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cobWhat: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Who: Margaret K. McElderry Books

When: March 27th 2007

How: Purchased.

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.

3cats2City of Bones centres on fifteen year old Clary Fray. Her life is changed when she witnesses a demon killing at her favourite club, Pandemonium. The next day, she has a fight with her mother, and storms out of the house. After screening a number of calls, she finally answers. Her mother tells her to stay away from the house, and to not come back. And then – silence. Of course Clary doesn’t listen. She has to go home, and see if her mother is okay. When she arrives, her mother is gone. But the apartment isn’t as empty as Clary originally thought.

With three teenage Shadowhunters (people who are half human and half angel – also called Nephilim – who live their lives to kill demons) as companions (one who is especially good looking, and especially jerky), Clary is pulled into a world she never even knew existed, and begins a journey that she will never forget.

I began reading City of Bones before I knew it was being made into a movie. So now I have perfect pictures of everyone in my head, and I really hope the cast lives up to them.

But moving on. I, for one, am a sucker for books written in the first person. I love knowing what the character is thinking, and feeling during every sentence of the book. City of Bones is written in the third person, and although I can kind of understand why, I personally would have liked to see it written in Clary’s point of view.

Overall, I did like this book. I was expecting another vampire falls in love with human girl story, and was pleasantly surprised when it was nothing like that.

I liked Clary as a character, although at times she seemed a bit older than fifteen/sixteen, and sometimes a little too confident for a girl of that age.

Jace is my favourite character, but that’s not anything new. I always like the jerky, good looking, troubled characters.

I liked that the background information of the Shadowhunters and the Shadow World were given throughout the story, and not just given to me in a boring chapter long explanation. I never felt like I didn’t understand a reference (unless I was supposed to), and I liked that.

Without ruining anything for people who have not read this book, all I can say is that THE ENDING ANNOYED ME SUPREMELY. And not just the ending as in the last page/sentence, I mean the ending as in the last few chapters. I was annoyed, and disappointed, and ever since, I have been trying to come up with excuses for what happened.

So, overall, I enjoyed this book, and I will definitely read Cassandra Clare’s other books (especially those in The Mortal Instruments series).

I would recommend this book to lovers of the paranormal.

© 2013, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

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Posted on: June 5, 2013 • By: Chiara

13 Responses to Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

  1. Book Blather says:

    Are you reading this in preparation for the movie release? I’m just reading the Hunger Games trilogy now, having seen the first movie, and feel that I should have read the books first not second now!

    • Yes, I decided to read The Mortal Instruments books, because I found out the movie is coming out (I am so excited!). I’ve read all of the books that are out, and I am waiting on the last one to be published! I hate waiting, haha.
      I read The Hunger Games books before the movies, and I’m glad I did now. I liked the book better than the first movie.
      If a movie adaptation of a novel comes out, and I want to see it, I usually try and read the book first. In general, they are better :)
      Have you read any of The Mortal Instruments books?

      • Book Blather says:

        I read the first one a really long time ago and wasn’t a fan so I think I might just stick to the movies with this one. :-)

      • Book Blather says:

        Oh and I read her new one in Victorian London and was similarly unmoved, so maybe her style of prose simply doesn’t work for me for some reason.

        • I am not a major fan of her works, to be honest. My favourite of The Mortal Instruments book was the third one. But I like reading them because they’re easy, I want to know what happens, and I love Jace’s character :)
          I haven’t read any of The Infernal Devices books, but people have told me that it is better than The Mortal Instruments. I will have to check it out!
          Have you read any other novels-turned-movies-books?

          • Book Blather says:

            A few. From the last year though probably just Beautiful Creatures (I wasn’t that impressed). I’m looking forward to the movie adaptions of Divergent and Vampire Academy though as those are two series I’ve LOVED! :-)

          • I want to read Beautiful Creatures – I didn’t get around to seeing it either.
            I am so excited about Vampire Academy!
            Have you read any Vampire Diaries books?

          • Book Blather says:

            A long time ago I did – when I was a teen – and I really liked them then (when they were just a trilogy). The new VD books are actually written by someone else, not LJ Smith. :-(

          • Yes! I loved the original series. I was also a fan of the sequel series that Smith wrote, but when I found out that the newest ones aren’t even written by her, I decided not to read them.
            Have you watched the show?

          • Book Blather says:

            Yep! It was just too tempting! I was disappointed at first but it grew on me over time. :-)

          • I love it sooo much. It’s definitely my guilty pleasure! I think they picked Ian Somerhalder perfectly for Damon (Team Delena all the way).
            Originally I was disappointed, like you said, as it does not really follow the books at all. But once I began to see it as a separate thing, I enjoyed it a lot more :D

  2. The ending is so wow..LOL Totally shocked me!

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