City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, #1)

by Cassandra Clare

[Katie King]

**2.5 stars**

I am not new to City of Bones, considering every time Clare releases a new book I have to reread the whole series. Not that I'm complaining, but I know how the story goes. Just keep in mind I've read this book before. The story starts of when we (and Clary) are introduced to our little Shadowhunters by way of a nightclub incident, where Clary intrudes on a demon-bashing. This sets us off on an whirlwind adventure where you can't always be sure of what you know.

Clary got on my nerves a little. She didn't really do much. In almost every scene, she's yelling at someone or telling other people to do things. She never fights anyone or uses a weapon or even really knows what she's doing. Of course she has a super special power that helps them in their quest. During the Simon (her best friend) incident, she was constantly "yelling" and "screaming," while I felt more like Jace - kinda meh. I don't particularly like Simon as a character anyways, so anything centered around him I get bored with. That being said, I do think that Simon's relationship with Clary was pretty well written. He was loyal and even more so obvious. But he wasn't desperate, he wasn't tripping over himself. I liked that he somewhat kept his cool.

Jace was the best! He was a dangerous smartass, and I loved it. There's a huge tough side to him, but we do see a soft side. Particularly of note is near the end, when we see that is like any other orphan who yearns to know his parents. Speaking of knowing his parents, if you've read any of the other books you know exactly what I'm referring to, and let me just say that subplot bothers me.

I thought the plot was a pretty engaging take on urban fantasy. I like that the storyline contained some mystery, and the revelations were pretty shocking (if you've never read the book). I also like that Clare didn't make everything that was going to happen really obvious, that there were some surprises along the way. Her world-building left a lot to be desired, however. It was a little hard to follow exactly where we were and what was around us.

Summary
Reading something for the third time leaves little room for surprises, but I still enjoyed City of Bones. There are mistakes of course, both in writing and plot, but I think overall it's a good story that most would like.