City of Bones | Book Review

Title: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA / Fantasy
Published by: Walker Books

Originally Published: 2007

Page Count: 442

"Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistibly drawn towards a group of sexy demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City - and the dangers of forbidden love."

The first thing I should probably reveal is that I had a lot of issues with this book, and I guess it has to start with this obnoxious blurb. I don't usually go off blurbs a lot, nowadays, I usually read books that have been recommended or have decent goodreads reviews. When I do read a blurb, I understand that it probably isn't going to be the best representation of the novel, but that blurb, my, they must know their target audience, and I'm pretty sure I'm not that.

The novel follows Clary Fray, a fifteen-year old girl who at the beginning of the book is in a club, seemingly for all ages, when she witnesses what appears to be a murder. However, it seems no one else can see what's going on. From there the plot develops as Clary discovers that she is a part of this world that she's suddenly become aware of, and has 'shadow hunter' blood within her. A shadow hunter being someone who hunts demons. She meets Jace Wayland, a young shadow hunter, who is obviously very dark, brooding and naturally, incredibly attractive (hello typical YA trope). Clary is now on a quest to understand who she is and what she is. 

I think my main issue with this book lies within its wafer-thin characters. Clary is thrust into this world with her best friend, Simon. And despite maybe a slight fear, the pair suddenly become completely okay and natural with this crazy world around them filled with werewolves, vampires and warlocks. Clary succumbs naturally to the charm of Jace and he being the arrogant sod that he is, loves it. 

Jace is cocky and yet slightly alluring, as all YA guys tend to be. He has a charm of honesty and fearlessness. And yet, he is maybe the only redeeming part of this cast of characters. He certainly seems to have some character development in him... somewhere. 

Simon is Simon, the geeky best friend who is naturally in love with his girl best friend. 

Then we have Isabelle, Alec and Luke. The saving characters of this book, and of course, Clare uses them sparingly. Maybe wisely so. Isabelle and Alec are a brother a sister shadow-hunting duo, who are energetic, intriguing and... attractive. (No one's mediocre looking in this book). They are proactive and seem to be at least two dimensional. 

Luke is mysterious and cooky, and I like him. (He's Clary's mum's very close friend.)

Okay, I've rambled way too much about the characters. Time to talk about the plot.

Wow. The domino effect is strong in this book. It seems everything links to another thing, which in turn links to another thing, and finally another thing. These characters are rarely stood still, collecting their thoughts. They're always in the middle of something. Which is great! It keeps the plot rolling, keeps the action coming, but my, you better keep up because before you know it, they'll be discussing what a nephilim is, and you best hope you've been paying attention! Because of this, I found my eyes skipping across pages, getting bored of this terminology we're just supposed to understand. It's great that this world is so planned out, but Clary seems to understand it instantly, while as a reader, I found it rather difficult. 

The novel harbours a nice little plot twist in its finale. Although, it isn't nice, can be seen a mile away and doesn't make sense. The ending destroyed the hope I had for this, it promised  fight scenes, but before we could get a sense of the action, Clary was off with the reader trailing behind her. 

I did enjoy certain aspects of this book, however. The shadow hunters use runes to help them in their quests. They mark symbols onto their bodies with a 'stele', a small stick-shaped device, and it is to help them if they are hurt, or give them certain abilities and agility. It's a handy weapon that I don't think I've seen used much, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. I also enjoyed the fact that these beautiful human beings were scarring their bodies to protect themselves, it just seemed... fitting. 

Overall, what I liked about this book was the idea of it. I think I'm getting rather sick of teenage YA girls and how they picture and are obsessed with these YA teenage boys who are so often either jerks or insufferable soppy messes (this book, conveniently has both). In the end, I guess I would read the second book as I have been assured that it is better, and I do think this is one of the better typical YA novels.

Three out of five stars, I think is an accurate rating.