Recommended Reading: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Is it just me or did (Sm)August fly by? It’s hard to believe that summer is already winding down and we’re heading into the cooler months. While we take advantage of the last rays of summer sunshine and ready ourselves for spooky season, I’d like to share with you my recommendation for your next fantasy read. City of Bones from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.
This is book one of the series which expands into six more. However, if you find yourself like me, drawn into this world and the characters, she’s created more series which branch out. Each expanding on the world or following a specific character’s journey. True to fantasy form, it’s easy to get lost here and the author makes that even easier with the volume of continued content you can find available now, and with more works still to come.
Let’s take a look into City of Bones though, the first step into the shadow-world of the Nephilim.
** This review is spoiler-free! **
The story open’s to present day New York, where we are first introduced to our main protagonist, Clary. However, the author take’s no time in introducing the supernatural to us. Clary has her first run-in with the Shadowhunters at a nightclub, where she can see them, and no one else can. Soon she is wrapped up in their world, which is full of demons, werewolves, vampires, and fan-favorite, warlocks like Magnus Bane. The Shadowhunter’s themselves are Nephilim, meaning they are a subhuman race of half-Angel’s, making it possible to wield some really badass weaponry that includes swords, daggers, and chakrams.
Clary herself is a fairly normal year-old girl. She strives to fit in, is still someone innocent about the world, and has that required snappy attitude of an American teenager. As the story moves forward, and she is drawn into this world, we see the series of events make their impact on Clary. It does take reading all the books, to really see her mold into herself, but it’s worth the journey and we the start of that here in this first book. Leading Clary into this world is Jace, in somewhat typical manner, he is the self-indulgent, cocky guy who thinks he is the absolute best at everything. We will see a lot of development on his side as well, as he is prone to more dramatic, avalanche character changes.
In my effort to keep this review spoiler free, I will be brief about our villain. He is not what you will think he is at first. He is not an over-used trope type of evil over lord vampire/werewolf, ect. No his story will come in pieces like a puzzle to be put together through your reading and while you might pick up on it before the reveal, you will still be drawn into all the details that actually go into making him the ‘bad’ guy.
Overall, while there are a few elements that will give you a sense of ‘this has been done before’ the details that go into them are fresh takes that will keep you reading to find out which twist might happen next, and more then a couple will surprise you. I do believe it can take some pushing forward to really get into what makes the story special, but I promise if you do just that you’ll be at book six before you realize it!
Happy Readings and Stay Safe!
Love,
Your Friends at the Henlo Press