Review: City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Author: Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones

Series: The Mortal Instruments (#1)

ISBN: 9781416914280

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (March 27^th 2007)

Buy your copy: Kindle | Paperback | Hardcover

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“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” GoodReads’ blurb

Most people already know about this one. I’m probably the last one to jump into the Mortal Instrument’s train, and probably that means I’ve been living under a rock. Still, I finally got to read this, and I loved it so I’m going to share that, even if you’re fed up with the positive reviews!

I did something very interesting with City of Bones: I went in without an idea of what I’d find. I didn’t even read the blurb! I was told to read it by my lovely friends over at Starbooks, and I just grabbed it and got started. I don’t know if the surprise and delight would have been the same if I had read some background ahead, but.. . wow. I’m so happy that I went in with no preconceived ideas!

Everyone’s going to rave about Jace, about how wonderful a lead male character he is, about how funny and strong and fragile and protective, and even how infuriating he can be. For the record, I do agree – Jace is definitely one of the best guys ever! But, do you know who I loved, that almost never gets mentioned? Alec!

Alec, so serious and straightforward, and haughty, when in truth he’s just insecure and worried. In general, the support cast is, beyond a doubt, amazing – with their little quirks and personalities, each of them has enough backstory to warrant their own novel if Clare ever gets bored.

The backstory itself must be what truly hooked me, beyond the amazingly hot Jace, and beyond sweet Alec and perfect Magnus. I loved the twist to old myths, I loved the concept of Downworld...

I might not love the villain much, but I do understand him. He has a reason to act as he does, even if that reason stems from what I see as paranoia and egotism to the umpteenth, and then gone wrong.

I’ll be honest: I’ve done something I don’t like doing with City of Bones. I’ve gone and read the sequel before writing the review. There, it was that good.

So, if you’re like me and still don’t know this series... get started!