City of Bones follows the experiences of teenager, Clary Fray, as she learns of a secret world that contains faeries, vampires, werewolves, and demons. Lurking amongst this group of supernatural beings are a rare race of people who stem from a union between humans and angels – the Shadowhunters. Shadowhunters are placed upon the Earth to track and kill demons as well as other downworlders who get out of line. Witnessing the killing of a demon lures Clary into the world of Jace, Isabelle, and Alec – a group of teen Shadowhunters. Clary quickly learns that she must rely on this strange group of people for her basic survival. Throughout the novel, she also learns that life is not always what it appears.
In my opinion, Clare has done an excellent job of weaving a very poignant tale. However, I couldn’t help but dredge up images of Star Wars as I read. For example, Clary and Jace, the two main characters have this attraction to one another that is so intense only to find out later in the book that they are brother and sister. They have both lived their whole lives not knowing that the other existed. They probably would have liked to have knowledge of this fact before they made out! My brain immediately began shouting Luke and Leah! Jace and Clary are also constantly trying to protect the other from their father who low and behold turns out to be the villian. However, neither of them know he’s their father until the end of the book. I am curious to know if anyone else had this sort of reaction while reading the book.
In spite of the Star Wars parallels, I did enjoy picturing the word that Clare created. She does an excellent job of creating vivid images that suck the reader into her version of New York City. The invisible society she creates within the modern world provided some hope that perhaps there is a bit of magic amongst us. I am interested to see where she takes the plot line in the future. The second novel in the series, City of Ashes, is currently on book store shelves. I have a copy, but have not yet begun reading it. The third novel in the series, City of Glass, is set to be released in March 2009.
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Characters: Clary, Jace, Simon
To learn more about Cassandra Clare, you can visit her website:
http://www.cassandraclare.com/bio.html
To learn more about the Mortal Instruments Series, you can visit the following website:
http://www.mortalinstruments.com/
