Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Lindsay's Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal
Rating: ★★★
Pages: 485
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on March 27th, 2007
Amazon | B&N
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.
I've always been someone who is late to jump on the popular book train. Well, either late or early. Never on time. That being said, as much as I despise reading hyped over books, I eventually do, and I've finally got around to reading Cassandra Clare's City of Bones.

I thought I was going to really love it or really hate it. By now, most of us already know the plot or have seen the movie, so I'm going to jump into what I thought while reading. The book itself was a great read, with plot twists, funny moments, and a sprinkle of romance. But I didn't find myself getting really excited about anything. Maybe one time in the book I actually was mentally cheering for the characters, and that was just simply for a romance part of the novel.

The only major problem I had with the book was Clary. For someone who has lived in such a big city her whole life, almost taking care of herself in a way, she is just so childish. There is innocent as a character trait, but I felt like Clary was portrayed as a much younger version of the character she was supposed to be. She didn't feel mature or even slightly like a teenager, but rather a young child, almost like a doll per-say. I honestly felt like Jace was babysitting her rather than being a romantic interest half the time, which is certainly not a good, or appropriate thing to do.

 
So here's my dilemma, now that I've finished City of Bones. I'm not that invested to go onto the series and get the next book, and frankly, I don't exactly want to. But when I start a series I feel like I have to finish it, it's almost like OCD. It may take me a while, but I always end up spending money to complete a series I'm not really interested in reading. Am I the only one who does this?

Now onto the verdict. City of Bones was actually a well written novel, and I would recommend it to avid readers who haven't picked it up just yet. However everyone has different preferences with books, and Fantasy just isn't my favorite genre. I liked reading it and didn't put it down for too long, but I'm not crazy about it. Of course, others will say the opposite, and that's why I say go for it! Clare did a great job with the writing, plot and characters. The book was worth the read!

SO TELL ME: DO YOU FINISH A SERIES EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT ALL THAT INTERESTED?

 

2 comments:

  1. I read this book a few years back and I actually did like it. I only started to not like it when Cassandra Clare wrote so many books it started to drag. And I wasn't really that invested either, it's not like it's Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. Great review, Lindsay!

    -Kimi at Geeky Chiquitas

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    1. Thank you! I agree, it wasn't as gripping as The Hunger Games when I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next books. I'm glad I'm not the only one who wasn't all that into it! (:

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