City of Bones
Quotes from the Book
We live and breathe words. .... It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt--I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted--and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.
Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you? “It’s biannual,” said Jem. “And no, this is not that meeting.
It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them.
They’re not hideous,” said Tessa. Will blinked at her. “What?” “Gideon and Gabriel,” said Tessa. “They’re really quite good-looking, not hideous at all.” “I spoke,” said Will, in sepulchral tones, “of the pitch-black inner depths of their souls.” Tessa snorted. “And what color do you suppose the inner depths of your soul are, Will Herondale?” “Mauve,” said Will.
I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you.
Tess, Tess, Tessa. Was there ever a more beautiful sound than your name? To speak it aloud makes my heart ring like a bell. Strange to imagine that, isn’t it – a heart ringing – but when you touch me that is what it is like: as if my heart is ringing in my chest and the sound shivers down my veins and splinters my bones with joy. Why have I written these words in this book? Because of you. You taught me to love this book where I had scorned it. When I read it for the second time, with an open mind and heart, I felt the most complete despair and envy of Sydney Carton. Yes, Sydney, for even if he had no hope that the woman he loved would love him, at least he could tell her of his love. At least he could do something to prove his passion, even if that thing was to die. I would have chosen death for a chance to tell you the truth, Tessa, if I could have been assured that death would be my own. And that is why I envied Sydney, for he was free. And now at last I am free, and I can finally tell you, without fear of danger to you, all that I feel in my heart. You are not the last dream of my soul. You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime’s worth. With hope at least, Will Herondale
Trains are great dirty smoky things," said Will. "You won't like it." Tessa was unmoved. "I won't know if I like it until I try it, will I?" "I've never swum naked in the Thames before, but I know I wouldn't like it." "But think how entertaining for sightseers," said Tessa, and she saw Jem duck his head to hide the quick flash of his grin.
Demon pox, oh demon pox Just how is it acquired? One must go down to the bad part of town Until one is very tired. Demon pox, oh demon pox, I had it all along— Not the pox, you foolish blocks, I mean this very song— For I was right, and you were wrong!" "Will!" Charlotte shouted over the noise, "Have you LOST YOUR MIND? CEASE THAT INFERNAL RACKET! Jem—" Jem, rising to his feet, clapped his hands over Will's mouth. "Do you promise to be quiet?" he hissed into his friend's ear. Will nodded, blue eyes blazing. Tessa was staring at him in amazement; they all were. She had seen Will many things—amused, bitter, condescending, angry, pitying—but never giddy before. Jem let him go. "All right, then." Will slid to the floor, his back against the armchair, and threw up his arms. "A demon pox on all your houses!" he announced, and yawned. "Oh, God, weeks of pox jokes," said Jem. "We're in for it now.
They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite
If no one cares for you at all, do you even really exist?
Reparations,” said Jem very suddenly, setting down the pen he was holding. Will looked at him in puzzlement. “Is this a game? We just blurt out whatever word comes next to mind? In that case mine is ‘genuphobia’. It means an unreasonable fear of knees.” “What’s the word for a perfectly reasonable fear of annoying idiots?” inquired Jessamine.
It's too late," she said. "Don't say that." His voice was half a whisper. "I love you, Tessa. I love you.
Jem is nothing but goodness. That he struck you last night only shows how capable you are of driving even saints to madness.
Will has always been the brighter burning star, the one to catch attention — but Jem is a steady flame, unwavering and honest. He could make you happy.
When Will truly wants something,” said Jem, quietly, “when he feels something — he can break your heart.
Will’s voice dropped. “Everyone makes mistakes, Jem.” “Yes,” said Jem. “You just make more of them than most people.” “I —” “You hurt everyone,” said Jem. “Everyone whose life you touch.” “Not you,” Will whispered. “I hurt everyone but you. I never meant to hurt you.” Jem put his hands up, pressing his palms against his eyes. “Will —” “You can’t never forgive me,” Will said in disbelief, hearing the panic tinging his own voice. “I’d be —” “Alone?” Jem lowered his hand, but he was smiling now, crookedly. “And whose fault is that?
He’s very pretty. For a human.” “He’s very broken,” said Magnus. “Like a lovely vase that someone has smashed. Only luck and skill can put it back together the way it was before.
This is about Tessa. I knew it was." Will flushed, a wash of color across the pallor of this face. "Not just her." "But you love her." Will stared at him. "Of course I do," he said finally. "I had come to think i would never love anyone, but I love her.
You speak of sacrifice, but it is not my sacrifice I offer. It is yours I ask of you," he went on. "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. But I love you enough to hope that you wil not care that I am being selfish in trying to make the rest of my life - whatever length - happy, by spending it with you. I want to be married to you, Tessa. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life." He looked up at her through the veil of silvery hair that fell over his eyes. "That is," he said shyly, "if you love me, too.
Did you just kiss me?" Will inquired. Magnus made a slip-second decision. "No." "I thought-" "On occasion the aftereffects of the painkilling spells can result in hallucinations of the most bizarre sort." "Oh," Will said. "How peculiar.
He bent to put his cheek against hers. His breath against her ear made her shudder with each deliberately spoken word. "I have wanted to do this," he said, "every moment of every hour of every day that I have been with you since the day I met you.
Lies and secrets, Tessa, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.
You’re seventeen,” Magnus said. “You can’t have wasted a life you’ve barely lived.
Oh, leave it,” said Jem, kicking Will, not without affection, lightly on the ankle. “She’s annexed my plan!” “Will,” Tessa said firmly. “Do you care more about the plan being enacted or about getting credit for it?” Will pointed a finger at her. “That,” he said. “The second one.
You haven't broken his heart yet, have you?" "No," Tessa said. Just torn my own in two. "I haven't broken his heart at all.
Astriola. That IS demon pox. You had evidence that demon pox existed and you didnt mention it to me! Et tu, Brute!' He rolled up the paper and hit Jem over the head with it.
We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them.
If you do not help me," Tessa said to Jem, "I swear, I will change into you, and I will lift him myself. And then everyone here will see what you look like in a dress." She fixed him with a look. "Do you understand?
Well,” Tessa said, sighting along the line of the knife, “you behave as if you dislike me. In fact, you behave as if you dislike us all.” “I don’t,” Gabriel said. “I just dislike him.” He pointed at Will. “Dear me,” said Will, and he took another bite of his apple. “Is it because I’m better-looking than you?
Did you know?
- Clockwork Prince is the second book in The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel to The Mortal Instruments.
- The story is set in Victorian London in the year 1878.
- The novel's prologue is titled "The Outcast Dead" and opens with Will Herondale at the Cross Bones graveyard.
- It was published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
- The trilogy centers on Tessa Gray, a shapechanging Downworlder living among the Shadowhunters.
About Cassandra Clare
More by Cassandra Clare
All books by Cassandra Clare →About the book
Clockwork Prince is the second novel in Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices trilogy, a Victorian-era prequel to her bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Set in 1878 London, it follows Tessa Gray, a young American shapechanger living among the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, a secretive order of half-angel demon slayers called Nephilim. When the Institute's leadership is threatened, Tessa and her allies race against a deadline to hunt down the sinister industrialist Axel Mortmain, whose army of clockwork automatons endangers the Nephilim.
As the search for Mortmain unfolds, the novel deepens the bond and rivalry between the Shadowhunter friends Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, whose parabatai relationship stands at the emotional center of the story. Themes of loyalty, hidden identity, self-sacrifice, and the tension between duty and desire run throughout, alongside the central love triangle that shapes Tessa's choices. The steampunk-tinged setting blends Victorian social restraint with supernatural danger.
A New York Times bestseller, Clockwork Prince helped cement Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles as a defining property of 2010s young adult fantasy. Praised for its character work and atmospheric period setting, it continues a trilogy that expanded a sprawling shared universe of interconnected series and remains popular among fans of Victorian and paranormal romance.
Key characters
- Tessa GrayProtagonist and narrator, a young shapechanger living at the London Institute
- Will HerondaleA Shadowhunter haunted by what he believes is a demonic curse
- Jem CarstairsWill's parabatai and closest friend, who becomes engaged to Tessa
- Charlotte BranwellHead of the London Institute, whose leadership is under threat
- Axel MortmainThe primary antagonist, an industrialist commanding clockwork automatons
Book details
- First published
- 2011
- Length
- 502 pages
- Reading time
- 15 hours
- Author
- Cassandra Clare
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Goodreads rating
- 4.42 (592k ratings) →
- First line
- “The fog was thick, muffling sound and sight.”
Series & reading order
- 1 Clockwork Angel
- 2 Clockwork Prince
- 3 Clockwork Princess
If you liked this, read…
- 1Clockwork AngelThe first book in the same Infernal Devices trilogy, introducing Tessa and the London Institute
- 2City of BonesCassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series set in the same Shadowhunter universe
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