The Clockwork Ghost | York #2

[She] was awakened in the middle of the night by the strangest sounds. Clicking sounds. Scuttling sounds.

“Hello,” said a tiny voice.

… With trembling fingers, Miss Millie reached for the solar lamp on her table, flicked it on.

Hundreds of tiny silver spiders scuttled across her ceiling, over the furniture, on the floor. On the thinnest gossamer chain, a single spider inched down to dangle in front of Miss Millie’s shocked, white face. It had three emerald eyes, slightly off-kilter.

“Hello?” it said.

Miss Millie screamed.

The Clockwork Ghost by Laura Ruby is the second book in the York trilogy. While continuing the three friends’ work on the Old York Cipher, it also throws a few huge twists into the fray. This sequel sets up the series to become one of my all-time favorites.

Plot

It was only a few weeks ago that the Biedermann twins, Tess and Theo, along with their friend Jaime Cruz, followed the secrets of the Morningstarrs’ cipher further than anyone had in its century-and a-half history—and destroyed their beloved home in the process.

But the Old York Cipher still isn’t solved. The demolition of 354 W. 73rd Street only revealed the next clue in the greatest mystery of the modern world, and if Tess, Theo, and Jaime want to discover what lies at the end of the puzzle laid into the buildings of New York by its brilliant, enigmatic architects, they will need to press on.

But doing so could prove even more dangerous than they know. It is clear that the Morningstarr twins marshaled all the strange technology they had spent their lives creating in the construction of the Cipher, and that technology has its own plans for those who pursue it.

It’s also clear that Tess, Theo, and Jaime are not the only ones on the trail of the treasure. As enemies both known and unknown close in on them from all sides and the very foundations of the city seem to crumble around them, they will have to ask themselves how far they will go to change the unchangeable—and whether the price of knowing the secrets of the Morningstarrs is one they are willing to pay.

from Amazon

As with the first book, The Clockwork Ghost has an intricate plot full of twists and turns. Ruby finds myriad creative ways to hide clues for the Cipher—one is hidden in a fore-edge painting on a book, something I didn’t know existed until reading that scene and looking it up.

If this were another book in which Theo, Tess, and Jaime just tried to solve the Cipher, it would be interesting enough. But as the book progresses, three major plot twists enter the picture. They’re pulled off excellently; they sucked me into the book (and carried me right over to the third one, which I’m already halfway through) and I couldn’t stop reading. If I say anything more than that, I’ll be ruining your enjoyment of these moments, so just…go read the book.

Characters

I won’t describe all the character’s personalities again—if you want to know that, read my review of The Shadow Cipher here. In this book, the author develops everyone’s personalities, making them into real, living people. And as with the last book, their interactions with each other and constant jokes—whether intention or unintentional—had me laughing throughout.

Jaime is still my least favorite of the three protagonists, but he gets more developed in this book. Rather than having a central characteristic to define him, like Tess’s anxiety and Theo’s overly logical thinking, his primary trait is not a trait at all. It’s just a hobby. He draws almost everything he sees, including writing every clue and drawing copies of pictures they find. However, many scenes dive into his mind and his fears, forming him into a deeper protagonist than he appeared in book one.

As I mentioned in my review of The Shadow Cipher, there’s a subtle romantic subplot between Tess and Jaime. While frequent blog readers will know I am no fan of romantic subplots—or romantic main plots—the author writes this one exceptionally well. Nothing is specified; frequent hints make the characters’ feelings clear.

The characters are excellent all around, from six-year-old Cricket (who has become one of my favorite book characters, period) to her raccoon Karl. The raccoon even gets some scenes from his point of view, his overly formal voice narrating everything.

I could go on about the characters, but you get the point. They are amazing.

Theme & Content Warnings

The author slips in quite a few modern themes, such as feminism and the evils of colonialism. Tess and other female characters often bemoan how ladies have been oppressed and restricted in the past, and how certain norm-shattering women were looked down on.

Jaime remembers how his mom, a black, female scientist, ran into opposition from some when she tried to pursue a professional career. Later, an older woman on a train eyes him suspiciously and grips her computer bag close, apparently assuming Jaime will steal it because he’s black. He mentally denounces this and monologues for a couple of paragraphs about how people like him were treated in the past.

Ruby also condemns past treatment of the Indians, commenting on how the Puritans came to America, thinking the entire land was automatically theirs for the taking.

What the book says isn’t wrong, and I agree with most of it. But the author’s statements tie heavily into some modern radical movements that I would not agree with. So proceed with caution and take care to assess what’s true and what isn’t.

As well as the characters and plot, content warnings in this book are more than the previous one. The police officer who uses food names as a substitute for profanity is back. Twice, the book states Tess swears, which is completely out of character for her, but doesn’t include the word. The same happens with Jaime. God’s name is used in vain four times, twice in English and twice in German. A villain says half of a vulgar phrase, leaving off and only implying the actually vulgar half. When the protagonists visit a pool, it’s said the other teens there wear as little as possible (no further detail is given).

Characters make lots of pop culture references, from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to Lego. Songs by Taylor Swift and others are referenced.

And of course, just like every other book in this genre, the kids repeatedly lie and sneak around to continue work on the Cipher. They steal a couple of items from museums in order to investigate them. During these scenes of lying or stealing, one character will often express doubts, but ultimately, they conclude it’s a necessary evil.

Overall

The Clockwork Ghost is an awesome book. An intriguing, suspenseful plot and deep characters make for an enjoyable reading experience. A handful of content warnings may give some readers pause, but it’s overall a clean book. While elements of this alternate New York City differ from our world, readers will learn some real-world history too.

If you read and liked the first book, read this one. It won’t disappoint you.

Note: I link the author website below, but be careful checking out Laura Ruby’s other books. Some research shows most of them are not appropriate for readers of any age.

Thanks for reading!