Book Review - City of Bones
City of Bones, Book 1 of the Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
4 Stars
City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare, is one of those books I put off reading for a few reasons. The reviews I read were diverse. Some with much love, some with much upset. Typically, I like those kinds of series – The Black Jewels series, one of my favorites, is also very divisive.
The other reason was because it’s super popular, and if Twilight taught me anything, it’s the super popular books are typically not my favorites. It’s not always true, of course. But often enough that I typically put those books and/or series further down my list to read.
I had a friend mention the series to me recently, and I thought – All right, let’s do this.
I liked the story.
The concept of a secret organization of demon hunters is not unique, but it’s handled in a way that made it feel new instead of stale. We meet Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec pretty quickly in. They’re teenagers, but I am still not sure I would classify this book as YA. There’s no graphic sex in it, but there’s a level of violence I might not let my thirteen-year-old niece read.
I like some of the characters.
Some characters felt a little flat to me but as I have picked up further books in the series and read them, they do eventually get fleshed out a bit more, which I appreciate. Sometimes, the cardboard cutouts stay until the end, and it makes my heart hurt.
Jace’s dialogue is by far the best in the series (so far, I am currently reading book 4). He’s pithy, arrogant, witty, and funny (whether he means to be sometimes or not) and I can appreciate that for what it is.
The love stories told here in the first book are at once simple and complex. I feared, as I read, that we were going to have “insta-love” (which I dislike), but that’s not what happened, not really, and I’m thankful for that. The twist presented saved the story for me, truly.
There is plenty of action here for fans of that. Some romance, some family drama, supernatural beings as far as the eye can see – vampires and werewolves and faeries, oh my.
The story was compelling enough for me to spend 10.99 each on the next two books in the series, so that’s saying something.
I rated the book as 4 stars on Good Reads. After reading the next two books, my rating is consistent so far across the series.
My favorite quote from this book:
“They say that pity’s a bitter thing, but it’s better than hate.”
