Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog: Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

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.

My Review:

I’ve had The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (CC) on my To Be Read list since forever. When I heard it was being made into a movie, I moved the series up to the next in line because I was curious if the movie kept true to the book. Well, I’m glad to say that for the most part it did.

However, you can’t really see one without the other. Real Life kept getting in my way and it turned out that I saw the movie first before reading the book. I was really excited to see the movie, and I really did enjoy it, but there were parts I kept drawing a blank on. It almost felt as if I had been absent from an important meeting, or a page of important notes had been misplaced.

Of course, all of these “missing” pieces were filled in after I read the book. EVERYTHING is explained in detail (sometimes a lot of detail LOL), but I still can’t say, “Read the book first,” because there are some differences from book to movie and I HATE when I’ve read something and I constantly compare it to the book: Hey! That’s not how it happened!

Overall, I was very entertained with both and I really loved CC’s creativity in creating this new world and just how catchy the words she comes up are: The Clave, mundanes, and stele are just a few words/phrases that really stick out in my mind. Although it took me awhile to get through this book as it was a long read, I’m now really vested in this series, and I can’t wait to continue.

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In City of Bones, Clary is an average fifteen year old, living her life alongside her best friend Simon. She’s got a great relationship with her mother and though her father, who was a soldier, was killed in action, she has Luke, her mother’s boyfriend, as a great constant in her life.

Everything seems to be going great until one night when Clary is out with Simon and she witnesses a murder. Hysterical, she screams at Simon for help, but Simon doesn’t see anything and he can’t understand what’s got Clary so bent out of shape.

Clary thinks she’s going mad, that is until she’s approached by Jace, the young, handsome man no one but her seems to be able to see. Jace reveals he is part of a secret society of angels and Clary is introduced to a brand new world she never knew existed. A world, it seems, her mother has been hiding her from. Before she can find out with her mother if what Jace reveals is true, it turns out her mother is kidnapped.

Jace shows himself to Simon and joins Clary in trying to find her mother who is the guardian of a lost cup Jace’s people have been searching for. Now no longer hidden, Clary must go on the run as demons, vampires, and unsavory characters come after her in search of this hidden artifact.

Clary gets thrown so many startling revelations about her life, and as if this wasn’t enough to deal with, she’s also got to contend with Jace, the irresistible rogue she can’t seem to stop thinking about. Simon doesn’t like Jace one bit, and we realize early on what Clary can’t seem to see: Simon’s been in love with her since Day One. Enter love triangle! My fave! *le happy sigh*

So I was fully entertained with City of Bones. Just when I digested a new revelation, a new one jumped out. This made for an action-packed ride full of twists and surprises. So if you’re in the mood for a YA action-with-a-twist read, City of Bones will definitely fill the bill.

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Final Thoughts:

So, overall, I enjoyed the book and movie, and as I said you really can’t get the full spectrum of the film without the book background as you’ll get lost in places. Just keep in mind there are some differences so keep on the lookout for those (Aww! Hate they didn’t have the Bach classical music riff in the book! Loved that addition in the film.)

City of Bones would definitely be a top fave for me if only Clary wasn’t so young as this would make the love triangle more believable for me and IF only we got to see more of her with Jace or Simon, but then it wouldn’t be YA, right? Darn! LOL

I also have to make mention of two themes that are suggested, but never explored in City of Bones. There’s an m/m theme where one character silently loves his friend, though the friend never has a clue. And a suggested incest theme where the characters are led to believe they are related; however, the issue is left up in the air at the end. All they did was kiss, so no biggie! *wipes brow* I guess I’ll have to read book two and find out if it’s true and just who is Clary going to choose!

City of Bones features: