City of Bones

Cassandra Clare

Apr 2009 · The Mortal Instruments Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Discover this first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

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.

Ratings and reviews

I understand that this was the author's first book but seriously. Did they not have any editor or proof reader to support before publishing? The amount of times I found the lack of description is so annoying that even though I'm interested in the story itself, I won't give another chance and read the next books. They were standing in the hallway, now suddenly there is a desk and it's a room?! I am a person who visualize everything they read and this is so annoying for me. It ruined my enjoy.

I find City of Bones and its following sequels (City of Ashes, City of Glass) entrancing and lyrical. The characters are realistic and each of them are known for their own distinct character traits. Clary - The arty, self concious girl who tries desperately to rebel against her mother, yet also be more like her. Is confused to her feelings about Jace. Jace - arrogant, confident and extremely good looking. A skilled shadow hunter and hell does he know that. Is used to people doting on him. Tries to maintain an angsty teenager outlook so he can have excuses for being sullen. Isabelle - beautiful and sexy, she is used to boys falling at her feet. Isn't used to being around other girls as she has grown up with only Jace and Alec as friends her entire life. Tries to take the attention away from her brother's sexuality. Alec - the gay older brother of Isabelle, desperate to look good in Jace's eyes and be recognised as an equal. Simon - Clary's best friend. He has been in love with her since they were ten and has kept it to himself until now. Does not get along with Jace at all. As you can see, all the characters are completely different from each other, and none of them are just half completed. You know exactly who they are meant to be. I really enjoy these books as the fantasy in them is completely believable. Most fantasy books like this use old fashioned language to get across the idea of it being set in another world, however Cassandra Clare has cleverly created her own world somewhere in the middle of a twenty-first century American city. The characters really relate to teenage readers as they use 'teenage talk' and act like themselves. Minus the whole slaying demons thing, perhaps. Unless you do that, too. Overall, this series by Cassandra Clare is a brilliant trilogy, and readers will await the follow-up series The Infernal Devices that follows the adventures of shadow hunters one hundred years before The Mortal Instruments takes place.

I thought I'd point out ahead of time that this is basically my review for both The City of Bones, and The City of Ashes, so it does contain spoilers. When I was reading the Infernal Devices, I hadn't actually read the Mortal Instruments, but one thing I found that I didn't like after I read the Mortal Instruments is that, since the Mortal Instruments were written first, I feel like they lacked explanation in some parts, like how they didn't actually tell you that ingesting a vampire's blood made you a vampire once you die (I know it should go without saying, but there are so many alterations from the traditional vampire now it's good to clarify), until Raphael was carrying Simon, bleeding and dying up the stairs of the Institute. Aside from that, I also thought that the characters were unrealistically extreme in their personalities; Jace is completely loud and obnoxious and insulting ALL THE TIME, (which Clare could have toned down just a bit). Will is practically a recycled version of Jace, except with a bit more actual hostility, so there could have been more imagination going on (directed at Infernal Devices). Alec is the shy gay boy who won't come out to anyone because he thinks they'll hate him (which is ridiculous. His friends won't hate him.). Then there's Isabelle; again, Jesamine is like a complete repeat of her. Simon's good, but he's still sort of your stereotypical gaming dork who just happens to be a vampire (an expected plot twist, but I still liked it). Clary is good as well, with a balanced personality, and a bit of that motherly "shut up and behave" aura coming off her when Simon and Jace are in the same room (seriously Jace, stop putting out so much HATE, and Simon, thankfully, develops a backbone which is good). All that said, I know I'm being PRETTY nitpicky about all this stuff, but I'm a writer myself so I can't help it. But, aside from all the stuff I didn't like so much, I want to move on to the stuff I did like. Clare's vocabulary is extensive, which is very refreshing. Her description of scenes, like when they buried Simon and he crawled out of the grave as a vampire, was very well done. Also when Jace took Clary for a ride on the demon bike, that was cool too, but I felt like Clare kept describing Jace's appearance too much. It's good to know what he looks like, but comparing his hair to honey or the sun over four times is kind of over the top. Anyway, I also liked how there was some romance going on, but it was put away by Jace being Clary's brother, and Simon becoming immortal so that the actual plot could be set in motion a little more. I just have to say, Magnus is AWESOME. I got just the same vibe off of him from the Mortal Instruments as I did from the Infernal Devices, and I appreciate the constancy. I think that Valentine is also a more formidable enemy than Mortmain, but Magnus and Simon remain my undying favorites. Moving on to the plot, I like it. It's a familiar, yet somehow different twist on mythological creatures and such that I really enjoyed. It's fantasy world I'd really like to live in if I could. So, first, thank you to all you review reading people for sticking with me through this drawling review, and thank you to Cassandra Clare, who developed an enticing, well thought out story that, I can't deny, kept me up late reading.

About the author

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com.