City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd.
Published: 27th March 2007
Pages: 448
Synopsis: 
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. . . . 

Review:
I am so glad Sophie finally made me buy this book. I've been looking at for so long, literally years I believe, without buying it and I cannot believe it took me this long!

Urban fantasy at its best, Clare successfully twists the mystical and magical into the real world we recognise, writing great characters, and even though there have been some comments about her writing style, I didn't even notice because her world was so brilliant!

It was both the world and the characters that made this book so easy to fall into reading. Clary made an amazing protagonist, not stupidly brave but not completely useless either, showing how the typical teenage girl can protect herself and her friends. Jace, the sexy hero, with his witty and annoying one-liners should have made him seem more abrasive with his strong armour against the rest of the world but the glimpses we got of him without it just made him even more real.

Onto the side characters, which for some reason I sometimes loved more than the hero and heroine. I kind of wanted to hate Isabelle, the gorgeous and perfect creature that she is but thankfully Clare made her real and bad-ass. And Alec? I'll admit, it took me a while to take a shine to him but he is so beautifully flawed and jealous and in love with an idiot. Who else? Simon was adorable and I loved how he was just there for Clary. Magnus was just plain awesome, with his glitter and magic powers.

I don't want to give to much away, especially as there are very mixed feelings about this series. But I was instantly hooked on the story and the heart-breaking twist at the end made me cry. Just warning you. But speaking of the horrible twist: why? Dear god, why? To be honest, it just makes me uncomfortable!


By the way, I met Cassie Clare in Bath's Waterstones last week and if you are interested, here is a link to my personal blog where I talk about it, among other things.