Review of City of Bones

City of Bones: Mortal Instruments #1 
by Cassandra Clare

Pages: 485

Pub. Date: March 27, 2007

Genre: YA Fantasy

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "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."

Clary Fray is a normal teenager living in New York City until one night she witnesses a murder at a night club.....a murder which only she can see!  That night Clary also encounters the Shadowhunters, whose sole purpose is to fight demons that roam the earth.  Clary is confused with the fact that she could see these Shadowhunters and the murder, yet no one else could- even her best friend, Simon, who was there with her at the night club.  Without giving away too much, Clary ends up involved with the Shadowhunters and thrown into their world. The author, Cassandra Clare, creates a literary world unlike any other I have been in.  Her story captivated me from the beginning and I was truly immersed in Clary's story.  Simpley said: I LOVED this book.

The characters that Clare created and the situations she put them in had me consumed. It was one of those books where I would be thinking about the characters and the plot even when I wasn't reading it!  This book is 485 pages and normally when a book is that long I find it to be self-indulgent and monotonous at times, but I wasn't bored for a second.  My favorite character, Jace, is a Shadowhunter whom Clary ends up meeting the night of the murder.  The witty dialogue between Clary and Jace had me laughing out loud.  I adored Jace's clever banter.  He had me at his first sardonic remark.  The main obstacle in Clary and Jace's relationship nearly destroyed me. Heartbreaking. I was fuming towards the end of this book and if you have read this novel, you know what I am referring to.  I'm hoping Clare will remedy this situation in the second book.  

Yes, Clare has a love triangle in this book, but it was done so well in my opinion. Normally the love triangle drives me nuts, but I thought it brought to light many characteristics about Simon/Clary/Jace that we normally wouldn't see.  How could you not root for the good guy, Simon?  He's everything a girl could want and he is Clary's most loyal friend.  I found myself rooting for him, but when it came down to it, I was ultimately on Team Jace. (This shouldn't be a surprise if you know me. I'm a huge Team Gale fan, which tends to upset people.)

I know many people compared this series to J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter.  Umm. Sure. I find J.K. Rowling to be extremely entertaining, but not exotic. At all.  City of Bones is like Harry Potter on steroids. This novel is an urban fantasy with way more edge.  Although the worlds that Clare and Rowling create are remarkable, I think the comparisons end there.  

After reading City of Bones, I immediately went on Amazon and bought the next two books in the series.  I hear there is a fourth book coming out March of 2011. I don't know too much about it though.  I also heard that there is a trilogy of prequels called the Infernal Devices, but since it's 145 years before City of Bones, many of the characters that I have come to love won't be in it.  Lastly, word on the street is that this book and/or series has been optioned by Unique Features. I think that this book would translate perfectly to the big screen!  With that said, I liked this book more than Twilight.  I would pick Jace over Edward any day. I'll try to stop gushing about this book for now, but if you haven't read it, you really need to! 

Buy It Here:

The Series Book Trailer: