Review: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

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.... 

City of Bones is a book I bought last year, and has been on my TBR shelf for quite a while. After hearing all of the hype I finally gave in, pulled it off the shelf and shoved my nose in it. I’m still reeling from that book now.

As a Fanfiction reader, Cassandra Clare’s name is one I already know well, though I never read much of her story. Of course, anybody who has researched into the author will know about the ‘plagiary accusations’ against her, I was so worried that all I would find in this book would be cheap knock-offs from other fantasy titles. I realise that no author can come up with a completely original story, but Clare borrows liberally from other titles, without it being straight up plagiarising. The idea of the Shadowhunters comes up as a glamourised version of the vampire hunters in Buffy, and the Clave/Circle comes as the Ministry of Magic/Death Eaters from Harry Potter.

I would like to note that, despite the critics comparing the Mortal Instruments to the Deathly Hallows, the first book in this series WAS released two months before J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

But despite the unoriginality of some of the ideas, the plot itself is original, the idea of these elite demon hunters keeping the order in the real world is original and Clare creates a fantastic world where normal humans (mundanes) live amongst the supernatural without even knowing it.

Clare’s Fanfiction past does become obvious at some points, with each character having witty comebacks and extremely cheesy jokes that will either have the closing the book and throwing it across your room or laughing. I was the latter though I know some people who found it a little unconvincing that every character was so sarcastic and witty.

The romance is also unoriginal, with Clary and Jace’s relationship developing quite fast in a youn adult cliché way, but it is convincing and I found myself falling in love with Jace. There is also the obligatory love triangle (best friend- protagonist-shiny hero) that I was expecting from the first chapter. Clare stops the romance storyline from being too convincing by adding a *TWIST AT THE END* that had me staring at the page like “OMG WHAT?!?!” (I’d advise you NOT to read any Goodreads reviews though, most of the time you’ll find spoilers for this twist).

Cassandra Clare creates a unique blend of characters, each of which have their own unique charm, calling the reader to read on. I personally love the character of Magnus Bane, who comes up a little bit more in the next two books in the series, I find myself fangirling over this hot wizard!

The writing is good... not great.... but not bad. Clare (thankfully) doesn’t describe every little thing like a lot of fantasy writers opt to, and that is good, as I hate that, it is all in all an easy and fun book for the urban fantasy lovers to get through in a day. The plot is fast paced and page turning and fantastic.

In the end, this book is definitely a read again, even though it is unoriginal and most of the time you know what is coming, definitely worth a read for anyone who likes Holly Black’s Modern Faerie and well recommended by me.


Overall rating: B+

Stand alone/series: First in the Mortal Instruments series

Released: July 2nd 2007 (Paperback)

Publisher: Walker Books

Pages: 445

Book obtained via: Bought

Review: Before I Die - Jenny Downham

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. 
Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

This book took my breath away, that is really all that needs to be said.

The book focuses on sixteen year old Tessa as she lives out the last few months of her life with her selfish best friend Zoey and her family – her mother who is never there for her, her father, who is worried about the way she is coping and her younger brother, who feels pushed out because of his sisters condition. Tessa has cancer and has a list of things to do before she dies, things to make her ‘normal’. Stealing, having sex… falling in love. She meets Adam, an older boy looking after his mentally ill mother next door, and they fall in love…

This book is nothing but amazing, Downham makes good characters that you can relate to and feel for, even though sometimes I did feel like the extent of Tessa’s thoughts was ‘I’m dying, I’m dying. Cancer, Adam, Zoey, I hate my family.’ But it is a heart-rending read. Downham has obviously researched the condition and treatment and progression of the disease, and she delivers it in a poetic, soft way, whilst also putting across the brutality and horror of being a teenage girl with just a few months, something that takes skill to do. She also eased her way into the end of the story.

My last page of this novel must be absoloutely covered with tear-stains, because was practically bawling my eyes out by the time I finished – and it isn’t often I cry at books.

Downham also delivered the romance well, and the dysfunctional relationship between Tessa and her best friend Zoey. I found myself falling in love with Adam myself; so sweet and caring. This novel is written so poetically - which is great because this could have been an unbearably uncomfortable read, because of the topics covered, but the way the characters are established keep it a more comfortable read. Not light reading under any circumstance, but not as heavy as it could be.

While this book is almost flawless, some topics could mean it is not suitable for some younger readers. The whole romance thing seemed to me to be slightly rushed, it seemed as though Tessa was only interested in Adam because she wanted someone.

Overall rating: B

Stand alone/series: Stand alone

Released: March 6th 2008 (Paperback)

Publisher: Definitions

Pages: 336

Book obtained via: Bought