City Of Bones is targeted at the Young Adult/ Teenage audience. It involves adventure, supernatural myth, action and a little bit of romance into its plot (among other things).
The story is set in the third person, and follows around a fifteen year old girl named, Clarissa Fray. Clary for short. She has a geeky, male best friend name, Simon, and has a widowed, single mother who likes to paint.
City Of Bones starts in a New York nightclub named, Pandemonium.
While Clary and Simon are trying to get into the club, they notice a boy at the front of the queue. He is just a bit of a foreshadowing, so remember this kid.
When Clary and Simon get inside, Clary sees the boy meet a girl, and the two go into a restricted storage closet (presumably to 'get-it-on'). Clary also notices that two men with strange tattoos are following the couple, and that one of those men is carrrying a knife.
In panic, Clary persues these men into the storage closet, only to find the girl and the two men ( They are actually all teenagers and Clary finds out their names to be Jace, Alec and Isabelle), bashing up the boy and asking for information. When Clary wallks in though, the four-some are startled by the fact that she can actually "see" them.
Clary threatens to call the police, but the tattooed people scoff and end up killing the boy, who vanishes into nowhere. The people tell Clary that the boy was a demon, and when a bouncer and Simon interrupt them, only to find Clary standing by herself, Clary is pretty... gobsmacked?
A short while later, Clary sees one of the tattooed people (Jace) from Pandemonium, ans she follows him outside. After recieving a panicked phone call from Jocelyn, Clary's mum, Clary steals Jace's "phone" and runs hom to find her house trashed, her mum missing and a worm-like demon closing distance between them.
Clary is thrust into a supernatural world where everyday life is separated into 4 statuses. You are either a mundane human, an elite Shadowhunter, a derogatory Downworlder, or an evil demon.
As Clary discovers the horrifying truth behind her past, she must also face a confusing and violence filled new life, where all manner of beasts are out to get you, and sometimes the truth isn't always what you want to hear.
City Of Bones is a non-stop, action-packed thrill-ride (too many hyphens!) about how who you grew up with and who loves you is more important than the blood you share.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel in The Mortal Instruments series. Clare's writing style is highly gripping, easy and interesting to read,. The characters are extremely well developed, all with surprising back stories, pasts and family craziness to boot (this includes a certain small amount of INCEST). The plot to the story is epic, giving you something new to squeal about with the turning of every page.
I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!
Technical Information You Might Want To Know:
Blurb:
It's after dark in New York City , and Clary Fray is seeing things. The best looking guy in the nightclub just stabbed a boy to death - but the victim has vanished into thin air. Her mother has disappeared, and a hideous monster is lurking in her apartment. With her life spiralling into darkness, Clary realizes that she has stumbled into an invisible war between ancient demonic forces and the secretive Shadowhunters - a war in which she has a fateful role too play...
