Down and Dirty Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

What is a down and dirty review, you ask? Why it's just a quick review with no major analysis. Just what I liked and/or disliked and why. Easy, simple, and quick. Plus it's a good excuse to use this picture I found.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: YA, sci-fi
Trade Paperback, 485 pages
Book Source: borrowed from the library
My Rating: 90/100

From the Publisher:

Their hidden world is about to be revealed....


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. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque 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....

My Thoughts:

This was a fun and entertaining read. The adventure begins pretty quickly with Clary's ability to see people that her friend Simon can't. From there on, the story is pretty non-stop with battles, escaping nasty demons, and the discovery that there is the whole world that most people can't see, except Shadowhunters. I think you can figure out the rest of that tid-bit.

Clary's guide through this new world is Jace, a hot Shadowhunter who is a bit too sarcastic, self righteous, and condescending for me. You battle demons and protect people I get it, but that doesn't give you the right to mock people quite often. At least that was my take. I probably could chalk this up to being a teenager.

Clary is pretty cool and likeable. For someone who is discovering this whole other side to herself and the world, she handles it all pretty well. Clary is as brave as she can be and is a good person. She checks herself when she realizes she is acting like an ass, and I consider her to be an excellent mediator. I have a feeling this will come in handy in the future.

This is book one of a trilogy, and it ends as such. No major cliffhangers but definitely some major loose ends. There are some blurbs about these books being optioned for a movie and I think they would work quite well given a good writing team is on the project. We all know the translation of book to movie is not always successful.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a fun ride that allowed me to escape work and make me want to stay up late at night to continue reading. No heavy thinking or analysis required on my part, and sometimes we need those kind of books.

My Rating: 90/100.  Fun and adventurous reading and I look forward to getting to book 2, City of Ashes  Sorry it took me so long to read this one!

Here is a link to Cassandra Clare website.

2010 Challenges Met: 100+, Support Your Local Library, Wish I Read That




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