Reading Reflection: City of Bones

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1)
by Cassandra Clare
Published March 27th 2007
p. 485
Rating: 3/5

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. . . . 

I wasn't a big fan of this book, it wasn't horrible, but I didn't love it.  I read the Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince and loved those books, this one fell short of my expectations.  It wasn't as well written as the other two. 

I did like the book.  I liked the characters: Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabel, Alec, and Hodge.  But I couldn't help but to compare them to Tessa, Will, and Gem.  These modern characters seemed milder in comparison and I didn't know if I liked it our not.  When compared to Tessa, Clary just seemed obnoxious, which doesn't seem fair.  On her own she wasn't bad, sort of spunky, but mild at the same time.  I didn't find Jace any way near as severe as Will.  Will was hurtful, Jace just seemed brutally honest.  However, their were definite similarities in their roles. 

In this story Clary discovers the world of Shadowhunters and all that it entails, including a witty, sarcastic, and somewhat rude boy named Jace.  Along with all this, she finds herself closer to this group than she would have thought possible: her mother was once a Shadowhunter.  However, something from the past has come and her mother is gone. Clary is thrown into this new world without the slightest idea of what to expect or how to save her mom.  The story takes you into Clary discovering her own history, the one her mother tried to conceal.   

I think my biggest problem with the book was my confusion.  It was like BAM! Shadowhunters, runes, marks, and weapons with names.  Did that get explained?  Did I miss it?  Why do the weapons have names?  I didn't get it.  I don't know if I missed this information or it was simply never provided, but I wish I knew more about all these little facts. 

Other than that, it was a decent storyline, the characters were entertaining enough, the writing was a little excessive, but I still enjoyed the novel.