City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Shadowhunters have a saying: All the stories are true.”
I first read ‘City of Bones’ when i first started on Goodreads, and my review was terrible. Not joking and i quote ” This book is good, people should read this book” *face palm* I clearly didn’t know what i was doing, a 10 year old could have written something better than that.
Unfortunately i only had the first book, and got so wrapped up into other series and standalones that i completely forgot about this series. Since then i’ve become a huge fan of the Shadowhunters series on Netflix (sorry to those who did but i hated the movie version) and am finally planning to finish the novels to this series. So here goes!
Clary Fray is just your normal New York City teenager, she is taking art classes, going out with her friends and argues with her mother, until she sees things her brain can’t comprehend, parts of a secret world within her own. When her mother is kidnapped, and Clary comes face to face with a monster that almost kills, her life is turned upside down. With the help of her new acquaintance Jace, she is brought to the Institute. Where the hidden world is revealed to her, vampires, werewolves, demons- they are all real, and the Shadowhunters are the protectors of human race, otherwise known as mundanes. Why Clary’s mother was taken is a mystery to them all. Could she have been a Shadow hunter in exile? Why does Clary know nothing about it? What secrets could her mother have been hiding all these years? Fearing for her mother’s life, Clary and her new friends seek out the help to get some answers. A powerful magic blocking her mind from ‘seeing’ the truth in the world she knows, Clary is determined to find the answers, unlock her brain and bring her mother back alive.
With the help of Shadowhunters Jace, Alec, Isabelle and her mundane friend Simon, Clary sets out into this new unknown world desperately trying to find out who she really is, how its all connected, and the secrets her mother has hidden from her her entire life.
‘Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234’.”
I love the world Cassandra Clare has made, a world within a world, covered with a veil that most people can’t see into, or if they do think they are seeing something else entirely. Its well thought out and right up my allie with the whole vampire/werewolf/warlock/demon thing its got going on. It’s intriguing, and keeps you asking ‘what’s going to happen next?’
Although some parts can be kind of slow, majority of the book is at quite a fast pace jumping from one thing to the next, without all the confusion and head scratching.
I love how the humans are called ‘Mundanes’, i guess because compared to the shadowhunter world they are rather dull, and i think Cassandra Clare is pretty smart to use it as their known name in her world of danger and darkness .
I honestly dont really like Clary much in this book, she is a bit of a child at times. Yes her mother has been kidnapped and her world turned upside down, but come on girl, get that attitude of yours in check before someone slaps the shit out of you. I would if i could reach my hand into the book.
My favourite character, or should i say characters are Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane. I love the attitudes these two have, they are smart mouthed, wickedly cool and dont hold back on anything. That being said they are also different to how Clary has an attitude, or a head on her.
I feel for Alec, being gay and it being an issue to your family and your friends would suck, not just for him but for all gay people. I have gay friends and have never judged them, what for? Rather live in a world of love, than a world of hate. Why anyone has a right to judge who someone else find attractive, who they sleep with, who they love- is beyond me. I think these people are uneducated, homophobic and maybe a little scared/curious themselves.
Magnus on the other hand is completely comfortable with who he is, you go glen coco!
I love everything about him so far, he is powerful, a party animal, a giver of no fucks. He is a serious badass warlock with some spice. Seriously ‘Magnus Bane’, what an awesome name! Or maybe its just me.. haha.
“Where there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”
Recommended for :YA/Fantasy/Romance/Paranormal
BookishFix 
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