Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Summary
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. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a 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. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Review
There are times when we just want to hang with our friends and have a good time to make the stress of the past days, weeks, or even months get away from us. We want to be able to vent, to cry, to scream about everything that is going wrong, or even rejoice in everything that is going right. Clary wants to do that with her best friend Simon, going to a club to go dancing and let loose and have a good time. 

But alas, it is not written in the stars that way for Clary to do.

Clary’s world is rocked by viewing the murder of someone she had seen acting suspiciously all night, by a group of people who just look suspicious as well. She is at a loss of knowing what she is able to do, of how to do the right thing, but before she can decide what her next move is, she is whisked away and having decisions made for her.

She is taken from place to place by people she barely knows, and has to deal with after having arrived home to find her mother missing. Desperate for answers, she agrees to go along, as she herself would like to know what is going on that is changing her life forever. But changes that are found to be life-changing are just beginning to pile up at her feet.

This book is a thrill ride, taking you from place and place and never knowing where you are going to end up. It takes you back to that romance you knew was a bad idea from the start, but you just couldn’t help yourself diving head first into it. To the moment when you suddenly learn why you shouldn’t be in this relationship in the first place, though I doubt that twist was as big as this one was. Cassandra Clare provides you with characters that remind you of yourself: innocent, curious, and ready to take on the world. You have a best friend that is willing to do anything for you, though they may have different reasons than you realize. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I cannot wait until I tackle the next book in the series.

Reviewed by Mercedes Olivas

Book Information
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: 2/19/2008
Pages: 512