Here is a little background info for anyone that hasn’t read this trilogy. The Infernal Devices is a period drama dated in the 1800s. It is a somewhat spin-off of the main 6 book series, The Mortal Instruments, written by Cassandra Claire. There has been a movie adaptation and a Netflix series for the Mortal Instruments, but it hasn’t done the books justice as far as online critics go. I haven’t read that mainstream book set. I’m not that invested… but I have read all of the different spins offs and am waiting for the second book to the Chain of Gold to be released in March.
I first read The Infernal Devices in form 3 (year 9), and I remember crying a lot at the ending. I read the epilogue over and over and cried every time. Other than that, I moved on pretty quickly without giving it any further thought. I went on to read more non-fiction economics/politics books. However, out of pure boredom, I decided to just for fun reread it at the beginning of quarantine. Little did I know that ‘just for fun’ could turn into a black hole for this whole franchise.
Cassandra Claire’s writing is beyond words, the storylines, the characters, the small links and the nostalgia that she embeds into all her trilogies. It’s smart, actually, and business savvy. As a consumer, I’ve grown attached to one trilogy, but it somewhat continues in all her other books, the characters live on, or they are mentioned, and I think I have to read it.
It’s strange to me that the outcomes of the books are, in reality, a novelty and yet also the best-case scenarios. Whether it be The Infernal Devices with Will, Tessa and Jem or The Dark Artifices with Julian and Emma, when it comes to the romantic relationships, there is no sacrifice or after the struggle of whatever the problem, in the end, everything is ok.
Let’s specifically talk about Will, Jem and Tessa (sorry for the spoilers in advance). Tessa doesn’t choose between Will and Jem. She goes on to have romantic relations with both separately, Jem two decades after due to him becoming a silent brother and then playing a fairly large role in The Mortal Instruments.
I have read that some fans say it’s the beauty of the series for the heroine not to have to make that decision. Creating an ending where it is plausible to love two people at once destroys tropes and makes an unlikely ending compared to the overdone love triangle fiasco.
But can we think about this for a second – Will dies of old age after having a family with Tessa, Tessa has a family with Jem two centuries after, Jem will eventually die to join Will, and when Tessa eventually dies, what happens with all of them in the afterlife? Or are we just supposed to go on thinking Tessa will never die because she has the capacity to live forever?
I think about these things way more than I should…
Further news, if anyone reading this loved The Infernal Devices as much as I did, then you’ll be happy to know that there might be a BBC series adaptation and also Cassandra Claire is writing a new trilogy, the first book is out about Will and Tess and their kids etc.! It’s called Chain of Gold, and yes, I have read it, and I’m hooked!