READ: 26.10.17 - 29.10.17

BOOK: City of Bones

AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare

GENRE: YA Fiction

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

REVIEW: Hmmm, I feel like this review may be a long one.

Alright, let's start of with the fact that the hype for this book is huge. Okay, I'm a little late to the game I have to admit but I was still super excited to read this book because of all the praise it has. Plus, the concept sounded super cool. Who doesn't want to read a book about demons and warlocks, and a secret world?

The reason my view on this book is conflicted comes down to the fact that my likes and dislikes about the book are pretty much balanced. Let's start with the positives.

I really liked the concept of this book, and thought the world Cassandra Clare created was pretty darn epic. The idea of 'glamour' and 'Sight' was super cool to me, and in general I loved learning about the history of this secret world of Shadowhunters, demons, and everything in-between.

Another thing I really liked was some of the characters. Jace, despite being the stereotypical sarcastic potential love interest, was pretty endearing and funny. I want to know more about Alec as well. Valentine seems like he has more to him than meets the eye, and so does Luke.

But I think a fundamental part of the book that I disliked really puts a spanner in the works. I just didn't like Clary. She annoyed me so much, and sometimes I just wanted to shake her to make her see how annoying she was being to everyone. Also, she's supposed to be fifteen in this book? Fifteen? She's acting/ doing things that an eighteen year old would be doing half the time.

The writing as well made me cringe at times, and it really felt like reading a cheesy fanfic at points. Apparently her writing gets a lot better later on in the series but I'm really not sure if I want to commit to reading all the books.

So if any of you have read this series, please let me know whether you think I should carry on reading this series. Is it worth it? Does it get better? Does Clary get less annoying?

FINAL VERDICT: I was slightly underwhelmed by this book, and have very conflicted views on it. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea.

RATING: 6.5/10