Book Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

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.

 City of Bones is the first book of The Mortal Instruments series. The 3-book set has been on my wish list forever, and when I think back to why I put them there in the first place, I'm drawing blanks. I have a feeling it was pure curiosity, and either way I'm glad I finally got to start them.

Clary, the protagonist, is a 15-year-old girl who lives with her mother in Brooklyn. Long story short, her world changes completely when one night at a club she sees something she's not supposed to see. As things start to unfold, she finds she's a part of the Shadowhunters world, always had been.

I'm not going to get too much into the plot because I'm afraid I can't not give spoilers. I really loved how everything was set up and fast-paced. The way the story is set up keeps you connected and leaves you wanting more. So much so that I ended up finishing almost half the book in one night, risking being completely exhausted and sleepy at work the next day. And guess what? It was sooo worth it.

So let's move onto the characters... You're so going to fall for the arrogant, sarcastic, danger-searching Shadowhunter Jace. There will be times when you want to slap him across the face, but even then he's going to be so irresistible that you won't be able to do it if you could. Then there are Jace's adoptive brother and sister: Alec and Isabelle. Alec is completely adorable right from the beginning. He's not too confident for himself, but he's very protective of the ones who are important to him. Isabelle seems quite mean on the outside, but she's just the same as her brother. It's great to see how they evolve toward the end of the book, effected by both one another and the situations they find themselves in.

Then there are, of course, Clary, and her best friend Simon. When it comes to Clary, I was glad to finally see a female character who acts her age and doesn't get all too-dramatic or whiny or too brave like most main characters in other books tend to do. She takes the news in like a regular 15-year old would, and even though she does evolve, she's still a 15-year old girl. And Simon... Oh, Simon. He's literally one of those loving, caring, worrying, fun-to-be-with guys you'd always want around.

I'm not going to get into the adults in the book because they're not all too relevant at this point-- wait, some of them are, but then I'd be spoiling it, so no! I do want to say though that remember the name 'Magnus Bane.' When you do read the book, do come back and let me know you thought he was adorable in a 'how's this possible?' kind of way.

This book got bonus points from me right from the beginning just because it was set in New York. There's a lot more to it than that, though. First of all, THANK YOU Cassandra Clare for writing in the third person. Lately I've been sick of first person narrations because it felt to me like authors are forgetting that their readers aren't stupid. You don't have to TELL us how a character is feeling the entire time; I'm sure all of us can figure it out all by our little selves. In addition to this, I love how she brought together all kinds of paranormal: you will find in this book Shadowhunters, fairies, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, demons, witches... There's something there for everyone, really. And now that I've already started the second book, I'm finding out that more and more different creatures are coming into focus.

I can't go without saying that this book reminded me a lot of the Harry Potter books, which I love. Not in the sense that they have anything to do with each other, really, but the way the story was formed with the strong characters and the ancient, made-up history. But it takes place in our timeline, like it could really be happening right now, which makes it even more interesting because supernatural beings riding the subway is way more whoa-worthy than vampires driving expensive cars, no?

Vampirler, kurtadamlar, periler, gerçek aşk ve aklınızı başınızdan alacak daha birçok şey. Ölümcül Oyuncaklar hafızanıza kazınacak!

On beş yaşındaki Clary Fray, New York’ta Pandemonium Kulüp’e doğru yola çıktığında bir cinayete tanıklık edeceği hiç aklına gelmezdi.

Hele ki, bu cinayetin daha önce hiç görmediği acayip silahlara sahip tuhaf dövmeli üç genç tarafından işleneceğini hayatta düşünemezdi! Clary, polisi arayabileceğini biliyordu fakat ceset bir anda ortadan yok olunca ve canileri Clary’den başka kimse göremediği için durumu açıklamak pek kolay olmayacaktı!

Clary’nin onları görebilmesine çok şaşıran katiller kendilerini Gölgeavcıları olarak tanıtacaktı. Yani, dünyayı şeytanlardan arındırmaya ant içmiş gizli bir kabile!