Thursday, August 29, 2013

Ashley Stoyanoff's Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.

★ASHLEY STOYANOFF'S REVIEW ★
~City of Bones By Cassandra Claire~


Title: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Number of Pages: 485
Publication Info: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Mar 2007)Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
Shelf: Books I BoughtRating: ★★★

Goodreads: Here 
Purchase: Here
Authors Website: Here


~Summary from Goodreads~
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~
Well, it’s taken me a while to write this review because I loved the book but at the same time I was so frustrated with it.  

City of Bones had me hooked right away.  The descriptions were amazing.  Not once did I feel as if I was in a black hole of dialogue.  Each scene and setting was painted with vibrant colors.   It drew me in, and I was quickly lost in the shadowhunter world.

I loved the characters.  Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec…  All of them were perfect.  Each one had their own unique personalities, and they were all easy to connect with.  My favorite was definitely Jace.  He’s a complex character.  He’s tough, a bad boy, and acts like a jerk, but I loved him.

“Don't.” Clary raised a warning hand. “I'm not really in the mood right now.”
“That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,” Jace mused.
 ― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

The dialogue was awesome and flowed wonderfully.  It really kept the book interesting and moving along at a great pace.

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?”
Jace said, “Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, m
y one true love remains myself.”
... “At least,” she said, “you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”
“Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”
 ― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

And the story was action packed.  There really never was a dull moment.  The tattoo runes were interesting.  I would have liked a bit more information on them, how they work, what magic is behind them, but it’s only the first book, so I’m sure that will come.

“Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?”
“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Here’s where I got frustrated … I had about 40 pages to go.  I was completely absorbed and couldn’t put it down, and then there was a twist, one that I didn’t see coming.  And that twist, well, it kind of ruined my life.  Everything that I’d been cheering for through the entire book just vanished.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a great twist.  Completely unexpected.  But I was so annoyed about it that I ended up putting the book down and didn’t pick it back up for about 7 hours.

In the end, even with my complaint, City of Bones was an awesome read.  I would definitely recommend it.



1 comment:

  1. I totally hated this book and DNFed it. But... after watching the movie I bought book 2 and loved it! Can't wait to start reading the next one :-)

    ReplyDelete

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