City of Bones

A solid book with a few interesting twists at the end.

Bellissimo. Originale, con colpi scena da lasciare il lettore a bocca aperta. assolutamente consigliato! Brava Clare :)

Although I want to give it 4.6 stars a rating of four stars seems way too low. The beginning was a little to hard for me to get into but afterwards omg its amazing. But clary gets on my nerves a whole lot. The book was really good and I can't wait to read the second and watch the movie adaption.


-reread 2018 I lowered my rating to a 3.25. I couldn't get pass how much Clary got on my nerves but I'm interested in the world and all the other characters.

Before I read this, I had no idea about all of the plagiarism controversy surrounding the author. So, that sucks. It was a decent read, and very fast-paced. It kept me turning the pages, even though I guessed all the twists ahead of time and everything felt really familiar. I'm curious to see where the series goes, but I do hope her plotting improves. Or the editing. Many scenes felt like totally unnecessary fluff, unless she plans to use them somehow later.

While I found this book average and full of inconsistencies in characterization, it was entertaining. It is an easy and engaging read. I don't regret reading this book.

I almost put the book down in the beginning because it was full of tropes I have outgrown. Sometimes characters were cruel and spiteful just to be cruel and spiteful, which I think is an indication of poor writing skills. It was full of teenage drama, and not the good (or at least well-written) kind.

I didn't feel like I knew Isabelle at all. I couldn't really get a grasp of her character, beyond the jealousy and insecurity. That was very disappointing. Alec was a little better defined, but I don't feel I knew him very well either. I think Clary was written best. She had very real and believable reactions to what was happening. Jace was kind of boring. The witty banter between Clary and Jace that was supposed to count as flirting (?) was trite. I couldn't hear their individual voices. It was basically like reading one person having a clever conversation with herself. Most of the time the chemistry wasn't there. The end of the book was pretty intense, which adds half a star to the rating.

I give this book a 2.5
I usually round up, but I don't think this book merits a 3 star rating from me

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

Clary vai acompanhada de seu amigo Simon à boate Pandemônio, cercada de adolescentes góticos, punks, e música alta. Na fila, se interessa por um menino de cabelo azul, que carrega uma estranha viga de madeira com pontas afiadas. Acompanhando-o com o olhar, Clary acaba presenciando um crime que ninguém mais vê, cometido por três estranhos adolescente armados e marcados com estranhas tatuagens.

Como se isso não bastasse, no dia seguinte um dos meninos que cometeu o crime reaparece, Jace conta que é um Caçador de Sombras, que tem como missão matar demônios e criaturas do Submundo (vampiros, lobisomens, fadas, feiticeiros) que matem humanos. Clary, como humana, não deveria conseguir vê-los. E para aumentar o mistério, sua mãe desaparece, com indícios violentos em sua casa. Clary então se junta à Jace, Isabelle e Alec, caçadores de sombras, e tenta descobrir o que há por trás disso.

Comecei a ler esse livro e não sosseguei até terminar os quatro já lançados no Brasil. Já comprei o ebook do quinto e comecei a ler. A história é extremamente envolvente, os personagens cativantes e complexos. Tem que se manter na cabeça que é um livro juvenil, e a linguagem acompanha essa faixa etária.

Jace é o típico badboy pertubado. Lindo, forte, apaixonante. Clary é uma menina baixa, não se descreve como muito sedutora, mas que tem uma teimosia e força fora de série. Simon, seu melhor amigo é um doce, nerd, está sempre ao lado dela. Isabelle é uma menina alta, sedutora, inteligente. E Alec é o menos simpático, mas depois conseguimos entender sua complexidade também.

O livro é repleto de aventura e reviravoltas. A escrita é fluída e o intercalar das cenas não atrapalha o ritmo, pelo contrário. A visão muda entre os personagens, o que torna a história mais explicada e interessante. Nesse livro conhecemos melhor os vampiros, mas temos contato também com outras raças do submundo.

Uma coisa que me deixou nervosa a ponto de terminar o terceiro livro rapidamente e chegar a procurar spoiler acontece no final e já aviso, isso acontece em todos os livros. Percebi que vou terminar o quinto livro e me atormentar até ano que vem, quando sair o sexto.

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/05/cidade-dos-ossos.html

This book has everything, you can relate to the characters, it's well written and descriptive. It's a roller coaster of a story - with twists and turns, turning the page you are wandering what is going to happen next.

If you like a bit of magic with shadowhunters, werewolves, vampires, warlocks and demons - this book is for you. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

You can see more at www.thepinkreader.com

Whelp, that was a decent YA novel. I find Cassandra Clare's work very formulaic and predictable but at the same time books like these are my favorite guilty pleasure. What can I say, I'm a supernatural/fantasy fan at heart. It's certainly not Twilight levels of terrible at least. Anyway, my favorite part of City of Bones was the interactions between the characters. I especially liked the surrogate family of the institution. I liked how everyone kinda hated and loved each other at the same time. Magnus Bane was, obviously, my favorite character and Clary was an okay heroine if not a little generic. I'm still shocked by the plot twist towards the end, it was kinda a risky move for a Young Adult novel. I'm really curious to see who the main love interest will be in this series now? I look forward to seeing the movie and reading book 2. :)

I loved and hated this book at the same time. I was drawn in really quickly and then things slowed down and then it got faster towards the end - which I hated if I'm being honest (the ending).

Clary is an easy to like character although I felt that she settled for things way too easily without a fight.

Jace was a pain in the arse all the way through, then he got likeable then he got annoying again. He was a bit of a douche.

I'll read the second book and hope that the characters develop a lot more. Especially the supporting characters Isabella and Alec. I thought they were both quite interesting but we don't really get to know them very well.

This is pretty much everything a guy could ask for in a YA novel (especially if that guy is a cynical adult – not at all the intended audience for this work). It's fast-paced, action-packed, with a decent cast of characters (not too clichéd . . . maybe just a tad). The world-building and magic system are inventive, well-thought-out. The plot is intricate without being complicated. The budding love triangle is nipped early on (in the first book!) and in a fairly satisfactory way – technically that may be a spoiler, but if you ask me, it's a selling point. City of Bones is a story into itself, while setting the hook (and setting it deeply) for the next installment in the series.

This series was recommended to me by several people, so I already had it in mind that it was going to be good. Though the story was interesting from the start, sometimes I think Clare's snappy comebacks between Clary and Jace got in the way of telling that story. The writing definite picked up about midway through the book and by the end she had me simultaneously angry, intrigued, and wanting the next book immediately. The last 100 pages definitely earned those 5 stars for me!

hmm...I'm truly at a loss as to how to rate this one. Was it great? ummm, not really. Was it terrible? No. Were there places in the book that really did have great potential? Yeah. Did they live up to that potential? No. Some parts were well laid out but then there were other parts where I felt like I was reading the back of a cereal box. Going with the cereal box theme, I'm just going to list what I liked and didn't like. Maybe that'll help me decide how many stars.

Didn't like
-Clary and Jace have got to be some of the most immature, whiney, bratty teen characters I've ever read (though I've read worse coughvampire diariescough). There were times when I wondered how old Clary was supposed to be because she was acting like a spoiled 10 year old.

-I hate the word mundane and how it's used here. Why can't authors (or at least ya authors) just call them normal, plain people? I hated it when a certain british author who shall not be named did it and I hated it here. It always ends up sounding snotty and superior. And it irritates me and becomes a distraction

-my biggest dislike? Clare's extreme over use of similes. Seriously. No need to say fist like iron when you can simply say iron fist. I can't completely blame the author for this. Her editor at Simon & Schuster should have worked to contain those (oh and dear S&S editor...there is no need to both italicize and bold words. One or the other provides plenty of emphasis)

Rolled my eyes at
- the whole that's my dad ridiculous plot point. Wasn't impressed that the author went there, but it's not like this is the first book to go there and I'm sure it won't be the last.

What I liked
-Magnus. He's just cool. His party had an Wonderland feel to it. He's a combination of Chesire and Hatter.

-Luke. granted his character isn't very deep, but there was enough there to keep me interested.

-The demon fueled transportation. Better than brooms or bird like flight abilities.

-the library at the institute

sigh...not sure listing all that helped, but I'm going with 2 stars. Maybe 2 1/2. There was just enough there to entice me to read book 2, but it's way, way down on my tbr list.

This was a very enjoyable read. The world building was very intriguing and fleshed out well.

It was ok. I agree that it should have been deleted. It would have done nothing for the book.



Merged review:

It was ok. I just don't like this kid. It was written from his POV of the night Clary and he shared their first kiss but I think I liked it better from Clary's POV.

Merged review:

Ooook... with all the hype surrounding this series I thought I would bump it up on my TBR list and finally read it.

Clary Fray has been a normal human girl for almost 15 years until she finds out that she is not. She is half human/half angel. This book is mostly about how she comes to find out the truth about her past and how certain events led to her mother keeping these truths a secret from her.

I think this wraps it up nicely. :-)

Cassandra Clare did a good job in creating an interesting world with potential for more growth. What I think she could have done was to spend more time in developing her characters more and working through her scenes a bit more so that they made more sense.

I liked Clary but I didn't think she was all that special or interesting. There were moments where I think the author could have written her to be more special and interesting but she cut it short every time. I don't know if the author was hoping to build some mystery to Clary so that she can give us an AHA moment later in another book but whatever it is it didn't work. Clary was just Clary... rather blah.
Jace. Oh Jace. Why oh why Jace? I seriously don't understand the appeal. I mean there are tons of people out there on the internet drooling over this guy and I'm stumped as to why. First of all this guy is a total jerk. I mean there is nothing lovable about him. I mean NOTHING. When he shows concern for Clary it's more out of duty than that he is falling for her. Which is why when they have their kissing scene it didn't seem natural to me. It just didn't sorry. I do worry that girls out there will think behavior like this is ok. It's not girlies. In fact when guys are jerks it gets old real fast. That's why perhaps I wasn't as tolerant of his behavior in this book.

I liked the other characters just fine. They all needed more character development but were ok for the moment. Valentine, the EVIL ONE, is a douche bag but didn't seem very scary to me.

There is no doubt that this book was full of action. From the beginning it kicks off with some drama. However, I read this via audio book and it took me longer than I would have liked to get through the book. I found myself listening to parts and having to go back to re-read those parts to make sense of it. It was they way she wrote the scenes that it was hard to follow all of the action that took place.

As interesting as this world was it was equally if not more predictable...(Well except for Alec. I didn't see that coming or I just didn't pay as much attention to him.) Like the big cliffhanger...I was calling that half way through the book. ALL OF IT! I didn't even mind it when it all unfolded the way I knew it would. I think I didn't mind it because I'm thinking that Cassandra Clare will resolve this whole twist/mess in the next few books. WELL THAT'S WHAT I'M HOPING FOR BECAUSE IT IS PRETTY JACKED UP IF IT STAYS THAT WAY. Which leads me to the this little bit... I guess Cassandra Clare started her career as a writer by writing fan fiction and she tried this line of writing during that period in time. If she likes this kind of love I will admit that I will be a nervous parent. My son and nieces have been reading this series with me and I don't want them thinking some crazy ideas because of this little surprise Clare drops on us at the end of this book.

With all that said... It's an ok read. I go into every book thinking nothing but what is unfolding before me and I try not to read other reviews too much. I think that this world is unique in its own right but there are similarities to other famous stories. Characters are ok but not as kick ass as I thought they would be. You will be entertained but I personally wasn't wowed.

On to the next one! :-)

I liked it. Sure it's not the most inspired YA fare but it was entertaining. But, with one exception the plot twists are so obvious you have to wonder if the characters have mild mental disorders. But there's one that is so left field and pointless and upsetting that I can't figure out why she even did it. And it continues, in an intensified creepy way, into book 2.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, tells of a story about a young girl named Clary Fray who embarks on her summer in NYC, living in Brooklyn, and ends up with a life that is far from what she calls “normal”. Along the way with her best friend Simon, her mother Jocyln, and an old family friend named Luke, they meet some interesting people. Some of these people include Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Hodge. Things get complicated when Clary finds out about the world of the Shadowhunters and their ways of living. The end result is an epic journey into the unknown and the ability to not only trust herself, but that of others as she beings self rediscover of her past that makes her finally feel like she belongs in the sea of 1.8 billon people.

I'm not sure who has read the book, but I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.

My only issue with the story was how the characters Clary and Jace turned out in the end. It felt like a true greek tragedy to the point of how they found out a missing link between them: Valentine. That in itself kind of rubbed me wrong on a few levels, I mean if they were “cousins” then thats a different story and I would have been chill with... but they are not. Kind of takes it to a whole new ice factor level.

Anyway, the story itself was great! I loved how there was a whole back history to so many well known mythology of werewolves, faeries, vampires, warlocks, and more! It made you feel as though you had another piece to the puzzle of this story come alive.

I did enjoy the descriptions of the landscape, because of my own adventures in Manhattan over the years. I could picture the driving along the hudson river past the building on the west side, the imagery of the village with the cobble stone on the ground, the grand cathedrals standing tall in downtown, and the way it was when you get to the subways. Everything was perfectly described and I have to thank Cassandra for adding that amazing touch to the story!

I do however found it to be slow twice in the book, but that's because sometimes a first novel has that happen. The need to get out certain details and making the reader understand the world that which these characters come from too.

Lastly, I feel like there was something missing in regards to some more backstory about the characters. I can't put my finger on it, but something felt left out. I'm hoping it's in the sequel because it's the reason I couldn't give it 5 stars and the way things played out with Clary and Jace too is the other.

Overall this is a good book for those that have an obsession with YA paranormal mythology/folklore based in werewolves, vampires, faeries, etc...

I like the story, I hate the characters... or the main characters. The minute a character became “main”, he/she became uninteresting egocentric intolerable a-hole.

my review about the whole series

It was a decent enough book, but I was disappointed with the lack of detail in how magic works in this world.

I must say, this wasn't as good as I expected. This is coming from someone who read Clockwork Angel, from the prequel series just released a few months ago, first. The writing was a lot better in Clockwork Angel than City of Bones.

Let me start by saying I still really liked the book. The characters were good. I liked how strong-willed Clary was and how witty and charming Jace was. I usually find myself annoyed by the “bitch” of the story but Isabelle was a very refreshing character (unlike jessamine) as was Simon. I felt the story dragged a little bit. There wasn't much action if you think about it. A lot of the story just focused on Jace and Clary, which is fine with me, but there just wasn't enough action mixed in.

Over all I enjoyed the book. I just didn't find myself flipping through the pages like a mad man like the way I had done for Clockwork Angel until the very baffling end. It is very strange and revolting storyline to have, in my opinion.

In comparison, I feel more drawn to the Infernal Devices characters. I feel like I know more about them, excluding Will, than I know about the Characters from The Mortal Instruments. I still have 2 more books to read at the moment, and i'm sure some of my opinions will change. But this is my first glance at the series based on the first books of both series.

I think this is my favorite “urban fantasy” type book that I've read so far. I really liked the settings and was drawn to the characters. I was a bit confused at the end, I was sure some things would be straightened out, but let me say that I can't remember the last time I was so tempted to look ahead at spoilers for a book.

It was realllyyy good, all that well-written and detail stuff, although it was kind of lax on alot of the twists. I expected most of the family-drama stuff, except for the Jace thing...otherwise...it was great xD

Some disturbing parts but overall a very interesting fantasy world