City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments Book 1) Review

This is a review of the young adult urban fantasy novel, City of Bones, which is the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series. I decided to read this book based on seeing the movie trailer for the recently released The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and the book delivers just what the trailer shows. I was able to pick up a copy for iBooks for $4.99.

City of Bones is the story of 15-year-old Clarissa (Clary) Fray and what happens when she finds out that the world (and she) aren't what she thought they were. In typical YA urban fantasy, we have a young protagonist who discovers that there are things in the world that have hidden in plain sight from normal humans and that she possesses the power to see these hidden things. This exposes Clary to a new world of Shadowhunters (decendants of humans who drank the blood of an angel to gain the power to fight demons), werewolves, warlocks, vampires and demons. Throw in some action, a quest to save some adults and unrequited love and you have all of the typical tropes of YA thrown together in a neat little package.

That being said, I don't mean to belittle the book by any means. It is a fun ride through New York as Clary and her friends (new and old) try to unravel a mystery and save someone dear to them. The story does a good job of guiding you into the world of The Mortal Instruments and the somewhat plausible idea that there is a hidden world right beyond our ability to see. I liked how the story kept unwrapping new layers to the world along the way so that you are never overwhelmed and don't need a lot of exposition to tell you about the back story.

The exposition is there and there is a chapter later in the book where one character is telling Clary about something that happened in their distant past that was a bit of a brain dump, but still interesting. The story is also a bit on the rails, there are only a couple red herrings and ah-ha reveal moments along an otherwise straightforward and interesting story.

I am not sure that the story and world has pulled me (an adult) in enough to make me want to run right out for the next book (in The Mortal Instruments trilogy or the 2 of 3 released in a prequel trilogy called the The Infernal Devices). I do think that the book will make an enjoyable action movie and I am looking forward to seeing it on DVD in the near future.

If you have a teenager at home who is fairly into fantasy or urban fantasy, this one is worth handing over to them to try out. There isn't too much in the way of sex, though there is discussion of attraction and kissing, and there is also quite a bit of violence (nothing as major as The Hunger Games, though). With that in mind, I can recommend City of Bones to younger readers (under 18) and give it 3 Mick Happies.  You'll understand the cup reference in the picture if you read the book. ;) Until next time.