About the Book:

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.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that I have picked up to start several times — and other series just seemed to keep drawing my attention.  So, I was really happy when I finally got to this series that I found I really enjoyed this one more than several I have read.

I really loved the approach to the merging of all the various worlds in this series — with the shadowhunter saga being right at the center.  I have really been getting frustrated with a lot of the push to make vampires more human and less evil, zombies that are suddenly taking over the universe and werewolves that are concerned with protecting half-breed vampire, human children.  This series holds true to the supernatural world and the myths that surround it, while still providing a unique and enjoyable story line.

While I found Alec and Isabelle to be irritating at times, with their superior attitudes towards the human world, I still found the characters to be fun, in that I found myself really getting involved with them.  I enjoyed how Ms. Clare developed a traditional set of characters, while intertwining elements of all the different myths into a cohesive story.

One thing that Ms. Clare did exceptionally well in this book was not allowing any one mythical, supernatural creature to overshadow the others.  They each had their own role to fulfill in the story, and they each did it in order to keep the story carefully balanced between good and evil.  This goes a long way to maintaining the whole thrust of the story, which is the shadowhunters that stand between good and evil, while trying to maintain the only line of defense against the demon entities trying to take over the world.

Some aspects of the story I found a little predictable — like Clary’s heritage and the secrets that seemed to be buried in her undisclosed past.  But Ms. Clare still managed to maintain the complete surprise of the story, while allowing the reader to feel that they have it all figured out.  Trust me, in the end of this first book of the series, you will find that what you thought you knew — while actually true, is only half the story.

This is one that I have put on my must read shelves — and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Tags: City of Bones, Clean Reads, Fantasy, Literary Mystery, Loss, Memory, Mortal Instruments Series, Non-Fiction, Siblings, Suspense

Category: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult Fiction