City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Hey all! 

For a while now I've been talking about how much I've been wanting to re-read all of the Shadowhunter books. I figured that since Lord of Shadows is coming out in May, now would be a good time to read them! 

Of course, I've been quite slow with this so far - the past three weeks have been very stressful, but now that exams are done, I have a week and a half off during which I can just read and watch series all day every day. 

I decided to do some kind of Shadowhunters marathon! On Instagram, you can follow it with #justanothershadowmarathon, or you can follow it on my blog :) I'd love it if you participated in it with me! You don't have to read all of the books, of course - maybe just have a post about Cassandra Clare's books or have a ranking of your favorite characters - it's totally up to you! 

Additionally, if you guys know about any Shadowhunter tags or anything, please let me know! I'd love to participate in them! 

Without further ado, let's get into my review of the book that started it all - City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare. 

There are so many different covers in
different countries but I have this one
so this is the edition I'll be using :) 

"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..."

OK! So how to start? 

Basically this book starts off with Clary witnessing a murder in an all-ages club with her friend, Simon. The problem is that she is the only one who sees it - and the murderers did not expect her to see it. 

Clary is a Shadowhunter - a half-angel, half-human who has had her identity hidden from her since she was a child. In City of Bones, she learns about what being a shadowhunter is, and gets to know the New York Shadowhunters, as well as about the hidden war that has been held in a pause for fifteen years. 

This series' villain is Valentine - his goal is basically to rid the world of demons and anything related to them, by creating more shadowhunters, which he believes to be a dying breed. For this, he needs the Mortal Cup, which has been lost for years. 

Aside from a ton of information dumps that exhibits the story and the world we will be encountered with in the next 10+ books, this book is incredibly character driven, which I always love! Even though the info dumps were a bit dense at times, the character relations. and opposing personalities really kept me going in this story. 

Clary isn't my favorite - she's quick at making (usually bad) decisions, but always does it out of loyalty to her friends and family or to herself. She makes the worst decisions at times, but you have to take into account that up until now she has never heard of this huge world. I really hope that she will mature as a character and be less impulsive when it comes to big decisions that could get her killed unless someone else is there with her. 

Jace could also be better in this book - for now he's quite arrogant and self-involved - so much so that (highlight) he doesn't notice that his own parabati and best friend, Alec, is in love with him, which is something Clary figured out almost right away. He is the best shadowhunter of his age and is fully aware of it. 

Simon is absolutely amazing! He is quirky and nerdy and adorable. He is in love with Clary, his friend since childhood, but they have the absolute best friendship. I think he's super underrated in this series - everyone loves Jace and Alec, but what about Simon? He is incredibly clumsy yet loyal to Clary to the end. 

Isabel and Alec are the Lightwood siblings, and in my opinion there really isn't enough of them in the books! Alec is very angsty - you see him hating on Clary a lot, but he's hiding a huge secret that could destroy his reputaiton and respect in his family. Isabel is cool and confident and knows she's amazing but isn't obnoxious about it. 

Magnus *glitter glitter* Bane (I saw that on a pic a few days ago and laughed way too much xD) is so, so cool. He's the High Warlock of Brooklyn and has this huge social status to keep up with, and flamboyant personality and cat eyes. I really like Magnus and I can't wait to read more about him! 

There are so many more side characters, but each are amazing in their own way. 

The world that Cassandra Clare built is absolutely amazing - this is just book one and it's huge. You have four divisions of sociaty - Mundanes, who have no idea the Shadow World exists, Shadowhunters and Silent Brothers, angels - which may or may not really exist, - Downworlders and demons. Each of these levels interact either directly or indirectly, have some kind of heiarchy, and each have their own complex history. 

Spoilers from here on! Highlight to see them! 

- Madam Dorothea's transformation/possession was so crazy, but made for the best fight scene! 

- Ok. I know what happens after these books, but it was still kind of heartbreaking to find out that Jace and Clary are brother and sister. And the fact that Valentine is their dad is actually really cool! 

- MALEC! 

- The end battle was epic but I feel like Valentine disappeared with the cup way too easily...

That's it for this review! I'm giving City of Bones a 4/5 feathers! I really hope that some characters develop for the better, that we get more from the side characters and that we will explore the world just a bit more :) 

Of course I've read the books before but I'm pretending I haven't ^-^ 

Have you read City of Bones? What did you think of it? Let me know! 

Stay bookish!