Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones

Series: The Mortal Instruments

Book #: One

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 485
Published: March 27th, 2007

Reading Level: Young Adult

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.

It took me a while to really get into City of Bones. The book looked fantastic, but I couldn't push myself to begin it. Finally, I started reading it, and I could not put it down! The combination of action, adventure, and thrill was exciting and mentally kept me on my toes for every page turn. The demon world in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Series had me checking the shadows for Forsaken and repressing giggles.

Clarissa Fray, known as Clary in the books, was just a normal teenager with an imagination that constantly had her distracted. She was normal until she came home one day to find her mother gone and a demon in her room. Clary is swept away into the world of the demons and the demon slayers, Shadowhunters. I enjoyed reading about Clary. She was a great protagonists who kept me entertained. It was also easy to relate to her. Not only because she is almost the same age as me, but because she is just a normal teenage girl who has friends and does homework. Although the story is crazy and takes you into a whole new world, Clary brings back some of the reality to the story.

One of the main characters, Jace, is a Shadowhunter. He is dark, moody and very conceited. He acts like he is full of himself, but throughout the book, you can tell he is just a lost and lonely boy underneath his hard exterior. Even when he was being slightly rude or obnoxious, it was still hilarious. There were a few scenes where I could have laughed out loud at Jace and his retorts.

Simon was also a large part of the story. He is Clary's best friend and although he is just a mundane, or regular human, he played a big part in the overall story. I liked Simon in the beginning. I thought he was quite funny and protective over Clary. Around the middle of the novel, he began to get on my nerves. He was clinging to Isabelle and he was jealous of Jace.

If you haven't read this book, I would definitely recommend it! Look out for the Film Friday and my review of the second book, City of Ashes.