course), but it wasn’t until Harry Potter when I realized the depths that that love went to. I was then 11 years old (how appropriate, no?) when I realized this dream. It was not so much the first dream of my soul, but rather the first dream that made me aware of my soul. I suddenly felt the great responsibility of carrying a burden, in the way of a 12 year old who has positively no idea the nature, weight, or reason of what she carries – she only knows that she’s entered a contract of love, not heartbreak.
For awhile, the girl found her way on her own. Harry Potter introduced her to the world of classical literature, and her awareness grew. As did her burden. She found friends in Austen, Bronte, Carroll, Shakespeare and more. High School introduced her to Dickens, Wilde, Spencer, Wordsworth, Shelley, Pope, and her beloved Augustine. But they came after.
People often say, “Be careful what you wish for!” Truthfully, wishes we wish for now are rarely answered by a fairy godmother. But words. “Words have the power to change us.” A simple and evident truth! I have often thought, ever since I learned that there’s an effect after every cause, and that books are a cause, that we should say, “Be careful what you read,” or rather, “be careful how you read.”
Looking back, it’s kind of scarily coincidental (or not?) how I picked up Clockwork Angel right when I was learning that reading all books with an open-heart was not necessarily good. Open-mind, yes. An open-heart, though… Change is good. And many books have changed me for the better. But, I also learned that not all books will be the castle on the cloud I thought they were. Some can change one for the worse.
I have no idea what prompted me to pick up Clockwork Angel that day. I was out of town for a soccer tournament, hanging in a bookstore in between games. My ventures into the realm of YA were incredibly limited, and I hadn’t even heard of The Mortal Instruments at that point. But I picked it up (I admit, there was probably a large bias due to the beautiful cover), read the synopsis, and bought it on the spot. That was the fall the book came out.
I immediately connected with Tessa. Her love of books was palpable, and I know that this all sounds crazy and weird and you must be wondering what you have done to me, but Tessa helped show me how to properly love books. Tessa and Will, really. They would run around and breathe out quotes, which taught me to look for the moments in books that really counted. Will, saying that he sometimes pretends he’s a character helped me look for the characters worth admiring. Tessa, drawing strength from her familiar friends and turning to them when she had nowhere else to go, but also, learning how to act without them, to act as her own character, taught me independence.
And of course, Will and Tessa introduced me to some new friends. I read A Tale of Two Cities the subsequent spring break, and there have only been two other occasions when I have loved a book as much as I loved that one. I’ve come to adore Tennyson and Wilkie Collins. I want to read The Castle of Otranto.
Yet, there is so much more to this series than Tessa and her books. Tessa herself is amazing. She’s a Victorian girl, with Victorian Values, in Whovian language, but she also has the spirit of a warrior. Honestly, it is because I respect her so much as a wise, firm, courageous, yet humble woman that I know our similarities stop at our love of books. Humility has never been my strong suit (as this outrageously long letter is proving), but Tessa makes me want it.
Jem was, believe it our not, the first boy I fell in love with in this story. When I read that first book, it was Jem who I adored. Will stood nowhere near him, in my eyes, and what a shock it was when that second book rolled around. Jem was a saint, and Will was not. I loathe changing my opinions (yet another fault), and it was hard for me to accept how these two boys grew into men – yet altogether natural.
Honestly, I love all the characters in this trilogy. But Jem, Will, and Tessa are the three I feel for. In some ways, they remind me of the Trinity, in how they are connected in a circle of love, three people, but one person. I did not come to feel that until Clockwork Princess came out. I did not expect to feel that. I expected to be devastated to part from my beloved characters. I expected to be satisfied with the ending. I even had faith that I would love it! There have been many books and series that I have read, modern and classic, and I have loved many of them. But sometimes there comes along a special book, not necessarily special to the world, but special to you. And it does something that I didn’t even know a book could do.
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