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That is not the jaw of a teenager.
Just sayin'... |
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
by Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry Books: New York, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5507-8
When Clary interrupts
what she thinks is a nightclub fight, she finds herself instead in a closet,
with one demon and three tattoo-covered, gorgeous teenagers trying to kill
it. Clary has discovered the world
of the Shadowhunters, human warriors fighting to rid the earth of demons, and
they have discovered that she is not just a regular non-magical mundane human;
she can see them and the demon. In
the course of the next day, Clary’s world is turned upside down and she is
swept into the company of the cute and flirtatious Shadowhunter, Jace, when her
mother is abducted, and she is attacked by a demon. Clary begins to discover that she, and her mother, are not
the ordinary people she thought; Clary has been a part of the Shadowhunter
world for longer than she can remember.
Though the writing and plot of this book, the first in the Mortal
Instruments series, is often overwrought, it is fast-paced, engaging, and fun
to read. It is recommended for
grades 6-9. Libraries will be
advised to keep a copy of this popular title on hand; there is potential for
this to be adapted into a movie.
In the interest
of not being a huge jerk, I’m including this disclaimer: this book drove me a
bit insane. There are a number of
reasons, which I will get into in a minute (the vast majority caused me to work
a “come the [EFF] on, Bridget,” face, so I think you too will delight in a
Monday eye roll). However, I will
say this about this series. I
totally get why kids (mostly girls, but definitely some boys) of a certain age
(middle/lower high school grades) go bananas for these books and why they are on the New York Time Bestseller list, like permanently. Frankly, it’s probably the reason I go gaga for Diana Gabaldon, or am eagerly awaiting the sequel to A Discovery of Witches. The story is action
packed, the twists are twisty, the OH-SNAPS are snappy, the boys are all hawt,
the girls are all gorgeous, crazy supernatural things occur, and it takes place
in a high-stakes cool parallel world, one that you kind of want to visit. It’s a roller-coaster movie ride, and
it’s a really fun book (series). If
you are an adult like me, you are excited for this book to be adapted as a
movie (rights have been optioned, actors cast), because you see there is a lot
of potential for an awesome movie-drinking game. And honestly, while it is $0.99 on an e-Reader of your choice, why not? It's a light read for summer.
For me though…the
book wasn’t quite enough. It’s
possible that I judged it more harshly than I would have otherwise, coming off
of a book that also has fantasy, romance, excitement, and supernatural weird
angels – Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
But where DSB soars, City of Bones is still learning to crawl. This is not a well written,
edited, nor entirely original book.
Again, it is fun, imaginative, and dramatic. But hot snap, it is ALL over the place. I probably won’t read the other ones,
but I do want to know what happens, other than the likeliness that good is
restored to power, Clary discovers that she’s just super and somehow is the key
to all this awesome goodness restoration.
(SPOILER) Mostly, I’m just interested in finding out how this whole Luke
and Leia grossness between Clary and Jace undoes itself, because, COME THE EFF ON, BRIDGET, obviously it will.
Can someone just tell me?
Seriously.
Anyways, on with
my not-so-kind thoughts about this book.
I’d give a spoiler alert, but I kind of get the feeling if you haven’t
already read it, you’re probably too old to want to do this to yourself, or too
young to be reading reviews on the Internet; you have been duly warned!
