'City of Bones' review by Book Club Member Nick..

Urban fantasy is a fascinating genre, a place where the author can let their imagination wander and dazzle us with myths and a killer setting. ‘City of Bones’, the first of the ‘Mortal Instruments’ series is one of those books, full of character, colour, myth and insanity. With any luck, you’ll get engrossed in the first book and plunge straight into the next lot. If, by some unhappy chance you are anything like, you’ll walk right past the ‘Mortal Instruments’ and read something a little less chaotic.

Meet Clary Fray, your average fifteen-year old girl who loves and art and music. After she stumbles across a bunch of Shadowhunters, (a clan of teens who hunt demons) she dives into their world, the Shadow World, and gets thrown in a story so hectic she’ll have to listen to those Shadowhunters describe pretty much everything about the place to fill the reader in with the lore of the ‘Mortal Instruments’. ‘City of Bones’ shows no mercy with how quickly it starts the story. Nouns, unique to the series repeat themselves until you’ve finally understood what they mean by the tenth time and there’s barely any room for the reader to breathe for most of it. It’s an acquired taste, I think, but there’s plenty to love about the book if you like all the above.

Of course, books such as these are only as good as their characters and setting, and speaking objectively, both are fantastic. New York City, as much as I hate it, is a great place for this story. All the factions such as the vampires and werewolves have their territories and it feels like New York is a dangerous place at all times. The Shadowhunters themselves are convincing, Hodge, as Yoda of the group fits the image of a teacher and the mysterious Magnus Bane help give New York that extra bit of life that all adds to the atmosphere. Magnus Bane has little to no time in the book, sadly. With any luck, he’ll feature as a regular in the sequels. However, speaking from a personal podium, I didn’t gel with many of the characters. I hated Jace, who I’m sure is a fan-favourite. I didn’t care for his sarcastic, narcissistic and self-loving personality, but I can see why some would love him. He’s a character you can love or hate, no middle. The main enemy I found rather underwhelming, he lacked menace I thought despite everything the characters chimed about. Most of the characters work, sound convincing and fit the feel of the story, but some didn’t work with me.

The first half of the book I enjoyed, despite the lore-heavy descriptions and world-building, it all boasted for a great confrontation at the end, but the story flattened when I reached over halfway. I can’t explain why, for spoilers, but let’s just say a predictable love story bloomed and almost into a love triangle. It felt out of place, needless even. Cassandra Clare set the foundations for a great story, and then threw in a love story that didn’t really get off the ground. Then we have the ending, needless to say, I hated it. One question Clary asks near the end and the books finishes before we know the answer. It felt like cheating- tease the question and reveal the answer in the sequel. Plus, the last scene definitely didn’t feel like a final scene. You should have some sense of closure when a book ends, even if it’s part of a series. This doesn’t.

So, as an introduction book into a series, its hit all the right marks: great setting, lore, characters and a blossoming story. But, it felt like the ‘City of Bones’ story hadn’t finished. I don’t want to read the next book to find out if X happened or not when it could have been revealed on the last page. You end a book with the reader wanting more of that series, not with a question where the answer belongs in the first book. It sounds like I’m pulling it apart, but for me, the flaws outweigh the many good points, and the best thing of all is that Cassandra Clare writes bloody well. She uses all the right words every time, but my god, dial down the nouns. Sometimes it sounded like she was showing off how clever she was with multiple names for an object. It doesn’t impress, it just annoys. ‘City of Bones’ is like one of those first superhero film reboots: it’s a great origin story.