tweetybugshouse
Written on May 20, 2013
First in Cassandra Clare's internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series about the Shadowhunters.
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Demons. First in the New York Times No. 1 bestselling series that has swept the globe, City of Bones is also a major movie and Shadowhunters, the TV series based on the book, is currently airing on Netflix. Irresistibly drawn towards a group of demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City and the dangers of forbidden love. This edition contains exclusive bonus content as well as a map and a new foreword by Cassandra Clare. Read all the sensational books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles: The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, The Bane Chronicles, The Dark Artifices, The Last Hours and The Shadowhunter's Codex.
- ISBN10 1416955070
- ISBN13 9781416955078
- Publish Date 1 March 2008 (first published 1 March 2007)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 16 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Simon & Schuster
- Edition Reprint ed.
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 485
- Language English
Reviews
Emma (SCR)
Written on Apr 13, 2013
The story begins in a club where Clary can see things that her friend cannot. The shadowhunters are a little freaked that she can see them. This then leads to another meeting. After Clary's mother is kidnapped she needs the help of the shadowhunters to bring her back.
Here the story gets interesting more types of characters are introduced and the story of how Clary can see them unfolds.
Up until the last few pages this was a great story but the ending was rather disappointing. I would say this was worth the read and the story does improve in the following books.
vagasker
Written on Apr 9, 2013
Chelsea
Written on Feb 18, 2013
I wasn’t a huge fan of Clary in this one but that happens often for me. I like strong female characters ,like Isabelle, and Clary was a little too soft for me. I liked Jace sometimes. I hate his whole better than everyone thing but he’s just so hot! Alec is ok but whiny but I LOVED Magnus. The best character easy.
angelarenea9
Written on Jan 12, 2013
There has been a lot of hype about this book lately and I noticed that it was being made into a movie so I figured I would give it a chance.
I think that there was an interesting, well thought out plot, with a unique world in here somewhere, and if you scrape off the poor romance, Mary Lu's, and stagnant characters you might be able to catch a glimpse it.
Some of this book was wonderful and the detail was great, with interesting and as I've said, unique ideas, but then there were the scenes that just overstated things, or restated them. I feel like some of the times there will be a well written passage, and then Cassandra Clare would just cut and paste it later on in the book. I found a lot of the writing poor if I'm perfectly honest.
Another problem I had with this book was that just about every character was impossible to like. Clary and Jace were quite irritating and I could not ship it. I couldn't get involved in the 'love story' which overwhelmed the whole book, so it made reading this hard. Alec was irritating and irrational. At one point Clary met him, then he hated her. I had to flip back to the previous page to see if I missed something, but no. No, he just hated her. No reason. Isabelle was similar, although she started out with some potential (I guess). I think that most of this book could have been edited down to the first half of a book (the boring- get used to a world half).
Because I am a crazy person, and I can not just abandon series, I will continue on in this series, but I really do not recommend this book to anyone, and it blows my mind how many people are completely obsessed with it.
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Sep 5, 2012
You can find this review and more on afterwords
Okay, believe or not City of Bones was the first ever review I've published on a blog, so you've got to admit, it's long over-do for a makeover!
My initial reaction to City of Bones was "it's alright". Yes, not the most enthusiastic response, but not the worst one, either. As far as books go, I didn't have too much to complain about, but at the same time... It was nothing unheard of, and that says something considering that at the time, I have read a very limited amount of books. So I didn't have too much to compare to, and still it felt oh-so-familiar.
And it wasn't memorable, either. I had to force myself through a second reading of the book because, despite owning all the books in the first trilogy at that point, I just didn't read them. And when I finally decided enough was enough, I couldn't remember almost a single thing of all that had happened. It just didn't stick to me in any way, shape or form.
Our main character is Clary, and as far as main characters go - she's okay. I wasn't in love with her or anything, and she pissed me off many times (I mean, she would say mean things to people just so they'd be as miserable as she is..) but I didn't hate her. And yes, that seems like a pretty low standard to reach, but it's the best way I can put it.
Then there's Jace, the love interest. I was surprised to like this character, because I expected a huge douche, and he... wasn't. I mean, yes, he's a bad-boy ladies man, but he wasn't the kind that made me think Clary was an inconceivable idiot to like him (and I think that more often than you'd imagine in YA).
The supporting cast surrounding these characters was colorful, relatively interesting, and likable... most of the time. You may recognize the names Izzy, Alec, Simon and Luke among those. In fact, I liked Alec and his story arc so much that it was the only reason I considered giving the second trilogy a go (but I decided against that, at the end).
Now comes the romance. Clare did wisely by spreading the plot in such a way that makes it appear as if more time has passed than actually does, because otherwise we might notice that this is pretty insta love. But we don't, so go Clare.
And, I'll be honest, I thought Clary and Jace were good together.
But then came the twist at the end. To put it mildly, I hated it. It was just so unnecessary in my opinion (though well done)
Not to mention, it was painfully obvious this twist was a lie. I didn't need to read books two and three to know it was bogus, even though Clare did her best to build a misdirection with little "clues" designed to make us think they really were related.
The final thing that has made my reading experience kind of meh, and continued on with all the Cassandra Clare books I've read is the writing style. I don't like it. #ThereISaidIt.
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My old review, just because I don't want to erase my roots :P
Due to school, it took me way too long to read this; a whole 6 days! Arg...
After some considering, I lowered the starts to 3. I realized that really, I didn't connect or love this book as much as others, I just liked it. It was nice. But it doesn't compare to a few other 4 rated books I have, so it can't be with them. Simple logic...
This review sort of divides into three:
1.My Comments About The Book
So, this was a good book. Good plot, spread to enough pages and action that the fact Clary fell in love in a week or two didn't bother me nearly as much as it would've in other books. There weren't many dull moments, the conversations were funny and interesting,I liked the characters and thier wit, and the world created in this book was remarkably intriguing. It wasn't something unheard of; girl finds out she's part of a hidden world of magic, but something about it was fresh still.
I liked Clary and Jace, and while he was sort of a bad boy, he wasn't the kind that made me think what the hell does she find in him.
The cast of supporting characters were colorful, interesting and likable most of the time. I'm looking forward to learning more about Izzy who sometimes annoyed me, Alec who had his moments, Simon who I felt really sorry for, but was a kick ass sidekick (lol), Luke, who was really sweet and Clary's mom, whom I have no opinion about her. We met her once while she was awake, and then she was gone. It'll be interesting to see her next book.
Sometimes, though, Clary annoyed me. She could be really stupid and really hard on herself and really mean.
Stupid - why the heck would you run toward a portal just to "see where my mom would've gone" with people around you shouting "no!"? Doesn't she know you never grab for a magical object until you know everything about it? I mean, okay - it brought them to Luke, but could she maybe went about it more smartly?
Mean - all the parts when she wanted to hurt someone else because someone else deserves to hurt once in a while, or because she was angry they were evading her territory or something...
It might be human, but sometimes it got on my nerves. Thankfully she apologized and redeemed herself.
I can't say I like the twist in the end. It's better than a love triangle, which luckily Clare chose not to bring into the story (bless her) but I didn't like it still. It's like- wont they have enough problems as a couple being shadowhunters and all, you have to make them think they're related. And yes, they aren't really related. The first time I read the book I automatically knew that it was a lie. I told my mother so, she asked me "why do I think so" ("Just because," I answered. I didn't have any foundation for it, I just knew.) She said so far it seems like he is and didn't believe me, but later on, after the third book, revealed that I was correct. I did like how Clare made this misdirection, though. Putting all the little things that made us believe Jace was really her brother; His hair color, his name, the fact he got "scary-calm" like Jocyln, Valentine's birds, the cruelty in his father... She put everything together really well, making the readers think that all those clues meant he really is It, when he isn't. Quite brilliant.
Another thing - I would've liked to see things from Jace's POV more. We had one short part of this book from his eyes, and it was interesting. Too bad only one.
In general a really good book.
2.The Reason Why I Gave This Book 3 Instead of 4 Stars (and
This book would've gotten five start from me IF it was memorable.
Care to explain what you mean by that, Oh-Mighty-Reviewer?
Certainly, dear reader.
You see, I have read this book once before the dates listed here on GR.I even bought the 2 next books in the series right after reading the first, which only my mother got to enjoy so far due to school and tests. Basically, I forgot about the series. I had too much to do, and by the time I had time I began reading other stuff.
Then, after finding Goodreads, while looking for good reads (no pun intended), I found this book. I remembered that I liked it. I remembered buying the next books right away. What it was about, however? No clue. Which was why I marked it as to read instead of read. I have pretty good memory when it comes to plots, so the fact the only thing I could come up regarding the plot is a part of the ending that stuck because I told my mother something about it, sort of tells me the book isn't very memorable. It didn't strike me as amazing enough to remember.
I usually have exceptionally good memory when it comes to book plots, so the fact I drew blank pretty much means it didn't blow my mind. I mean, I had to read it a second time just to know what the plot was. But it was a good book, on which I don't have many complaints.
And this is the end of describing how it got 4 instead of 5 stars.
3.HP Comperison:
While reading this book,I kept noticing similarities between City of Bones and Harry Potter, enough for me to think to mention it:
*The "normal" people are called "Mundane", which strongly reminded me of JK Rowling's Muggles.
*A hero who finds out he's part of a world he never knew existed.
*The hero has some special connection to the villain of the book.
*The way Hodge spoke reminded me of Albus, and his entire position as a mentor of some sorts (though, that ended differently on HP)
*Then there is the Evil lord who looks nothing like he did when he was younger due to self inflicted abuse to his body and the hardness of time. Rings a bell? They even start with the same letter; v! (Voldi, someone's after your crown!)
This book feels to me like it's drawing a lot of inspiration from HP.
Peace out!
sstaley
Written on Sep 3, 2012
Ashley
Written on Jun 9, 2012
For a long time I was kind of iffy about the whole vampires and werewolves thing. I just wasn’t able to get into it for some reason. I always thought it was a little farfetched, lame, and not done very well. But I think this book is really starting to change that for me. I really liked how all the mythical creatures were portrayed and everything just seemed to work really well.
There were a lot of ideas similar to stories like Harry Potter and Star Wars that made me really enjoy City of Bones.. not in a bad “copied” kind of way, but in a really general enjoyable way. Like looking at Harry Potter, there are a lot of similarities between Death Eaters and the Circle, the whole pure blood vs mixed/half blood thing, and so on.
The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the love triangle. In general I’m not fond of love triangles, but more than that, I just didn’t feel like I ever got invested in the relationships. I didn’t love Jace or Simon. In fact, sometimes I was really annoyed at both of them. Like there were times when Jace just acted like a girl throwing a tantrum or something, with the way he just ignored everything and stuck to his own interpretation. Then, at the end, he literally seemed like a brainwashed moron. Although I had my issues with him, he always seemed like such a strong and independent character, which I admired. But I felt like at the end, all of that changed and he was a bit of a pushover (though he did make a bit of a comeback).
I definitely did love all the twists and turns. Things got super juicy towards the end when we started learning about the past and the events that occurred before, during, and after the uprising. I loved all the different ‘interpretations’ of what happened and I loved not knowing who was telling the real story. As soon as I decided one story was true, I was eating my words.
I did feel like the story ended a bit too soon when Jace and Clary were going to the hospital to check on their mom. I felt like the book should have ended with them at the hospital and Clary's mom waking up, but I was annoyed when it just ended when they were on the way to the hospital. I mean it's not like it was a huge cliffhanger that will make you dying to read book #2 so why end it early? I thought it was just a bit annoying.
But despite that, I definitely enjoyed City of Bones overall and I’m really looking forward to reading the next book, City of Ashes!
Jordon
Written on Apr 9, 2012
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I started reading this book at the beginning of this year. I put it back down after a couple of chapters. Mainly to do with the tedious and long winded descriptions of everything that happened and everything that Clary saw. Then I was convinced to pick it back up again with the promise: "It really does get better". And, thank god, it did.
I struggled through the first half of this book. I was not interested in any character or story line for that long. Nothing grabbed my attention and the places that were described felt morbid because of the amount of detail given. It made me dizzy. So whenever I pictured those places I actually started to feel nauseous... I am not kidding. I do get motion sickness pretty easily though, so if I felt dizzy because of the descriptions then I obviously pinned that feeling to the pictures I imagined.
Suddenly and quite unexpectedly just after the half way point, this book did a one eighty. It got really interesting, it was written better with less descriptions and explanations. I suddenly fell in love with Jace, I hated Isabelle because Clary hated her and I felt bad for Simon who was forgotten most of the time.
So I will not do an in depth review of this book mainly because I do not have the energy or the will to think about this book any more that I have willed myself to. The first half of this book made me dizzy and took me over a week to read (Not including the six months I didn't touch it after first starting it), the second half of this book made me anxious and took me one night to read. Funny that.
The last half of this book was its life saver. I would have never gotten to that part of the book if I had not already owned the book and had not had people telling me I needed to finish it. Needed to, in their opinion. I'm glad they convinced me.
Now I can't wait for the second book of the series. The twist was so shocking and practically horrifying that I must know what happens next. And it definitely did get better. I may have had, at first, a horrifying experience reading this book but now I really can't wait to read the second book. I'm sure the next book will be an enjoyable experience to read! I hope.
So overall, this book was so all over the place for me that I would rather move on to the next book in the series and enjoy that rather than remind myself of the experience I had to go through to get to the best parts of this one. It was worth it though!
Miss J
x
Joni Reads
Written on Jan 17, 2012
We first meet Clary, our main character, at a teen night club with her best friend Simon. Following a series of events she witnesses a murder. But not just any murder. She witnesses the murder of a demon. And as it turns out no one can see the murderers aside from Clary. She tries to shake the whole thing off until she goes home to find her mother has disappeared and a demon is waiting to attack her at her apartment. She is saved by Jace, one of the people she saw murder the demon at the night club.
Jace is a shadowhunter. He and his family hunt and kill demons. As Clary is drawn into their world she finds out that her life is not as it has always seems and Clary might be more connected with Jace's world than she once thought.
I was completely caught up in this novel from the beginning. I felt the pull of it when I was not reading it. The descriptions of the faces and creatures have so much detail that I could picture everything like a movie behind my eyes as I read. I got a bit annoyed with Simon lingering in the background through out the book but eventually I got used to him. I really liked Clary's attitude. She was sarcastic and funny and she really held herself together in a situation that would have most teenage girls falling apart.
My favorite part was when they talked about the runes and their magic. The fact that the Shadowhunters had runes tattooed onto their bodies to protect and aid them in battle was just an interested and new concept. And reading about the glamour that was used to hide the Shadowhunters home, modes of transportation, even to hide themselves makes me want to look closer at the world around me and see what I may have been missing.
The action is this novel flowed so well and I was able to keep up and never found myself confused as can happen with some paranormal novels. Cassandra Clare has created a well laid out world that is easy to immerse yourself. And you are in for one surprising twist at the end that had me falling off my chair.