Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Cover: 4

Characters: 5

Plot: 5

Setting: 5

Writing: 5

SUMMARY

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.

REVIEW

When I saw this, I thought the Shadowhunters were the bad guys here, and when I was formally introduced to Jace, I thought he was going to be this forbidden love thing that happened between Clary and Jace if they were the bad guys, and I knew Clary was going to end up siding with the good guys, and she was going to end up dating Jace because of what I'd heard about the books. But, oh, I was so happily wrong. Forbidden love almost never turns out right (The Iron Fey, but in the end it was all good; Romeo and Juliet, this is self-explanatory) so I was very happy when the Shadowhunters were actually the good guys. 

I actually didn't know that the Mortal Instruments series had that much buzz surrounding it, even after the series was basically done, until Ms. Clare made the horrible decision of extending it. I've read all four books, and I think that the ending to City of Glass was good enough and City of Fallen Angels shouldn't have come out. It would've been better if she just focused on trying to finish the Infernal Devices. But the first book was very good. I really liked how everything was neatly laid out and there was enough romance that it didn't get take away from the book but it still made me giddy with anticipation and excitement.

I'm pretty sure you all are aware of the twist that came at the end that literally had me screaming in frustration, but I knew that the second book would have a lot in store for Jace and Clary's relationship. I just really hoped that the twist would get resolved, but I sort of knew that it would be, because all three books had been out and I'd come into this series late—thankfully. The settings in this book were very well described, and I felt like I was a Shadowhunter by the way Ms. Clare so beautifully and accurately depicted the scenes, characters, and props. Brava, Ms. Clare!