Ya I had read "molecular biology of the gene" by watson, and I had a copy of "molecular biology of the cell". What "The Cell" appeals to me are the amazing graphical explanation. Since different chapters were written by different authors, readability is compromised...
...But if you have studied year 3 courses (cell biology), you would understand it's a good book for exam lol...
For developmental biology, it's all about basics even in the advanced course (not sure now). Any textbook would be fine. Gilbert's developmental biology has appealing figures and I recited it at that time.
Yes you have to read the research/review articles to understand some concepts in some advanced topics...I still remember it took me a long time to memorize the sequence of eventsrelating to nonsense mediated decay lol...