Title: City of
Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Published: 2 July 2007 by Walker (Margaret McEldery
books too)
Length: 442 pages
Warnings: 13+
Source: the
library
Other info: The
rest of the series are: City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and
City of Lost Souls. Victorian spin-off
The Infernal Devices are called Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork
Princess. Another series set in LA 2013 will be published some day. A film of
City of Bones has been cast.
Summary : 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. . . .
Review: You
probably know the whole story anyway, but for the sake of consistency with my
other reviews, I’ll recount it here it’s a normal night at Pandemonium
Nightclub when Clary Fray and Simon go. But Clary starts seeing things-a boy
with a knife that no one else seems to be able to see. She walks in on him,and
two others, killing someone. And from there, she is pulled into the world of
the Shadowhunters, demon hunters that have been in existence for many years. As
well as handling this, and dealing with the disappearance of her mother, she
learns a lot about lots of different thngs. For example, that a war may be on
the verge of breaking out. And that her family is totally different from what
she thought it was.
I read the first three in this series a long time ago, but
never really getting into it. Then I started blogging. Then there was a huge
hype over City of Fallen Angels and Lost Souls. And I really enjoyed the
steampunk version...so I had another go with The Mortal Instruments...and I’m
really glad I did.
The world is one of the best things about City of Bones. It
takes into account lots of mythological creatures and works them in small
degrees-I’d definitely like to see more of these obscure paranormal entities.
The Shadowhunter world is full of likable characters. And
unlikable ones. Most of these are built up in such a way that we know enough
for one book, but there’s still things that can be found out later on in the
series.
As with The Infernal Devices, my favourite character is
Magnus Bane. He’s cocky, clever, wears glitter makeup, and holds parties for
his cat. That last thing makes him, by default, awesome. Then there’s Simon,
who’s really cute. Jace, Clary, Alec and Isabelle were interesting, but I
didn’t really care much for them in the
present day. Backgrounds for all four of them though should definitely
be explored further on in the series. And the MagnusxAlec hintings. Yay! They’d
make such a cute couple...
Plotwise, there’s a lot of aspects. The race to find the
Mortal Cup and Simon and Clary’s introductions to the paranormal world combined
makes for a lot of exciting things. like Simon transformation- the set up to
which made me laugh. Throughout, something is happening-you’ll learn something,
something’ll happen which needs to be acted on, or there’s some other big hook.
Cassandra writes with a nice balance of description, action
and sark. All characters are distinctive by mannerism and dialogue, and there’s something about it that keeps you
reading. You definitely need a whole day to get through this.
The Jace and Clary romance. It was going so well and seeing
them all loved up was really nice. And then the big reveal. Yes, it was a good plot
furtherer. But it made everything really really awkward. Incest...not really my
thing. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment, but it just made me a bit uneasy
about everything that happens between them.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a series I can’t wait to get
back in to.
Hi there! I know that the incest part might be awkward for you but I promise that it's not that bad and that it will get better. :) Great review!
ReplyDeletePrecious
Fragments of Life
I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I agree the world is probably the best part. And the JacexClary thing is hard to read sometimes but like Precious said, it does get better! Great review :).
ReplyDeleteI recently read this one, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. The only other Cassandra Clare book I've read is City of Ashes, and I think it was better than the first book. I'm excited to continue the series. Thanks so much for the review!
ReplyDelete