Review: City of Bones

Title:  City of Bones
Series:  The Mortal Instruments #1
Author:  Cassandra Clare
Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages:  448
Format:  Paperback
Source:  Bought

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:  This wasn't my first time reading this book but it seems that no matter how many times I revisit these pages, the magic is always the same as the first time I opened the cover.  I'm hooked from the very beginning and glued to the pages, falling in love with both the world and the characters.  Everything is always so vivid and realistic, it's as though I'm in the Shadow World with Clary and Jace!

I felt like I was watching a movie while reading this.  The descriptions and the writing style made it so easy to picture exactly what was happening in my head.  Everything flowed so smoothly and made sense.  Though it did take a while to catch on to all the new phrases and words we had to learn, that didn't bother me much.  We were given a lot of detail and sometimes it was hard to sort through but by the middle of the book, it was pretty easy to follow everything.  

I liked the characters a lot!  I thought they were all three dimensional and deep.  They all had their own back stories that were interesting and fun to learn about.  Sometimes some of them got a little annoying *cough* Clary *cough* but the other characters made up for it.  I especially enjoyed the dialogue between them all.  I thought it was fun and interesting and it had me laughing out loud at points. 

The overall plot was really great.  I was at the edge of my seat, eyes glued to the page.  There wasn't any boring moments that I can remember.  I enjoyed all of the action and the fights!  Those scenes were wonderfully written especially.  So easy to follow and visualize what was happening. 

City of Bones is definitely going down as a favorite in my book.  It's a story that will keep you up at night, wondering what will happen next!  The characters were amazing and the descriptions and little details made this story pop from the pages.  If you've yet to pick this one up, you must!  

Five Cards