{Review} City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones
by Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1
Pages: 485
Release Date: February 15, 2008
by Margaret K. McElderry Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

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When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder. Much less a murder commited by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons--and keeping the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. 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 an ordinary mundane like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

This book isn’t the best I’ve ever read, but it also has some very good qualities that I don’t always see in YA books.  For one, the world building is amazing.  The world that Cassandra Clare created is so complex and interesting and well explained, it allowed her to manipulate the events and history to make one heck of an interesting book.  The writing was really great, and the staging was really great, and the story line was really great, but sometimes I felt like it was a bit too easy.  [SPOILER: Like when the gang had just figured out that Magnus Bane could unblock Clary’s memory and Isabelle just happened to have an initiation to a party that Magnus was hosting that night.  And when Jace and Clary are trying to get into the hotel that the vampires are living in to rescue currently-a-rat Simon there just happened to be a guy there named Raphael who knew how to get in.  And then, when it turns out Raphael is really a vampire and the leader of the group that is currently hiding out in the hotel Jace and Clary use him as a hostage so the other vamps don’t kill them.  He’s the clan leader and the rest of the vamps have to listen to him.  And then when the gang has figured out where the Mortal Cup is and Alec chooses to bring a bow and then when the gang gets to where the Cup is he decides to use a staff instead and leaves the bow with Simon, who just happens to have taken 6 years of lessons in bow shooting.  So Simon goes in and shoots the demon and he’s a hero.  ] Those things were really annoying, but other than that the book was very well done.  AND THAT ENDING!  OH MY GOD!  I couldn’t believe it.  Like I said earlier, the world that Clare created was so well done and explained that she was able to manipulate the history, and she dumped a whole shit-load of history on us in the end.  Wow!  I was yelling the entire time.  [SPOILER: I couldn’t believe that Jace and Clary were both Valentine’s kids!  I SHIPPED THEM SO MUCH!  Ugh. ]  I loved the big info-dumps of the history between all the different characters and wow, the ending was just amazing.

The cast for this book is one of my favorites ever.  There is so much personality!  Jace is freaking hilarious!  I was laughing my head off at the things he said.  HE IS A BLOND, KICK-ASS, SEXY GOD!  With snark.  Perfect.  I loved his big mouth, snarky comments, inability to shut up, and just all-around bad-ass-ness.  Plus I can’t shut up either, so I think we’d make a great pair (by the way Jace, I’m totally single!).  He was such a well-developed, entertaining character, I loved him.  Isabelle was really great too.  She had her own reputation going on, a reputation for being a bad-ass.  She was a really strong, confident character, and I loved seeing that in a girl character.  Alec and Simon were also really cool characters that really spiced up the book.  I’ve been thinking really hard about this, and I’ve decided that Clary wasn’t supposed to be the main character in this book.  First off, the book is told in 3^rd person, so it follows all the characters.  Clary is a pretty good character, but I think she really gets overshadowed by all the other characters that have so much more personality than her.  I felt like she wasn’t as developed as the others characters, but at the same time she was a pretty strong, interesting character.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable book.  I really loved the world and the characters, and I really can’t wait to see what happens in book two.  After that ending, I have a feeling that a lot is going to happen in the next book.

3 pink flowers

Quotes:

“Jesus!” Luke exclaimed. “Actually, it’s just me,” said Simon.  “Although I’ve been told the resemblance is startling.”

Clary turned instant traitor against her gender.  “Those girls on the others side of the car are staring at you.” Jace assumed an air of mellow gratification.  “Of course they are,” he said.  “I am stunningly attractive.”

Jace cleared the top of the fence and sprang down the other side, ladning in the bushes to the accompaniment of an earsplitting yowl.  For a moment Clary thought he must have landed on a stray cat.  She heard Jace shout in surprise as he fall backward.  A dark shadow— much too big to be a feline— exploded out of the shrubbery and streaked across the yard, keeping low.  Rolling to his feet, Jace darted after it, looking murderous.

“Oh, he’s rude to everyone,” said Isabelle airily.  “It’s what makes him so damn sexy.  That, and he’s killed more demons than anyone else his age.”” (talking about Jace, of course)

“And my hair is naturally blond,” said Jace.  “Just for the record.”

“If you knew how to cook, maybe I would eat,” Jace muttered. Isabelle froze, her spoon poised dangerously.  “What did you say?” Jace edged toward the fridge.  “I said I’m going to look for a snack to eat.”

“I figured you’d be less cranky if you had something nice to look at.” “Meaning you?” “What else?” (Jace, of course)

“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.” (Please Jace, rip your clothes off)