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City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

Cassandra Clare

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: April 30, 2013

Discussion: Group Read

Why we're reading this: April 2013 Group Read
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What Members Thought

May 31, 2013 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Let me start off by saying that The Mortal Instruments series is one of my all time favorite series. It is just absolutely fantastic!

Okay, City of Bones time. When I first started reading this book, it instantly drew me in and had me strapped in for this fantastic journey. The setting is in modern day New York City (which I loved). I am not going to write all about the plot because all the description is on here. But I will say...IT IS NOT A VAMPIRE BOOK. Yes, there are vampires in this book. B ...more

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May 20, 2013 Hogyoku rated it liked it

Book: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Claire

Age Group: Teen

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance, Supernatural

Rating: 3.5/5

I finished this novel about two days ago, but wanted to sit on it before I breached my review. I read this novel once before, when I was younger, and was enraptured by the environment that Claire created. I craved to be one of them. As Stephenie Meyer points out on the front cover, “The Mortal Instruments series is a story world that I love to live in.” This quote in turn to me c ...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Aimee rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal

It took me a LONG time to read this book...
I bought it in 2009. I have started to read it 4 times now, and I could never get further than 50 pages in. I finally decided this month that because the movie is coming out soon, I should just get through it.
I don't really have a strong opinion on this book. It was okay.
I don't find myself emotionally attached to any of the characters, nor do they annoy me enough to wish that one of the demons would just finish them off. I gave this book 3/5 stars beca ...more

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Jun 26, 2013 Claudia rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult

I've just read this book again. I had read it some time ago - before I joined Goodreads - but I wanted to find out for myself exactly where the film had gone wrong. I didn't remember so many mistakes in the book.

After reading it a second time if I could give it another half-star I would - some of the setting and description is purely magical - but unfortunately not a whole star, so it stays at three. Nevertheless it has a rattling good and entertaining plot, strong central characters in Clary an I've just read this book again. I had read it some time ago - before I joined Goodreads - but I wanted to find out for myself exactly where the film had gone wrong. I didn't remember so many mistakes in the book.

After reading it a second time if I could give it another half-star I would - some of the setting and description is purely magical - but unfortunately not a whole star, so it stays at three. Nevertheless it has a rattling good and entertaining plot, strong central characters in Clary and Jace and some very witty dialogue. So if you like fantasy and a good, fun read, you should definitely read it.

The main reason why the film is a disappointment is mostly about the love story between Clary and Jace. In the film it comes in pretty much immediately and becomes as big as the main plot (the quest for the Mortal Cup), so much so that it almost swamps it, whereas in the book it comes in later and is very much a sub-plot. This makes the film feel soppy, and at times down-right cringey - there were several of us from time to time in the cinema hunkered over in our seats wishing we could disappear.

In addition, having messed around with the plot, the filmmakers were so desperate to keep the great one-liners that they put them in at inappropriate times. Some dialogue also only works on the page. It didn't help that Collins as Clary, though stunning, seemed to deliver sarcasm as straight dialogue. It will be a long time before I can wash myself clean after her delivery - chest heaving - of "is this the part where you start tearing off pieces of your shirt to bind my wounds?" It was like something out of a bad bodice-ripper - eek! - or a 1970s Hammer House vampire film, and nothing like the delivery by Clary in the book.

Finally, the film flattens the complexity of the villain Valentine's character. From cruelly cold with flashes of uncontrollable anger he becomes simply demonic. And in the process removes much of what makes him interesting, and utterly chilling. In fact the whole of the end of the book is simplified. Probably it's to keep the film under 2hrs, but it's replaced with something that looks copied straight from Percy Jackson, which doesn't fit with the book at all.

Sigh! The film really didn't do Cassandra Clare justice. She deserved much better. So did the rest of the caste, who did well with a bad script. This is a delightful book - though I have to admit first time through I did find the Oedipal twist at the end a bit hard to stomach. I'm so glad I read it again. If anything I enjoyed it even more the second time, and I suppose I must be grateful to the film for that! ...more

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May 22, 2013 Tenley J rated it it was amazing

I loved this book, Cant believe it took me so long to read, I love the entire world, I love everything about city of bones, I think I read it like two days, I just couldn't put it down. ...more

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