City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones, Book One (of three) in The Mortal Instruments

Author: Cassandra Clare

Review:

So I've heard a lot of complaints about this book. From people I know and online and I just don't get it. It's a fun read. It's an interesting concept. People complain about how this book is too much like other books and they got so bored yadda yadda yadda.

Give me a break, people!

Show me a story idea that I can't already find in hundreds of other books and I'll get you some cheese from the moon. Get over yourselves!

As far as I was concerned, the book is a fun ride. I like the characters, I like the action, I like the dialogue and yes! I even like the descriptions and the similes (not all of them, but most of them worked in a creative way that appealed to me).

For me the characters progressed well. When there were contradictions or what seemed to be a bit of dramatics on the parts of the characters--well, they are teenagers. And teenagers are dramatic people, hence I think kids who read these books will totally get that. It might bother some adults.

The pacing moved well, but just a word of warning: I grew up on books like Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Dude, you can't get slower books than those if you tried, and yet I LOVE THEM! So I might not be the best person to talk about whether or not people can get into this book. I did, from page one.

Quick Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover):  496
Publisher: McElderry Books and Simon and Schuster
Copyright: March 2007

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....