(The Mortal Instruments, #1)
By: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: March 27th, 2007
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre(s): YA Urban Fantasy/Romance
My Review: (4.5/5 stars*)
City of Bones is a spellbinding fantasy that has really cool and detailed world-building. Before I picked this book up I had heard multiple opinions—some were good some were not so good. Since the reviews seemed mixed I just had to find out for myself what I thought of it. I liked each of the characters for various reasons especially Simon. Simon's relationship with Clary is cute and their banter is funny and full of sarcasm. He's Clary's closest and basically only friend and he's adorably nerdy, and the only "normal" human in the book. As for Clary I wanted to feel a connection and see that she was this badass in disguise but she wasn't. She has a lot of potential to be a tough and strong heroine but so far her courage and bravery is all she's got going—no fighting demons on her own just yet. The story itself is pretty complex, they're many different characters, and small subplots. Though City of Bones is nearly 500 pages long I flew through it without much effort. The story moves forward at a decent pace however their were some scenes I skimmed because they were pretty unimportant. It's written in third-person which took a little getting used to because normally I love first-person narration but it worked out well and I just forgot about it. City of Bones mostly focuses on Clary and Jace though I'd have loved to have seen some more of Simon. Jace is the bad-boy type, he's a trained Shadowhunter whose a skilled warrior, he's very handsome, and he is really arrogant. Normally I hate men who act like jerks and are full of themselves but it's his defense mechanism; he's a good person underneath. Clary and Jace have a strange and interesting relationship. Now onward to Jace's friends and his fellow Shadowhunters - Isabelle wasn't the nicest character of the bunch but towards the end she softened quite a bit. Despite her brother Alec being just as cold I admired his loyalty to Jace—always sticking up for him even when he was in the wrong.
After witnessing some strange behavior in a club called Pandemonium Clary Fray investigates only to find her whole world turned upside-down. Trying to get back to her normal life a few days later she runs into the golden-haired guy from the club—Jace. He explains bits and pieces of what she saw the other night and that's when she gets the call. Her mother's been kidnapped and learning about the world of the Shadowhunter's seems to be the only way to get her back. Thrust into a world she never knew existed alongside her own Clary Fray soon discovers herself on a path her mother never wanted her to follow. As she begins to know more she learns of her past, discovers buried family secrets, and gets herself involved in a dangerous web of lies and truth.
Up until the end of the novel I was loving how the story was going and then suddenly as it approached the end something shocking happened. I nearly threw my book straight across the room, and started chant-screaming NO-NO-NO! Why you ask? Well let's just say things got super weird and a little warped and I wasn't expecting things to turn out the way that they did. My problem was with the end and what the author tries to sell you—which I totally don't buy—but for readers sake it gets a little bumpy and throws you for a huge loop. Anyways, I bought the second book as soon as I finished this one because I needed to know the truth and how the mess gets resolved. A couple other tiny issues that bothered me were the inconsistent personalities of some of the characters. I wasn't feeling the sudden shift of behavior that turned the story insideout and kind of made you go what the heck just happened? Since when does so and so act like this? I really enjoyed the creativeness of it all but unfortunately most of the writing didn't flow very well. I think that the intrigue of the story's concept, history, characters made me overlook these things since the rest was really entertaining which in a good book you can forgive it and I did.
Overall the Shadowhunter world is extremely captivating with vampires, werewolves, demons, and other paranormal beings wandering the streets and blending into modern day—with multiple dimensions—New York City. There are betrayals, unexpected turns, some brewing romance, and some fun action scenes. I loved the idea behind runes which are basically tattoos that give you special powers—they are super neat! I would like to see more explanations in the following books to connect and understand everything clearly because I like puzzles to have all the right pieces. Though this is a novel for young adults their is some innuendos and violence but nothing too bad. All in all it's a gripping read with a beautifully described and imaginative world with a handful of interesting characters. Fans of Urban Fantasy & Paranormal genres should give this book a chance because it really differentiates itself from other stories. I'm hopeful and excited to find out more about Clary, Jace, and Simon and their strangely amusing lives. City of Bones will pull you right out of your reading slump and push you into an exciting adventure. You'll either love this book or hate it and that's just the way it is, but so far I'm a fan!
City of Bones is a spellbinding fantasy that has really cool and detailed world-building. Before I picked this book up I had heard multiple opinions—some were good some were not so good. Since the reviews seemed mixed I just had to find out for myself what I thought of it. I liked each of the characters for various reasons especially Simon. Simon's relationship with Clary is cute and their banter is funny and full of sarcasm. He's Clary's closest and basically only friend and he's adorably nerdy, and the only "normal" human in the book. As for Clary I wanted to feel a connection and see that she was this badass in disguise but she wasn't. She has a lot of potential to be a tough and strong heroine but so far her courage and bravery is all she's got going—no fighting demons on her own just yet. The story itself is pretty complex, they're many different characters, and small subplots. Though City of Bones is nearly 500 pages long I flew through it without much effort. The story moves forward at a decent pace however their were some scenes I skimmed because they were pretty unimportant. It's written in third-person which took a little getting used to because normally I love first-person narration but it worked out well and I just forgot about it. City of Bones mostly focuses on Clary and Jace though I'd have loved to have seen some more of Simon. Jace is the bad-boy type, he's a trained Shadowhunter whose a skilled warrior, he's very handsome, and he is really arrogant. Normally I hate men who act like jerks and are full of themselves but it's his defense mechanism; he's a good person underneath. Clary and Jace have a strange and interesting relationship. Now onward to Jace's friends and his fellow Shadowhunters - Isabelle wasn't the nicest character of the bunch but towards the end she softened quite a bit. Despite her brother Alec being just as cold I admired his loyalty to Jace—always sticking up for him even when he was in the wrong.
After witnessing some strange behavior in a club called Pandemonium Clary Fray investigates only to find her whole world turned upside-down. Trying to get back to her normal life a few days later she runs into the golden-haired guy from the club—Jace. He explains bits and pieces of what she saw the other night and that's when she gets the call. Her mother's been kidnapped and learning about the world of the Shadowhunter's seems to be the only way to get her back. Thrust into a world she never knew existed alongside her own Clary Fray soon discovers herself on a path her mother never wanted her to follow. As she begins to know more she learns of her past, discovers buried family secrets, and gets herself involved in a dangerous web of lies and truth.
Up until the end of the novel I was loving how the story was going and then suddenly as it approached the end something shocking happened. I nearly threw my book straight across the room, and started chant-screaming NO-NO-NO! Why you ask? Well let's just say things got super weird and a little warped and I wasn't expecting things to turn out the way that they did. My problem was with the end and what the author tries to sell you—which I totally don't buy—but for readers sake it gets a little bumpy and throws you for a huge loop. Anyways, I bought the second book as soon as I finished this one because I needed to know the truth and how the mess gets resolved. A couple other tiny issues that bothered me were the inconsistent personalities of some of the characters. I wasn't feeling the sudden shift of behavior that turned the story insideout and kind of made you go what the heck just happened? Since when does so and so act like this? I really enjoyed the creativeness of it all but unfortunately most of the writing didn't flow very well. I think that the intrigue of the story's concept, history, characters made me overlook these things since the rest was really entertaining which in a good book you can forgive it and I did.
Overall the Shadowhunter world is extremely captivating with vampires, werewolves, demons, and other paranormal beings wandering the streets and blending into modern day—with multiple dimensions—New York City. There are betrayals, unexpected turns, some brewing romance, and some fun action scenes. I loved the idea behind runes which are basically tattoos that give you special powers—they are super neat! I would like to see more explanations in the following books to connect and understand everything clearly because I like puzzles to have all the right pieces. Though this is a novel for young adults their is some innuendos and violence but nothing too bad. All in all it's a gripping read with a beautifully described and imaginative world with a handful of interesting characters. Fans of Urban Fantasy & Paranormal genres should give this book a chance because it really differentiates itself from other stories. I'm hopeful and excited to find out more about Clary, Jace, and Simon and their strangely amusing lives. City of Bones will pull you right out of your reading slump and push you into an exciting adventure. You'll either love this book or hate it and that's just the way it is, but so far I'm a fan!
Synopsis:
When fifteen-year-old
Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she
hardly expects to witness a murder--much less a murder committed by
three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre
weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the
police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there
is nothing--not even a smear of blood--to show that a boy has died.
Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.
I guess I need to finally read this book to see if I love it or hate it. Thanks for the great review! The Shadowhunter world has me really intrigued. I do know that I saw a preview for the movie and it looked good. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! & Yes, I definitely think it's worth a read - the Shadowhunter world is really neat. & I was motivated by seeing all the movie commercials too and finally decided to pick the book off my shelf and read it :P I wasn't disappointed and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)
DeleteThank you Kay for sharing your thoughts, I hope you get to read it soon!
Best Wishes!
-Seirra