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Cassandra Clare brings readers a superb young adult supernatural horror with City of Bones, the first book in The Mortal Instruments trilogy. Everything about this first book is wonderful, from the likable teens to the intriguing world of the Shadowhunters—fighters dedicated to ridding the world of demons.
Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is your everyday, ordinary human—what the Shadowhunters call a “mundane”—except she can see the Shadowhunters and demons while no one else can. She first encounters them at an upscale, all-ages New York City club, where she witnesses what appears to be a murder until she learns that the victim was a demon with a startling message.
Jace Wayland is a gorgeous Shadowhunter with a badass attitude. He doesn’t need anyone in his life—especially not a mundane like Clary. Why she can see them, along with the demons and downworlders (half-human/half-werewolf, vampire, etc.) he doesn’t know—but, against his better judgment, he’d like to find out.
When a demon attacks Clary, and her mother disappears, the Shadowhunters want to know why they’re interested in a mundane. Jace and Clary have no other choice but to work together to find her mother and figure out what the demons want.
Clary Fray is such a sweet and courageous girl, who does all she can to find her mother. In the process, she loses some of her innocence as she learns that most of her life has been nothing more than a lie. Confusion and emotional turmoil dog her every step, but she hangs in there and faces the challenges coming her way with a backbone made of steel.
Jace Wayland, meanwhile, may be a cocky badass, but he’s also a charming and honorable young man. His friends mean everything to him, and he’ll protect them with his life. He’s the kind of guy you want at your back. Clary brings out the soft side of his personality, though he fights it tooth and nail, rounding out his character to a pleasant point.
City of Bones is an innocent young adult novel, but it’s also sexy and dark. The captivating world of the Shadowhunters will draw readers deeply into a mysterious miasma of the supernatural, where nothing is as it seems. It’s the uncanny world below the surface of what’s normal—a place that will intrigue you but also frighten you.
Though I wasn’t too happy with the direction that Clary and Jace’s relationship takes (I keep hoping it’ll turn in a different direction in the next book), City of Bones is still a breathtaking adventure, teeming with most everything that makes up the paranormal world. I hope to see more of the supernatural, along with more secrets revealed, in City of Ashes, the next book in the can’t-miss Mortal Instruments trilogy.
