Review: City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

I actually had no idea these books were being turned into movies.. I know, I live under a rock. But last Friday I made a quick stop at Chapters and bought a few random books – City of Bones was one of them. Once I had started reading I thought to myself, ‘shit… I’m going to have to go and buy the rest of this series!’ So that’s what I did yesterday. The lady behind the counter was so lovely as she exchanged my already 90% read copy of City of Bones for the box set* which included City of Ashes and City of Glass. I also picked up City of Fallen Angels… YES I’m addicted okay? Don’t judge me. This week is going to be a Mortal Instruments king of week (I might even go see the movie…!)

*Just an FYI – The box set at Chapters is 50% off right now.. it’s $22.00 for the first 3 books! So if you were planning on owning them – go get ’em!

I’m going to structure my reviews better now so they’re easier to understand and therefore easier for me to form intelligent(ish) sentences.

Summary: City of Bones begins by introducing Clary, a normal teenager living in NYC, to the world of shadowhunters. She meets Jace, a tall, beautiful, blonde guy covered in weird shiny tattoos. Immediately she is plunged into the world her mother has tried to keep her away from since she was born. And what of her mother? The woman who raised her vanishes at the hand of Valentine, who Clary learns is an shadow hunter turned evil. Clary teams up with Jace and the others at the Institute to find the hidden Mortal Cup before Valentine does. As Entertainment Weekly says on the cover, “Prepare to be hooked.”

Review: And hooked I was. As soon as I started reading about Clary (okay.. after I got used to all the weird names) I was so curious as to how this would all play out. So much happened in the first two chapters that there was no way I could put it down! While the storyline has similarities to Harry Potter, with its too-powerful, too-evil, overlord in the background and Twilight, with its love triangles, werewolves and vampires, Clare has managed to create a completely new and riveting fantasty/adventure series. I felt the same emotions as Clary all the way through the book. Confused and upset over the disappearance of her mother. Angry at Luke for abandoning her in her time of need. More and more, I fell in love with Jace as the pages went by. HOLY CRAP I was so disappointed when she finds out Jace is her brother.. wtf why! I don’t understand that at all. It ruined everything!!!!

Everything about this story is captivating. From the characters, their relationships with each other, the twists and turns of the plots, the vivid settings of each scene. Clare describes everything so clearly that you can’t help but visualize Hodge’s Greenhouse, or Magnus’ warehouse apartment, or the Hotel Dumort. I’m actually really looking forward to the movie to see how they portray it all and if my mind’s eye matches with the director’s.

Would I recommend? Heeeeelll yes. Its such a great read! I would recommend it to anyone above the age of 10.

Have you read this book too? Did you review it on your blog? Post a link so I can check it out! I want to know what you all thought!!

 

S