Book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments Book 1)
Published by Margaret K. McElderly Books; March 2007
Hardcover 485
Genre: YA/fantasy
I got this book at the library
Synopsis via Goodreads: 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.
I didn't know much about this book when I started it; I had seen it recommended on a lot of blogs and thought that it was a good indecation. Book bloggers tend to band together over the good ones. I was completely (hopelessly) drawn in by the end of the first chapter. I've been really into YA lately and one of the reasons that I like fantasy is because it usually reads like history, which some of you know is my weakness.
I am glad that this book is part of the series, because I'm still slightly unsure about how I feel about some of the characters. Clary is really starting to grow on me, for most of the book she seemed to be cut from the damsel in distress cloth while trying to come off as stubborn and it really wasn't working for me. I liked Jace quite a bit. He's sarcastic and kind of a jerk, but you get glimses of the softer side underneath all that every now and then. Simon is the one that I'm still not sure of. He is sarcastic like Jace, but I don't find him as endearing. His sarcasm comes across as petulant to me.
I really liked the premice of the novel. In a genre that is overrun with werewolves and vampires, I thought that a novel about demon hunters was very unique. Yes, there are some werewolves and vampires in the novel as well, but I didn't think that it took away from the novel, or that they seemed overdone.
I'm also conflicted on the pacing, in a way. I thought the pacing overall was very well done. The novel was a quick read despite its length. I thought that the novel covered a great length of time but I found out in near the end, actually only took place over two weeks. It wasn't really a big deal since it was at the end, but it seemed so much longer that the course of two weeks didn't really seem feasible.
There is one plot that has yet to be fully explored that was quite shocking (which I won't go into because it would be a MAJOR spoiler) but I'm hoping that it is addressed in the later books and that it isn't true. I really liked City of Bones overall and will be reading the rest of the series.
Published by Margaret K. McElderly Books; March 2007
Hardcover 485
Genre: YA/fantasy
I got this book at the library
Synopsis via Goodreads: 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.
I didn't know much about this book when I started it; I had seen it recommended on a lot of blogs and thought that it was a good indecation. Book bloggers tend to band together over the good ones. I was completely (hopelessly) drawn in by the end of the first chapter. I've been really into YA lately and one of the reasons that I like fantasy is because it usually reads like history, which some of you know is my weakness.
I am glad that this book is part of the series, because I'm still slightly unsure about how I feel about some of the characters. Clary is really starting to grow on me, for most of the book she seemed to be cut from the damsel in distress cloth while trying to come off as stubborn and it really wasn't working for me. I liked Jace quite a bit. He's sarcastic and kind of a jerk, but you get glimses of the softer side underneath all that every now and then. Simon is the one that I'm still not sure of. He is sarcastic like Jace, but I don't find him as endearing. His sarcasm comes across as petulant to me.
I really liked the premice of the novel. In a genre that is overrun with werewolves and vampires, I thought that a novel about demon hunters was very unique. Yes, there are some werewolves and vampires in the novel as well, but I didn't think that it took away from the novel, or that they seemed overdone.
I'm also conflicted on the pacing, in a way. I thought the pacing overall was very well done. The novel was a quick read despite its length. I thought that the novel covered a great length of time but I found out in near the end, actually only took place over two weeks. It wasn't really a big deal since it was at the end, but it seemed so much longer that the course of two weeks didn't really seem feasible.
There is one plot that has yet to be fully explored that was quite shocking (which I won't go into because it would be a MAJOR spoiler) but I'm hoping that it is addressed in the later books and that it isn't true. I really liked City of Bones overall and will be reading the rest of the series.
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