Book Review: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Clary Fray thinks she is a normal teenager in a world full of other normal teenagers. But, when a mysterious blue haired boy in a night club gets murdered before her very eyes, and no one else seems to see it, she starts to question what she thought she knew.

When Clary receives a strange phone call from her mum, warning her not to come home, what does she do? She runs home as quickly as possible to see what was wrong. Instead of finding her mum, she finds a apartment in ruin and a strange demon being waiting for her. A normal girl would be killed immediately, but being the not normal girl that she is, she just manages to kill it, and is rescued by Jace, one of the strange boys who killed the blue haired boy at the nightclub, who takes her to the institute, a safe place for people like him.

Slowly, Clary is becoming more and more able to use her ‘Sight’, the power that enables her to see through glamours, and see what the world is really like. She soon learns that the world is full of supernatural creatures, from werewolves to vampires, pixies to faeries. She also learns that Jace is a Shadowhunter. His job is to keep the mundanes (humans) safe from all the Downworlders, which are the werewolves, the vampires, the pixies, the faeries. They are half demon, and therefore must be killed.

After the death of his father, Jace went to live with Alec and Isabelle Ligthwood, the other two people who killed the blue haired boy in the nightclub. The three Shadowhunters take Clary under their wing, and together, they embark on lots of adventures, rescuing rats from vampires and retrieving a cup from a painting.

A lot happens in City of Bones. Clary is embarking on a dangerous journey to unlock what has been blocked from her memory, and every few pages, a twist jumps out, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

The world of the Shadowhunters seems real and believable, something that doesn’t always happen in books. This one however, seems more like a movie as you read it, as the characters and the world they live in have been told so well, that I could clearly see it playing in my head as I read. Also, Clary is so normal, she could quite easily be just a girl in one my classes at school, one dealing with friendship and relationship issues, parental problems, all the normal things you would expect from a teenage girl.

City of Bones will appeal to all ages, both male and female. The romance will appeal to the girls, but there isn’t enough to put boys off completely. Plenty of action and suspense, this book is one of the best of the genre, and I recommend you go out and read it!

I give it 5 Feet!