City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments #1 
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardback
Pages: 485 Pages
Genre: Speculative Fiction - Fantasy
Overall Rating:

Synopsis (from the book cover):

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?

First Sentence: "You've got to be kidding me," the bouncer said, folding his arms across his massive chest. He stared down at the boy in the red zip-up jacket and shook his shaved head. "You can't bring that hting in here."

My Review: Have you ever close a book at night, thinking of forcing yourself to sleep but ended up picking the book back and read until you reach the final page instead? That is indeed what happens to me when I read City of Bones about two weeks back. The book is pack with actions, engrossing storyline and pace that is fast yet comfortable. City of Bones takes you into a world where everything that you see may not be what it seems. It is a journey of discovery that will hook you up from the very beginning.

Clary Fray once thought that her life, her world was not so much different from many others. Her perspective changed abruptly on this one night when she saw a murder done by three young, “beautiful”, teenagers – Jace, Alec and Isabelle – a team of “Shadowhunter” who played parts in protecting the world against the interdimensional parasites they called demons. Things became more puzzling for her when she saw the victim’s body just vanished and that her best friend, Simon, didn’t seem able to see the whole thing that was happening. At that moment, she knew she was more than she thought she was.

Later, when she found out that her mother was suddenly missing and she was lucky enough to survive the demonic attack at their apartment because of Jace, there was no other choice for her other than getting involved in the world of Shadowhunter. She learnt more about herself then and discovered that the life she lived before was based on deceptions. The questions are: Why is she being kept in the dark without any knowledge of her true self? What is the truth that she discovered? And is her mother still alive?

The journey throughout this book was utterly enjoyable. The way the author constructed and described the world Clary lived in was full with clarity to the point that I can feel what was happening in the story. The style of writing is also amazing as a lot of descriptive passages were used along with some lyrical parts, which seriously feel like a bonus to me. Some of the dialogues in the book are also very entertaining especially the three point banters between Clary, Jace and Simon. Another thing that I love about City of Bones is its bunch of interesting characters. As the story moves on, I feel like I’ve been following the characters around, learning secrets that they try hard to keep from one another. The author indeed did a fantastic job in combining element of suspense, humour, drama and romance into this book. Simply put, this book is amazing.

Final Verdict: Brace yourself as you embark this journey and getting immerse in the world created by Clare, where you can find troll living in an apartment complex and vampires riding motorcycles that could fly.  And hold on tighter as you reach the OMG moment close to the end of the book ;) Highly addictive and highly enticing making this book a highly recommended read!

Memorable Quote: Later, when his father left him,, the boy cried over his pet, until eventually his father sent a servant to take the body of the bird away and bury it. The boy never cried again and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed - Story told by Jace to Clary