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City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
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City of Bones (2007)

by Cassandra Clare

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Mortal Instruments (1), Shadowhunters (2.1)

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7,069413456 (4.04)221
adventure (65) angels (60) Cassandra Clare (42) demons (233) ebook (31) faerie (61) family (49) fantasy (592) fiction (288) horror (38) love (34) magic (109) Mortal Instruments (137) New York (51) New York City (44) own (33) paranormal (116) read (74) romance (113) series (138) shadowhunters (77) supernatural (130) teen (71) to-read (100) urban fantasy (246) vampires (280) warlocks (31) werewolves (207) young adult (632) young adult fiction (43)
  1. 160
    City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (jemsbookblog)
  2. 60
    Tithe by Holly Black (wegc)
    wegc: Both Tithe and City of Bones are about a girl who discovers she is part of a hidden supernatural world full of rivalries and danger.
  3. 30
    The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (stephxsu)
    stephxsu: Lots of action, richly described alt. world setting, and Nick and Jace are similarly attractive bad boys
  4. 30
    The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (SunnySD)
    SunnySD: If you like strong, determined female leads with hidden depths, plenty of action, adventure and intrigue....
  5. 20
    The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver (SunnySD)
  6. 20
    Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (HatsForMice)
    HatsForMice: Girl pulled into a fantasy world only to discover she's a part of it. Stephanie/Valkyrie is a stronger character than Clary, too. Obviously this is for a slightly younger readership, so if you're in it for the romance, you won't find it here until the 4th book.… (more)
  7. 00
    Underfors by Maria Turtschaninoff (julienne_preacher)
  8. 23
    Marked by P. C. Cast (kassyavon)
  9. 05
    Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (MyriadBooks)
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English (407)  Spanish (4)  Dutch (2)  German (2)  All languages (415)
Showing 1-5 of 407 (next | show all)
Awful, un original (rip off of every other scifi/fantasy story told), ridiculous dialogue- what do people see in this book? I so wanted to love you yet I just couldn't believe the un originality in the plot twists, nor the dialogue or the characters. Bah! Not worth continuing but I will try one more since I've already bought Clockwork Angel....
  HunyBadger | May 10, 2013 |
I really enjoyed Cassandra Clare's world. I grew more and more engaged with the characters as they developed more fully. I quite like the new twist on the very popular faery, lycanthrope, vampire, and angel fiction that is so very prevalent these days. In a time where it has begun to be , done to death, so to speak, her work is original and satisfying. Definitely a fan of this series. ( )
  Mirkwood | May 10, 2013 |
I had been eyeing this book for months in my local library before I got my hand on it a year ago or so.
The blurb got me all hyped up, and I have never heard a word ‘Shadowhunter’ before, which probably was one of the reasons I had decided to give this book a try. And have to say, I’m so in love.

City of Bones began as our main character, Clary Fray, was going to a club with her friend, Simon. Once she was in, she unexpectedly saw quite a scene. Two boys, tailing a girl and a boy, with a knife on their hands.
Panicked, she followed them into an abandoned storage room, in which she witnessing what she thought was a murder. Only, the victim disappeared into the thin air, with no trace whatsoever.
It was that, and the kidnapping of her mother, that finally brought Clary to the dark world of Shadowhunter, and to the fact that would put her world in the brink of destruction.

The main character, Clary Fray, was a bit unappealing for me. It wasn’t that she was all whiny and annoying, bu t I think she didn’t stand out like she supposed to be. She sure had some character, but I think it wasn’t enough to make her quite distinctive.
On the other hand, I loved Clary’s counterpart, Jace Wayland. He could be as annoying and sarcastic as he could be, but caring and loving when he thought he wasn’t being watched. It’s nice to see another part that he tried to hide, his soft and loving side,surfacing in some parts of the story.

I also love Isabelle Lightwood, Jace’s sister-in-heart. I found her quite unique, with the mixture of fashionable, loud, devil-may-care, and badass. She was also fragile behind her strong facade, and that was exactly what I love about her. It made the character feel alive and truly blood and flesh.

The plot was quite interesting too, and I totally love Clare’s world-building. The Shadowhunter culture was deeply told, and it was detailed and believable without giving too much. The twist on the end of the book was very nice too, making the readers want more and eagerly waiting for the nest book, curious about how Clare would unfold and solve all of the problems (Which, trust me, seemed pretty much unsolvable).

The thing I don’t really like about this book was when Cassandra Clare told us a little bit too much about the surroundings, and when she tried (sometimes too much) to tell us something and comparing it to other thing. It was fine at first, but when I found it over and over in one page, it could become slightly annoying.

Overall, as an urban-fatasy chick, I absolutely love this book. And if you like fantasy and would love to immerse in Clare’s world of Shadowhunter, I totally recommend this. ( )
  NeysaKristanti | May 5, 2013 |
The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare was a pretty good book with amazing twists characters. This review will be pretty short because I don’t want to give away anything.
My favorite thing about this book was all of the twists and unexpected things that happen. At first I was pretty confused and at the end I was confused to but my confusion was resolved. Everything that I was confused about was explained about later. But all of the things that happen are crazy and pretty darn unexpected. For me if I cant guess what will happen then I think that the author did a really good job writing the book. There was one part that had me laughing. I want to think that it had a love triangle but honestly there really wasn’t and I cant tell you why because it will give away a major plot point.
Now I get into the characters, always my favorite part. First there’s Clarissa, or Clary. She’s so open with her thoughts that I love her. She feels things a lot and is a very curious person. Then there’s Jace. Oh my god, he’s just plain oh I don’t know. The main thing that I want to say about him is that he’s very unemotional, at least outwardly but inside and from time to time he lets the Clary know what he’s feeling and when he does he lets it all out. And all of the other characters are amazing too. There’s Simon, Isabelle, Alec and a ton of others.
One of the other things that I really enjoyed was the writing style. She writes really good and I just didn’t want to put it down. As I said before I really loved all of the plot and all of the twists and the characters.
I give this book a five out of five stars. I recommend it to YA lovers, I thinks it’s a high fantasy book. I really loved this book.
  sincethedawnoftime | May 4, 2013 |
What a heap of garbage. I managed the first chapter, gave up, read the plot summary on Wikipedia, and found out I was right about just about everything that happens (apart from the whole incest thing, but whatever). This is the most cliched nonsense I've read for a long, long time, and that's saying something. The writing was laughable. And the rip-offs are utterly obvious - the whole opening scene reads very similar to many scenes from Buffy. Reading the plot summary, this sounds entirely devoid of any originality (though I can't comment on the specific comparisons to Harry Potter, Star Wars and Bleach that I've heard about because obviously I didn't read the thing). The dialogue was fucking juvenile. I... well, at least it gave me a good laugh!

I MIGHT finish it one day. Maybe. But only when I need something to write a vitriolic review about.
  heterocephalusglaber | Apr 26, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 407 (next | show all)
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Clare, Cassandraprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Graynor, AriNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
I have not slept.

Between the acting of a dreadful thing

And the first motion, all the interim is

Like a phantasm, or a hideous dream:

The genius and the mortal instruments

Are then in council; and the state of man,

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then

The nature of an insurrection.

- William Shakespeare,
Julius Caesar
I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,

Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down

The dark decent, and up to reascend. . .

- John Milton, Paradise Lost
Facilis descensus Averni:

Noctes antque dies patet atri ianua Ditis.

Sed grandium revocare superasque evadere ad auras;

Hoc opus, hic labor, est.

- Virgil, The Aeneid
The descent beckons

as the ascent beckoned.

- William Carlos Williams, The Descent
Dedication
For my grandfather
First words
"You've got to be kidding me," the bouncer said, folding his arms across his massive chest.
Quotations
"Sarcasm is the last refuge of the imaginatively bankrupt," she told him.
"I can't help it. I use my rapier wit to hide my inner pain."
"Your pain will be outer soon if you don't get out of traffic. Are you trying to get run over by a cab?"
"Don't be ridiculous," he said. "We could never get a cab that easily in this neighborhood."
"Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?"
"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked."
"If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are now."
"Jesus!" Luke exclaimed.
"Actually, it's just me," said Simon. "Although I've been told the resemblance is startling."
"Unfortunately", said Hodge, "we're all out of bitter revenge at the moment, so it's either tea or nothing."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (3)

Book description
Clary is unwillingly pulled into the world of her mother's past that has been hidden from her all her life. In this world vampires, werewolves, fairies, demons, and shadowhunters exist. When Clary meets Isabelle, her brother, Alec, and the brooding, sexy, dangerous, Jace, Clary's life is turned upside down. As secrets of her mother's past are revealed Clary must face Valentine, a dangerous shadowhunter, who happens to be her father. As Clary deals with her new-found self, evil demons, and her uncertain feelings that boil up about Jace, she must also keep her old friendship with her best friend Simon intact as her new world seems to push him away. 
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No descriptions found.

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

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