Review: City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA


My rating: 3 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. . . . 

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.

Ooook... with all the hype surrounding this series I thought I would bump it up on my TBR list and finally read it.

Clary Fray has been a normal human girl for almost 15 years until she finds out that she is not. She is half human/half angel. This book is mostly about how she comes to find out the truth about her past and how certain events led to her mother keeping these truths a secret from her.

I think this wraps it up nicely. :-)

Cassandra Clare did a good job in creating an interesting world with potential for more growth. What I think she could have done was to spend more time in developing her characters more and working through her scenes a bit more so that they made more sense.

I liked Clary but I didn't think she was all that special or interesting. There were moments where I think the author could have written her to be more special and interesting but she cut it short every time. I don't know if the author was hoping to build some mystery to Clary so that she can give us an AHA moment later in another book but whatever it is it didn't work. Clary was just Clary... rather blah.
Jace. Oh Jace. Why oh why Jace? I seriously don't understand the appeal. I mean there are tons of people out there on the internet drooling over this guy and I'm stumped as to why. First of all this guy is a total jerk. I mean there is nothing lovable about him. I mean NOTHING. When he shows concern for Clary it's more out of duty than that he is falling for her. Which is why when they have their kissing scene it didn't seem natural to me. It just didn't sorry. I do worry that girls out there will think behavior like this is ok. It's not girlies. In fact when guys are jerks it gets old real fast. That's why perhaps I wasn't as tolerant of his behavior in this book.

I liked the other characters just fine. They all needed more character development but were ok for the moment. Valentine, the EVIL ONE, is a douche bag but didn't seem very scary to me.

There is no doubt that this book was full of action. From the beginning it kicks off with some drama. However, I read this via audio book and it took me longer than I would have liked to get through the book. I found myself listening to parts and having to go back to re-read those parts to make sense of it. It was they way she wrote the scenes that it was hard to follow all of the action that took place.

As interesting as this world was it was equally if not more predictable...(Well except for Alec. I didn't see that coming or I just didn't pay as much attention to him.) Like the big cliffhanger...I was calling that half way through the book. ALL OF IT! I didn't even mind it when it all unfolded the way I knew it would. I think I didn't mind it because I'm thinking that Cassandra Clare will resolve this whole twist/mess in the next few books. WELL THAT'S WHAT I'M HOPING FOR BECAUSE IT IS PRETTY JACKED UP IF IT STAYS THAT WAY. Which leads me to the this little bit... I guess Cassandra Clare started her career as a writer by writing fan fiction and she tried this line of writing during that period in time. If she likes this kind of love I will admit that I will be a nervous parent. My son and nieces have been reading this series with me and I don't want them thinking some crazy ideas because of this little surprise Clare drops on us at the end of this book.

With all that said... It's an ok read. I go into every book thinking nothing but what is unfolding before me and I try not to read other reviews too much. I think that this world is unique in its own right but there are similarities to other famous stories. Characters are ok but not as kick ass as I thought they would be. You will be entertained but I personally wasn't wowed.

On to the next one! :-)





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