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

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

Goodreads Blurb: 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... 

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

My thoughts: FYI it's a long one.

I have had City of Bones siting on my shelf for years. I bought it when one of my friends recommended it to me during one of my reading slumps but then another friend of mine said it wasn’t that great and didn’t see me being a fan of the story. I listened and decided to skip the series and move on to another. Recently one of my favorite booktubers, Emma Books, decided to do a year long read along to the books of the Shadowhunter’s world. She created a Facebook page for readers to sign up and discuss the books and when we finish each book there will be a live video to discuss the book as a group. To me it seemed like the perfect time to give the series a try. If you like some fantasy mixed with a modern city, I would recommend this book.

          Overall, I did like the book, City of Bones. It left me wanting to learn more the characters, the story and the Shadow World in general. I love how unique the Shadow World is; the marks, the history, the instruments/weapons used by Shadowhunters.  I love how you get a second family in a sense when you become a Shadowhunter. Meaning you have parents and siblings that will fight with you, but you also have fellow hunters that are like your teammates and parabatais which are in my opinion is one of my favorite things ever. I just totally love the idea of it behind it.

          One of the things I didn’t like about the book was Clary. I have only read the first book but I’m not really a fan of her. I thought she was too trusting of Jace and group in the beginning and didn’t really seem to fight to get her mom back. I know there was a situation with Simon and the cup, but I feel like the order of things seemed off. Meaning, save Simon because you’re already there and you brought him along, so you must save him. He has absolutely no way to get himself out of that situation so that was a no brainer. In my opinion Clary’s next move should’ve been figuring out where her mother could’ve been taken to. Like why is she concerned about a cup over her mom. Yes, the cup can create more Shadowhunters and you don’t want it to fall into the hands of the wrong people, but your mother is missing, she’s been KIDNAPPED! This woman gave you life and your worried about finding a cup for the Shadowhunters.

          I saw the movie and season 1 of the Freeform tv series before I read the book. I heard from many people about the differences between all three, so I was somewhat prepared when reading.  I listed below some of the difference between three that I thought were important and should’ve been close to the main story and a reason why.

(1)  Meeting with Jace- How it happened in the movie is closer to the book than the show. This is how it all starts, and I think how it happens in the book and movie make more sense and seems more plausible.

(2)  Simon telling Clary he’s in love with her- In the movie it’s not really focused on like it is in the book and show. I don’t know if that is because of the time restrictions with making a movie, but I feel it’s an important part and will be a contributing factor in the future. Not only because they have a “thing” in the future but Simon and Clary have a strong personal connection to each other and if one is in danger they disregard the rules of safety and do what’s necessary to save one another, which is dangerous in a battle.

(3)  Getting the Mortal cup- I haven’t seen the movie in a while but the movie follows the book better than the show. There was such an emphasis of getting the cup before Valentine, the evil doer, and before anything else that I would think the movie and show would’ve made sure to stick to the book as close as possible. The movie did a better job than the show, in my opinion, but the book paints the best picture.

(4)  Jace and Clary, are they siblings? - I was a little socked with how Jace reacted to everything in the book. Like how quick was to believe the story about him and Clary that given everything we’ve learned about him at that point I just saw him putting up more of a fight. I somewhat remember in the movie Jace not really believe Valentine in the end, saying that there is no possibly of it being true. I can’t remember how Jace reacts in the show, don’t know why, but I know the question of whether or not they're related plays a role in the following books so I would've kept it as close to the original story line as possible.

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