Nothing like a little clubbing in New York to change your forever.
Fifteen year old Clary was thrilled to get an evening at the happening club Pandemonium, hanging out with her best friend Simon. Dancing and a good time was definitely on the agenda… witnessing a murder was not. Yet Clary is unnerved when she witnesses three teenage boys commit a murder that no one seems to notice but her, and then the body disappears into the air without leaving behind even a trace of a struggle.
Into the air!
Shortly there after Clary takes a call from her mom telling her not to come home but to go anywhere else and then she hears her mom being attached. By the time she does arrive at the house it is ransacked and her mom is nowhere to be found.
Welcome to the world of the Shadowhunters, a group of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. When a Shadowhunter close to her own age named Jace comes to her rescue, things become interesting. Clary is introduced to a while new world she never knew existed…. one of fighting for justice, and filled with weapons… and apparently, good looking guys.
As Jace, as well as his close friends Alex and Isabelle, come to help Clary find out what happened to her mom, they all discover that Clary’s meet up with the Shadowhunters was less of a coincidence than one may think. Clary is connected to these people more than anyone had realized…
and that puts her in a dangerous position.
Uber embarrassing confession. My good friend Amy gushed about this book years ago. She gushed so much I did what I usually do, I went out and bought the book. Then I did something else I usually do too…. I shelved it for a later day. Well… although it caught my eye through the years, I never pulled it off the shelf, then as more and more books came out in this series (5 now I believe…) I didn’t know if I wanted the commitment of a long running series.
A couple weeks ago when I needed a new book download for my IPOD I was excited to stumble through a list that had City Of Bones on it. Knowing I had a much greater chance of getting to this read on audio, I downloaded it.
City of Bones was pretty much what I expected, an interesting paranormal YA genre of these Shadowhunters who fight demons among us every day human types who really don’t have a clue of what is going on around us. The Shadowhunters use something they call “glitter” that makes us everyday humans not be able to see them as they truly are, but instead they blend right into wherever they are: an elderly gentleman making his way down a hospital corridor, a businessman walking hurriedly through the streets of New York… if you were wondering how Clary seen them… well, that I can’t give away.
While I found City of Bones to be interesting and well written, I don’t see myself diving into the rest of the series. It was good, but didnt hook me to the point I need to go and get the second book right now! (I don’t quite want to dig out the Spoiler page for this one but did anyone else get a Harry Potter vibe on this one? They are looking for the Mortal Cup…. there is a bad guy trying to get to the cup first named…. Voldermort, I mean named Valentine.)
Book Journey 
I have a number of books that I ran out and bought or downloaded on my Kindle that I still haven’t read either 🙂
This series got its start as Harry Potter inspired fan fiction. I believe Jace Wayland is modeled on the author’s idea of Draco Malfoy…
I really liked the first three books but the fourth one underwhelmed me and I don’t know if I will read the most recent one. I have read the first book in the steampunk historical prequel series (set during Victorian times) and I might continue with that series instead.
Really??? That is fascinating! So the Steampunk by this author is actually a prequel to these? Wow… that’s kind of brilliant!
I have been curious about the Cassandra Clare books, especially since there’s a lot of buzz and because I read an interview with the author in a magazine.
But this doesn’t sound like the kind of read I’d get hooked on….so I’ll pass. But yes, I’m still curious…..so maybe someday.
I had to give it a try Laurel, good… but not enough for me to keep going with the whole series.
I had the same feeling about the first but the books get better and better …the third had my toes curling with excitement!
Oh Lydia… now you have gone and made me want to continue them after that comment. 😛
I stopped after the second book…still not sure why?
I remember thinking with City of Bones that this is one to recommend to HP fans because I thought it would fill the gaping hole that readers of HP were feeling after the last one was published. Not because I noticed plot similarities, but it seemed to have the same high percentage of conversational banter to descriptive passages that the early HP books did. I’ve read all but think City of Bones and City of Ashes are the best of the bunch.
Thanks Laurie, I kind of wish now I had known the Harry Potter connection going in. I am huge a Potter fangirl. I didnt really get a feel for it until the Mortal cup…. 😀
See, I am not entirely sure if I am going to continue with the series either. Now, I know that I am a little bit curious because so many bloggers seem to go nuts over them, but shrug.
*whew* Thanks April… I thought it was just me. 😀
I definitely devoured all three of the books. In one weekend even! But, I don’t really seem to feel the urgent need to continue on with it. And considering it was suppose to JUST be a trilogy, I’m okay with that. 🙂