City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1) in The Mortal Read-Along!

Dec 28, 2012 Amy Hayes rated it really liked it

Shelves: amy-s-big-book-challenge-2105, audio-book

I'm glad I decided to listen to this on audio book, as I don't think I would ever have picked it up to actually read. Than being said, I do own the first 4 books, as well as the entire Infernal Devices series. Oops! I liked the story and the variety of voices on the audio. There were slow bits and parts that were overly described (mostly the gory ones), but overall I enjoyed this book enough to give it 4 stars. I really liked Clary and Simon and Jace and I had hoped for a different outcome for t ...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Rachel Torres rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-bookshelf, audiobook, 2-stars

**2020** Doing a TMI reread and it wasn't as bad as I remember it being. Having just reread TID, it is very apparent that this was her first published novel and was a very stark reminder of just how much Cassie has improved from what I think is a 2-3 star novel to just a few years later publishing some of the best writing this decade has seen.

It's also funny reading a 2007 novel in 2020.... iPods, calling characters who are at home to Google something (no smartphones), complaining about taxis (n ...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Rebecca (whymermaids) rated it liked it

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments 1) by Cassandra Clare

I did it. Finally. I started The Mortal Instruments, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy it.

Clary (though I hate that name) thinks she’s a normal, everyday human being, but when she sees something unexpected and horrific at a club, her world starts to unravel before her eyes, and she must search through her forgotten past to discover who she really is and how she can save those she loves.

Put like that, it reads just like every other YA City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments 1) by Cassandra Clare

I did it. Finally. I started The Mortal Instruments, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy it.

Clary (though I hate that name) thinks she’s a normal, everyday human being, but when she sees something unexpected and horrific at a club, her world starts to unravel before her eyes, and she must search through her forgotten past to discover who she really is and how she can save those she loves.

Put like that, it reads just like every other YA novel these days. And in some regards, it is. There’s a YA formula for a reason: it works.

The fact this book came out in 2007 and I just read it in 2015 probably taints my perspective on this series as well, as I would have been a lot closer to the characters’ ages in ’07 (I would’ve been 20) as opposed to now, when I’m 27 and have read a lot more similar-sounding stories since. That being said, here are my thoughts:

I enjoyed the Supernatural elements of the book (though I don’t watch the show), with the Shadowhunters and the demons and the Downworlders; I liked the concept that “all the stories are true,” which means beings like vampires, werewolves, faeries, mermaids, etc exist. I even enjoyed the slight political-class drama between the Shadownhunters and the Downworlders, though some of the backstory was slightly confusing.

I also really liked Jace and Luke. Clary wasn’t particularly my favorite, though it was nice to have a heroine who wasn’t automatically an amazing fighter, though her skills with the runes did come super fast to her at an advanced level, which I’m not sure I totally buy. Jace, however, is brooding, funny, admittedly narcissistic, and broken - just the way I like my book heroes - and Luke reminds me so much of Lupin (and not just for the obvious reason), and I do love Lupin.

What I didn’t enjoy was that I felt Clare tried to make the backstory and the history of the Shadowhunters too complex, and parts of it were confusing. I also thought that some of the twists were tired and expected, and the relationships wrapped up too neatly at the end. These are teenagers, after all, teenagers can be flighty, sure, but they also hold grudges and aren’t always so quick to forgive. I also wanted more from Alec. It’s rare for there to be a LGBTQ character in a series such as this, and I wanted him to have more to do, more to deal with, and I thought it was a cliche for him to take that out on Clary,.

But that just points to another of my issues with this, and that’s the characterization. Other than Jace and Luke, and perhaps Valentine and Simon, I didn’t really feel like I got to know the characters. It wasn’t until halfway through that I realized Clary had red hair, and Isabelle and Alec were just kind of there to fill space most of the time. Other characters were in place purely for plot points, and Simon’s devotion to Clary didn’t really seem to waver, even after she broke his heart and then continued to use him (and the whole Jace-Simon-Clary thing was just laughable and so teenage, ugh).

Also, I’m not in love with the whole twist at the end regarding Clary and Jace. It’s a bit weird for me, and I know that’s the point, but… Jace is more of Han to me than Luke, and this is all a bit too Luke and Leia. And Jace seemed to get over that shocker a bit faster than I would have anticipated, especially since he went all psycho-brainwashed only days before.

The plot, once it got going, went, and was a fun read. I like unraveling mysteries when reading, and even though I predicted it, it was still fun to uncover.

Even though I didn't love it, I liked it enough that I flew through it in a manner of days (and being almost 500 pages and a super busy week at work, that’s impressive for me), and I’m curious enough to continue on with the series and see where the story unfolds. ...more

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Jun 25, 2013 Andrew Woodham rated it really liked it

Shelves: physical-copy, 2015-read

FINALLY FINISHED THIS! Why did I not start this series sooner??????
I liked this book but I didn't love it. It was a pretty good first book though. I feel like one reason I didn't enjoy it as much was because my favorite characters are the Lightwoods at the moment. It's not that I didn't like Jace and Clary I just didn't love them and I feel like I need to since they're the main male and female lead of the series. Now I have started the prequel trilogy, Clockwork Angel and I like it a lot better. ...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Stephy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

City of Bones is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series. It was first published in 2007. Since then this series as well as the spin-off series, The Infernal Devices have been followed by loads of people. Now City of Bones had been turned into a movie, which will be released this summer.

Clary, Clarissa, lived with her mother in Brooklyn, NY. She didn’t know her father as he died before she born. She neither knew her grandparents, or anyone in her family. Hence, it was she and her mom a City of Bones is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series. It was first published in 2007. Since then this series as well as the spin-off series, The Infernal Devices have been followed by loads of people. Now City of Bones had been turned into a movie, which will be released this summer.

Clary, Clarissa, lived with her mother in Brooklyn, NY. She didn’t know her father as he died before she born. She neither knew her grandparents, or anyone in her family. Hence, it was she and her mom and occasionally Luke, her mom best friend.
Clary and her best friend Simon were in a city club called Pandemonium when something strange happened. Clary saw two boys dressed in black following another one. She followed them so she could advise him. They went into a room and Clary too. There she saw how the two boys in black, one blond the other brunet, were trying to kill the other boy. Along with the “black boys” was a girl. Because of Clary the boy managed to scape and attacked the blond boy. However, the blond one managed to kill the other one, who transformed into a monster before disappearing. Simon got into the room following Clary, although he couldn’t see anyone except Clary.
Next day Clary had a fight with her mom, as she wanted to spend the summer on the countryside. That afternoon Clary and Simon went to a café and there he was, the blond guy. Clary went out of the café to talk to him. He said his name was Jace and he asked her to give him her hand. However, before they could talk about what he was seeing in Clary’s hand, Clary’s phone rang. It was her mother telling her to stay away from home. Worried about her mom Clary run to her house, there she didn’t find her mother but a monster that tried to kill her. Jace appeared just after she killed the monster and taken her to The Institute where she will find truths about her family, her past and herself.

City of Bones was a really good book that I really enjoy reading. However no book is perfect. On one hand we have a really unique world. An unbelievable world that it’s supposed to coexist with our world, but a world that we don’t know anything about. This world has its own rules, its own hierarchy, etc. Moreover the book is full of adventure, twists and turns, a bit of romance, friendship and betrayal. The truth is that it is really difficult to talk about this book without giving away the ending, because everything that happens is important in the storyline. In addition to this we have fantastic characters. The thing that I really liked about the characters in this book is the fact that no one in this book is completely bad or completely good. Evil characters show sometimes a good part, whether good characters show their dark side. The romance in the book wasn’t the most important part, although it has its relevance, if only we could forget about those last three chapters…
On the other hand we have some predictable moments, for example the true nature of Luke what I have been suspicious about since the first time they went to his house. I also keep thinking that the fact that Clary didn’t think her life was special and strange, especially talking about not knowing any family members. Furthermore, I really don’t like the ending. First it was really long, almost the last third of the book was ending. Then, as first book in a series there are things that don’t get solved and that were a bit surprising. I really hope those things will get solved in the next books.

All things considered, City of Bones was a highly entertaining book. It was thrilling and gripping, hence I can’t wait to read the next one. I really recommend it to anyone that love adventure, magic, fights and a bit of romance. I gave it 4 stars, just because that ending really annoyed me. ...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Sonia Ayala rated it liked it

Something to note is that I read this in my early 20s and not when it came out. I feel like if I read it in middle school or high school I would of enjoyed this book a good deal more. Anyway, it didn't get interesting for me till chapter 4. I found the characters annoying and the first couple chapters felt like they were trying too hard to be cool and unique. These feelings never truly left as I continued the book, but I did find myself interested in the story and the characters. A good few of t ...more

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Nov 24, 2014 charlottebibliophile rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2015

'City of Bones' is an action-packed novel, following two main characters, Clary, a 15/16-year-old Shadowhunter (who is not aware of her true heritage), and Jace, a 17-year-old Shadowhunter.
There is so much going on in this novel, that at times it was difficult to keep track of who was who, and why they were doing the things they were doing. For example, they go off in search of the Mortal Cup (apparently to make more Shadowhunters) but why? Certain things like this lost me somewhat - this novel ...more

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Apr 21, 2014 Out_of_Bounds Reading rated it really liked it

Shelves: online, unfinished-series, ownfullseries, 2016-series, bcb-done

So, I think I am ready to move on to the next book. I wanted to read the whole series this summer but it didn't happen because I wasn't in the mood. But I am definitely in mood again and it's going to happen this month. Also, second book finished for #Bookmas.
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May 07, 2014

I have to admit the first book was entertaining, and surprising, but overall it was just really good. I do enjoy reading the characters and the story is amaz ...more

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Aug 16, 2013 Destiny rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own-have-read

Although I want to give it 4.6 stars a rating of four stars seems way too low. The beginning was a little to hard for me to get into but afterwards omg its amazing. But clary gets on my nerves a whole lot. The book was really good and I can't wait to read the second and watch the movie adaption.

-reread 2018 I lowered my rating to a 3.25. I couldn’t get pass how much Clary got on my nerves but I’m interested in the world and all the other characters. ...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Ginika rated it it was amazing

I have no idea why I waited so long to read this book. The series seems like a lot to get into so I was kind of iffy about starting it. Well, all the hype was correct. This book is amazing, and I can tell the series has a lot of potential. I already ordered City of Ashes online and I can't wait to read it! ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, hall-of-fame-books

I really loved this book! The characters have alot of personality. I can't wait to read the next book. I wanna see the movie next year! If u love fiction, u have to read this book! ...more

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