City of Bones

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA Fantasy
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: Kept seeing it all over the place
Grade: C

Synopsis:
When Clary Fray witnesses three tattoo-covered teenagers murder another teen, she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in front of her eyes, and no one else can see the killers. She learns that the teens are Shadowhunters (humans who hunt and kill demons), and Clary, a mundie (i.e., mundane human), should not be able to see them either. Shortly after this discovery, her mother, Jocelyn, an erstwhile Shadowhunter, is kidnapped. Jocelyn is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must find the cup and keep it from a renegade sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans, including benevolent werewolves and friendly vampires.

My review:
This book was kind of a mess. I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes, and being really annoyed. Besides borrowing heavily from other stories, I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters. I didn't hate them, necessarily, I just didn't care about them.

At the 300 page mark, I felt like I could have put the book down, and not worry about finding out what happens. But at that point I felt like since I had invested all that time to read 300 pages, I might as well finish. I th...more This book was kind of a mess. I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes, and being really annoyed. Besides borrowing heavily from other stories, I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters. I didn't hate them, necessarily, I just didn't care about them.

At the 300 page mark, I felt like I could have put the book down, and not worry about finding out what happens. But at that point I felt like since I had invested all that time to read 300 pages, I might as well finish. I think it may have gotten slightly more interesting.

There are some interesting concepts in this book, and I wished they would have been explored more, instead of exploring what (to me) seemed to be a ripoff of Harry Potter, with the Circle and the Clave and stuff. I also spent a lot of time wondering if she really meant to borrow from other books, or if it was an accident. Like when Jace gives Clary a rock to be a light in dark places, all I could think of was Lord of the Rings, and the elves giving Frodo something to light his way in dark places. It just felt like so little was original.

Still, I think I may read the second book in the series, to see if it gets better, so I guess the book wasn't THAT bad.  And may I just say, in closing, that I despise this kind of book cover.  I'm really not embarrassed about the covers of the books I read.  The girly chick lit covers don't bother me--I can't really think of much that does.  Except this.  The Fabio-like naked man on the cover is just tacky.