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City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Cassandra Clare

Start date: July 1, 2015

Finish date: July 31, 2015

Discussion: Book/Genre of the Month

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Book/Genre of the Month

* The System
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Your books in 2023
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What Members Thought

Sep 26, 2014 Vikas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, cassandra-clare

So finally 1st book of this huge series is over. It was fun quick and twisty turny. Star warsy twist towards the end made a union possible. It was quick read with fast paced action full of paranormal characters you have vampires, werewolves, fairies, elves, pixies, warlords, Shadow hunters and magic. Loved this one already placed the bookmark in the next book though haven't finished a single page of that one yet but hopefully would be done through few chapters tonight itself.

People who don't rea ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 25, 2016 Victoria rated it really liked it

Shelves: finished-series

Okay - somehow I managed to read half of this book like when the movie came out and then before even finishing it I moved onto COA, COG, COFA and COHF so I realized I kind of skipped around and decided since I got the box set for Christmas I might as well fill the holes in my knowledge. (Also, because the TV show is awesome and I'm p sure they're deviating but that's a different story.)

So, this series follows shadowhunters and the world in which they live in. The POV is from Clarissa Fairchild ...more

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Jan 28, 2016 Melli rated it it was amazing

Omg loved it, just ordered the next 2 in the series.. It did take me a while to finish, because I felt it started to slow down towards the middle, but it was all about the word and character building that needed to take place. But I definitely did not see that ending coming.. OMG

3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 21, 2013 Anna rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

My final thoughts on the book: great idea, poor execution. Look at the world Cassandra Clare created - isn't it marveloues? Demon hunters, magical runes, enchanted steles and Mortal Instruments themselves, a heritage of the angel Raziel. Besides, I really like the backstory behind the main plot - the story of Luke, Jocelyn and Valentine's young years, formation of the Circle, the Uprising. It made Jocelyn one of my favourite characters, even though she was absent for most of the book.

But the sto My final thoughts on the book: great idea, poor execution. Look at the world Cassandra Clare created - isn't it marveloues? Demon hunters, magical runes, enchanted steles and Mortal Instruments themselves, a heritage of the angel Raziel. Besides, I really like the backstory behind the main plot - the story of Luke, Jocelyn and Valentine's young years, formation of the Circle, the Uprising. It made Jocelyn one of my favourite characters, even though she was absent for most of the book.

But the story set in present days is not as well-written. The huge amount of dialogues hampers the story's flow. I know you can't write a book without dialogue, but these ones have nothing to do with the plot or characters development, mostly it's just chatting and bantering. Every character tries so hard to be witty and sharp-tongued, but though there are some hilarious moments, most of the times I feel these jokes are just unnecessary. Seriously, no one could even ask for coffee without cracking a joke!

The action scenes in the beginning don't quite feel right for me. However, things improved about the middle of the book, and the action picked up. The meeting with Magnus, following action in Hotel 'Du Mort' and a battle with Abbadon are well-written and my favourite parts. I was disappointed with the final battle, though: what could've been an epic battle between werewolves and Forsaken was described with just two paragraphs of dry phrases, so it looks like Luke and Clary just had a walk through the park. The confrontation with Valentine was better, I admit.

I had hard time with characters, too. Jace sometimes shows genuine care for Clary, but mostly he is arrogant, self-absorbed and rude. The way he and Alec looked down on Simon just because he was a mundane simply drove me mad! I liked Clary's determination to save her mother, but she annoyed me with her jelaousy toward Isabelle. However, as the story progressed, I grew to respect her for her will and not letting Valentine's lies to mess with her mind. I liked the friendship she began to form with Isabelle and Alec at the end of the book. I kind of like Isabelle, too. She could be annoying and even bitchy sometimes, but she was the one who treated Simon decently, while Jace and Alec constantly insulted and belittled him. I like her interactions with Simon. Alec wanting to keep those he cared about out of danger appealed to me, but again, why he had to be so agressive and querrelsome about it? Even those I liked best, Simon and Luke, let me down. I thought so high of Simon when he said it's unfair to ask a girl out while having feelings for someone else, and then he calls his previous girlfriends 'just something to do, a way to practice'! And what's it with Luke? (view spoiler) *sigh* I do still like them both, though. Despite Luke's having more turbulent life, they are much alike - ordinary people on whom you can always rely, ones who won't let you down, like a rock you can cling to at time of a storm. Another interesting character was Magnus Bane - eccentric but without crossing into jerk territory, he has a kind heart. ...more

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Aug 05, 2013 S.C. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK DON'T READ THIS REVIEW. IF YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK PLEASE READ THIS AND COMMENT OR LIKE AND TELL ME IF YOU AGREE WITH ME OR NOT.
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I honestly couldn't put it down and I really enjoyed reading it, on the other, I kept thinking: this is good but I don't really understand why everyone loves it so much. Maybe I am just upset about the whole Luke Leia brother sister thing. I mean seriou ...more

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May 20, 2016 Kristal Fleming rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lovers-of-paranormal, read-a-little-romance, small-city-2016, 2016-setting-showdown-big-city

From the get go I was really interested in seeing what this author created after being inspired by the author Cassandra Clare created through the series. The characters are strong from the start.

http://kristalmckerringtons.blogspot.... ...more

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Jul 17, 2013 ♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fantasy, series, meh

I don't like angel books! This is the second one I've read, and it's the complete opposite of the other book and, I didn't like that one either, so I'm blaming it on the fact that the books are about angels and moving on. It also kind of dragged on and on for me so this book just wasn't a good fit. A lot of my GR friends like it though, so read one of their reviews. lol ...more

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