Author Event: Meeting Cassandra Clare & Michelle Hodkin

I got the chance to meet Cassandra Clare (for the third time) and Michelle Hodkin (for the first time) in Bethesda, MD on December 8, 2011. So, third time is a charm - you know that saying? Yeah, its totally legit. This was my third time meeting the always wonderful Cassandra Clare but I have to say this was my best experience, hands down. She took so much time with each person, she made a point to have a conversation with me. It was amazing. When I met her in NYC two days before this appearance I didn't get to say anything besides a simple Thank You. It was a bit of a letdown, if I'm being honest. It's not her fault, per say. She was talking to the girl in front of me (about her hair dye and how the box was in spanish, it was an entertaining conversation, I'll give her that) and I felt kind of rushed at this signing. (Though, there were a lot of people there, so its understandable) At this signing, the wait didn't seem long (I met some amazing people in line, so it was a lot of fun to talk about different books and such) and when I got up to her, I had plenty of time to tell her what I thought of Clockwork Prince (like the fact that I dropped it multiple times from shock) and then we talked about the Hunger Games, Julie Kagawa and her Iron Fey series...and just talked about books. It was nice, it was relaxing and it was probably the best book signing I've gone to, yet.

Book Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
(The Infernal Devices, #2)
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry; 497 pages

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.