Book Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments Book 1) (no spoilers)

Book: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments Book 1
Publication: March 2007
Source: Local Library
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

My Thoughts:

City of Bones was a book I really wanted to like because I wanted to go see the movie in August. I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed City of Bones although it is not my favorite book. I have heard a lot of good things about City of Bones and when I forgot my book at home on Tuesday I quickly hurried over to the library to check out a random book. City of Bones was going to be on my TBR list for this summer so it was the perfect time to get the book done. I read it at a pretty fast pace.

The beginning of City of Bones is pretty confusing as we are thrown right into the shadowhunter world. The book quickly picks up and I didn't want to stop once it got good. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style at first because the third person writing style made it really hard to connect with the characters. Eventually I got over it and fell in love with the characters anyways.

Clary is the main character of City of Bones. She doesn't know anything about this shadowhunter world until she meets Jace, Isabelle, and Alec. The next day she is attacked by a demon and her mother goes missing. The only people that can help her are Jace, Isabelle, and Alec. Clary and her friend Simon go on an amazing adventure discovering many new things about themselves and the shadowhunting world.

This book is jammed full of action and suspense with a mix of romance and a love triangle. This book is defiantly not real life. Nothing in this book is relestic, but I enjoyed it anyways. I loved and hated the character of Jace and Simon. Clary, Isabelle, and Alec were amazing characters. Magnus Bane who you will meet in the book quickly became one of my favorite villains. There were a lot of side characters such as Valentine leader of the uprising who really added to this book.

My only complaint about City of Bones was the ending. I finished the book late into the night and I was a bit disappointed when I got to the end. I have to say I was expecting a cliff hanger, but I was suspecting an action packed cliff hanger not the mellow ending I got. I'm excited to read the second book City of Ashes and find out what happens to Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon.


Thanks for reading


Rachael