City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Book One of The Mortal Instruments Series)
Read for: What’s in a Name Challenge, Book with a body part in the title
Clary is 15 when she sees a shadowhunter for the first time. Shortly thereafter, her mother disappears and she finds herself immersed in world of demons, vampires and the shadowhunters. I can’t say more without giving away too much of the plot.
This novel just jumped right into the action and then never stopped. There were several plot twists (some of which were fairly predictable and others that were completely unexpected). I want to compare this book to Twilight, but there really is no comparison. The books fall into the same young adult genre that deals with otherworldly beings but that is where the similarity ends. Clary, the teenage protagonist, is so much more likable and believable than Bella who I always found to be insipid and annoying. In fact all of the characters were more real. They had depth and dimensions. And the writing – well it can’t even be compared. Clare can actually write! I found this book to be very witty. The characters quite often had fun, clever comebacks and the prose was clever as well.
Once I got into this story (and it didn’t take long) I couldn’t put it down. I just had to keep reading to find out what happened next (my husband was getting pretty annoyed with me, when I kept bringing the book to the dinner table!). It was definitely an easy, fun read which didn’t require a lot of extra thought (I read a bunch last night while watching the Miss Universe pageant and I didn’t miss much of either). I’m sure this isn’t destined to become a classic but I can definitely agree that it deserves to be a bestseller. I can’t wait to read the next one.
I don’t want to sound like I’m gushing over this book, because I can see that there is probably a lot of people who wouldn’t enjoy this novel. If you are into this genre, it’s definitely worth a read, or even if you are looking for some mindless summer reading (even though summer’s almost over). I don’t generally read this type of book so I’m having a hard time coming up with a rating. I think I’d give it a 9/10, keeping in mind that this type of novel isn’t for everyone…
Tags: Cassandra Clare, Clary Fray, New York City
August 24th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I actually really liked this series, for a fast unique read.Not to mention it’s other-wordly scenes are rather spell-binding. I hope you’ll like them all. I’m a bit surprised at your review after you raked over Stephanie Meyer (Who I think gets kudos for an interesting vampire story with a love twist)…just adding my thoughts.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I’ve heard a lot about this book and it’s been recommended to me several times this summer. I’m glad that you enjoyed it – a lot of the reviews I’ve read were positive. I enjoyed Twilight – keeping in mind that it was no masterpiece, I enjoyed it (although I agree that Bella was annoying) and find that I don’t mind occasionally jumping into a fantasy world where anything is possible.