by
4.14 of 5 stars
Don’t miss The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, soon to be a major motion picture in theaters August 2013. When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads o read full description

reviews

Apr 06, 2013

What Cla(i)re did in the past:
http://www.journalfen.net/community/b...
http://finnyrachel.tumblr.com/post/33...


I'm going to start deleting comments. Unless you have something proper to say, politely, don't comment. Thanks.

I don't like this book, and I don't like Clare's writing style, or her characters, or her, and if you're a fan and you read this, you might get offended or hurt. So don't.

***WARNING: SPOILERS. AND SOME STUPID***


Full view

There’s going to be some yelling and hissing. I’m sorry.

Le More...
246 comments like (415 people liked it)
May 19, 2013
Cara rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. I was reading some reviews on this and people either hate or love it. I am not ashamed to say I belong to the latter. Lots of opinions means there is lots of things to say...

Ok so I was practically splitting my head open thinking of what exactly I wanted to say about this book. In the end I just decided to go with what comes to mind. So here it goes...

Clare does a superb job of drawing you in. Maybe the plot isn't completely unique but the world she created is. I kept telling myself this is More...
77 comments like (336 people liked it)
May 18, 2013
Amanda rated it: 2 of 5 stars
12 Jan '13
I know this is now being made into a film, and I know they've all got the cast sorted out, but I imagined them very differently. So here's how they all played out in my head:

Simon - Aaron Taylor-Johnson

For some reason, I always imagined Simon as young Eisenheim. And a part of me wants to kick myself for associating the 2006 film with this book in any way.

Alec - Ezra Miller

And no, it's not because he's queer.


Isabelle - Jessica Szohr

Because I wanted to put this picture in here, 'kay?


Jac More...
70 comments like (132 people liked it)
May 01, 2013
Kira rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
81 comments like (107 people liked it)
Mar 28, 2012
***Warning: won't contain spoilers cause I didn't get far enough to give a fuck and discover anything worth spoiling.***

Okay, so let me get this out straight. I have never NOT finished a book before. Okay, I'm lying. The History of Sexuality Volume 1 by Michel Foucault remains unfinished as does Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Why? Because they were boring.

Because, as I read them, I wanted to take a cheese grater to my skull and rub vigorously just to have something to do!

But I have never NOT fini More...
268 comments like (322 people liked it)
Jan 26, 2012
Heather rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I was instantly enchanted when I first read City of Bones, and that enchantment still holds four years, and at least half a dozen re-reads later in sptite of the fact that I'm older, wiser, and should know better. I've also read countless reviews, both adoring and loathing and have come to the conclusion that this book does not garner any type of middle ground, you either love it or you hate it.

I'm glad that I get to love it. What else can I say?
description


For me, this book shines, and to those of you who More...
35 comments like (211 people liked it)
Aug 06, 2012
Lina rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
54 comments like (136 people liked it)
Mar 20, 2011
Tatiana rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
107 comments like (278 people liked it)
Nov 01, 2010
Shelley rated it: 1 of 5 stars
Pure and utter crap. I wish there were ways to give negative stars. I certainly want the time from my life back. I would compare its writing quality to a fanzine, except that comparison wouldn't be fair to fanzines. But I swear to God, it took every single bad fanfic writing cliche and published them. What were her publishers thinking??? Where was her editor?? It was horrible.

I would dearly love for a fanfiction author to make good and become a published writer, but I'd prefer one with talent, More...
81 comments like (178 people liked it)
Apr 02, 2011
Andrea rated it: 1 of 5 stars
I've been deliberating for a few hours over doing a Serious Business review of City of Bones and outlining the infinite number of problems that lie within, but I decided that any critical thought that I could flesh out isn't going to be anything that you've never heard before. Therefore, I choose the low road - sarcasm and mockery.

Oh, Cassie Clare, you so crazy. I can only guess that after writing almost a million words of Harry Potter fan fiction, a bunch of people sucking your e-cock for steal More...
575 comments like (335 people liked it)
Jul 14, 2012
Sarah rated it: 5 of 5 stars
UPDATE as of 7/15/12
HAPPY DAY!

or is it?

Simon Lewis has been cast. ^^

Who's the dude?
Photobucket

Robert Sheehan. Don't look at me, I don't know him. Or do you know him? Good for you.

Personally, I don't give a flying, stinking stool anymore. And I think, this is my last update ever. Unless of course somebody dies or the movie is moved again to another year. But yeah, the film is set to be released on Aug 2014. Pray to the gods they stick to that or I'll send them a stink that will blow their heads off.

UPDA More...
145 comments like (48 people liked it)
May 18, 2011
Do yourself a favor and be careful reading reviews or posts that give away the ending of this book. Unfortunately, I read about the devastating twist on a message board and was sorry that I knew, sooner then I wanted to, what direction the story takes towards the end. Of course you'll have to read the next two books in the series in hopes that it's not true. It can't be true, it just can't be!

Don't let the fact that this book is in the "Young Adult" section throw you. This is a great urban fanta More...
19 comments like (76 people liked it)
Oct 25, 2012
Nessa rated it: 1 of 5 stars
Last year, I read Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. It was okay, nothing special, yet it seemed to be a real darling in the YA world. I'd be hanging out in the YA section at bookshops and seeing girls squealing about The Mortal Instruments, I'd buy books similar to TMI or The Infernal Devices, and the clerk would tell me I should check Ms. Clare's books out too... So eventually, I got around to reading City of Bones, the first in the series.

I really didn't enjoy it.

It starts out strong enough, More...
17 comments like (49 people liked it)
Jan 21, 2013
I read this book a long time ago--a very, very long time ago. Okay, maybe not that long ago, but it feels like it's been so long since I was a fifteen-year-old girl who devoured every book she read without comment or critical thought.

My best friend gave me City of Bones on loan, saying it was great and I would like it. To say the least, I didn't. The writing was terrible, Jace was more of a jerk than a heartthrob, and Clary was as bright as a sack of potatoes. Halfway through, I gave up on the b More...
15 comments like (35 people liked it)
Feb 20, 2011
Joyzi rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Alex Pettyfer Update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSgEwl...

***OBSCENE ALERT***

Alex Pettyfer Pictures, Images and Photos

Note: I will fucking kill the Casting Director if Alex Pettyfer, the man of my erotic dreams and fantasies*coughs* will not be cast as Jace Wayland! Seriously I don't care if he has a British accent and he already have Beastly, I am Number Four and Torment movies for 2011, I don't freaking care! He need to be Jace Wayland and Peeta Mellark! All I want in my life right now is HIM HIM HIM!!! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! More...
188 comments like (113 people liked it)
Oct 15, 2010
Sparrow rated it: 2 of 5 stars
I think this book is seriously mentally other-abled. I kind of don’t want to make fun of it because, you know, it’s not playing the game with a full deck of cards. But, at the same time, it’s not so learning disabled that it needs to sit in a separate classroom from the other stories, it’s just learning disabled enough to be creepy. So, I kind of do want to make fun of it. It's a tough call. There was this guy in my high school graduating class like that. I’m going to tell you about him in this More...
83 comments like (100 people liked it)
Apr 25, 2012
Lora rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This series has a lot of hype behind it, of both the positive and negative variety, and so naturally I started City of Bones with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. And while I wouldn't say that I'm nuts over it, it isn't as bad as some reviewers would paint it.

The writing is, surprisingly, exceptional. I wouldn't expect good writing from a book blurbed by Stephenie Meyer, but there you have it: Clare can actually write well. Her sentences are composed with an erudite hand and make the eyes More...
21 comments like (27 people liked it)
May 10, 2012


I had to do it.
14 comments like (102 people liked it)
Jan 10, 2013
New Review
"This is going to suck so hard."
-Clary Fray, City of Bones
(Did she read CoB too?)

"Did three months mean nothing? Did you flip a switch and erase me from your memories?"
-Clair Edwards, Degrassi
(Funny and how I imagine Clary would react to Jace.)

"Do you think that when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, he just dipped his dick in a bucket of paint, slapped it around a few times, and said 'There, I'm done'?"
-DevanBlair, Order of the Phoenix movie review


No, he did not. That is w More...
41 comments like (31 people liked it)
Jun 04, 2012
Clary Fray is a regular fifteen year old, living with her mum, Jocelyn, an artist, in Brooklyn. Her father, she has been told, died before she was born. One night at an underage club with her best friend Simon, she witnesses something no one else can see: three teenagers kill what looks like a boy, but is really a demon. She shouldn't have been able to see anything - she's a "mundane", and doesn't have the Sight. Or does she? Has her mother been lying to her about who she really is? When her mot More...
18 comments like (25 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Jess rated it: 1 of 5 stars
Really, there's nothing very original, or satisfying in the book. She borrowed so heavily from Buffy, Harry Potter, and Star Wars that it sticks out like a sore thumb. It reads like altered fan fiction. And I love fan fiction, make no mistake, but it's not attempting to make a buck off someone else's world, either. Which is essentially what the book is. Cobbled fan fiction that has no cohesion.

I knew Clare as Cassandra Claire from Harry Potter fandom, I will admit, and that did color somewhat. B More...
61 comments like (103 people liked it)
Feb 05, 2013
Random original prologue: http://www.mortalinstruments.com/dele...

10 comments like (17 people liked it)
Dec 01, 2007
Natalie rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
52 comments like (103 people liked it)
Mar 14, 2013
Yes. Hot Guy. Yes. Read this.








~ 2013 update. The above line was my original review from way back in 2010. Originally, I think there was also a "buh" in there, but I took it out. Go easy on me. I was new to reading again, so I hadn't read a ton of funny/cocky guys yet. Although, I have to say that Jace handles his cockiness with some great wit and flair, which makes him stand out from the other 10,000 run-of-the-mill arrogant guys in books.

I understand why some people won't read this author for co More...
6 comments like (16 people liked it)
Oct 20, 2012
This will probably be my longest review, but there's a lot to cover here.

What I liked:

- The action sequences were written well. The pacing in them was decent and I could visualize what was happening.
- The kiss between two characters (view spoiler)[Jace and Clary (hide spoiler)] was also written well, and I was happy to see a kiss written as a kiss, and not like orgasmic sex (the kiss scene in Fallen was so over the top that it was ridiculous).
- Some of the twisty twists were decent.

What I didn't like:

- Pretty much everythin More...
23 comments like (44 people liked it)
Oct 10, 2012
Quite interesting! It's a nice change of perspective, but I'm glad she didn't keep this prologue in City of Bones, cause like Cassandra Clare said herself, this way Jace is more mysterious throughout the series.

Merged review:

Since the url has been removed, I'm putting the scene here for those who haven't read it yet:


I kissed your lips and broke your heart
The Institute’s bell begins to toll, the deep loud heartbeat of the apex of the night.
Jace sets his knife down. It’s a neat little pocketkni More...
2 comments like (15 people liked it)
Nov 11, 2012
Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray thinks she is just a normal teenager. I mean, of course she is a normal teenage, she lives in Brooklyn with her artist mom, and spends most of her time with her best friend, Simon. One night when Clary and Simon are at a club, Pandemonium, she figures out that she can see people that nobody else can. Wham! Not so normal, I guess. The people that she can see are called Shadowhunters. They go around killing demons and such, you know the bad guys.

Not too soon after Clary More...
3 comments like (23 people liked it)
Apr 12, 2013
Joanna rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Since the movie is to come out this year I though I'd give this one another try. I actually enjoyed my second time just as well as the first. Although the book isn't the best I've read, it is fast paced, well written, interesting at ever turn. So...



Clary has lived in a lie her whole life but when she learns the truth it will be the worst way possible. Her mother has gone missing, Luke(the closest thing she has to a father) has abandoned her and her new friends and only people who can help her go More...
4 comments like (12 people liked it)
Jun 04, 2012
I have heard people say great things about the Mortal Instruments series for a while now, so I decided I would check it out. Wow! They were right, this book was amazing. I loved it. I fell in love with Jace because of his sarcastic and witty humor. Clary was a very good main character, she just seemed so real. Alot of plot twists that I didn't expect...this book definitely caught my attention!

I cannot wait to pick up and read City of Ashes :)
4 comments like (30 people liked it)
Feb 06, 2009
I read this one while taking a break from school books and papers, and I needed some mindless but entertaining brain rot. Therein lies the appeal of this novel.

If you've even dipped a pinkie toe in the online Harry Potter fandom, you've probably heard of the author (if not, just employ some google-fu and you find everything you need). The buzz generated by Clare's fandom notoriety probably was a great boon for this book, and I admit it's the only reason I read it. Although it's hard not to have More...
17 comments like (70 people liked it)