CASSANDRA CLARE’S “CITY OF BONES”: VERY GOOD, BUT SEEMS VERY FAMILIAR …

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

Cassandra Clare’s “City of Bones” is the first installment in her “Mortal Instruments” series.  It is the story of Clary, a young girl who always thought she was just ordinary … until she starts seeing things that an ordinary human isn’t supposed to see.  It turns out that Clary is actually a Shadow Hunter, a creature that’s half-angel and half-human whose role is to protect humankind from demons and to protect the Mortal Cup. 

The problem is, the Mortal Cup is missing.  Apparently, the Mortal Cup is in the hands of Clary’s mother, who is nowhere to be found.  Clary has no one to turn to in helping her deal with her new identity or her mother’s disappearance.  Her uncle, Luke, has left her on her own, and so Clary has to deal with her problems with the help of Simon, her geeky but sweet and devoted best friend, and her fellow Shadow Hunters, Jace, the wise-cracking but secretly angst-ridden hunk, Isabelle, the beautiful bitch with non-existent cooking skills, and Alec, who just simply hates her guts (it turns out he’s gay and secretly in love with Jace).

As Clary tries to search for her mother, she finds herself falling for Jace.  Which presents a complication, for Simon is actually secretly in love with her.  But there’s an even bigger complication, which I won’t tell you about (if I do, it will only ruin the surprise).

I really enjoyed reading this book.  I think it’s something the young readers will enjoy (even though overall, the book seems predictable at some points).  To me, the best thing about this book is the dialogue.  There are a lot of quotable quotes here that are just so humorous.  For instance, Simon asks Clary what kind of coffee she’d like, and she answers, “Black … like my soul.” 

The characters are well-defined and the plot advances clearly and quickly.  Overall, it is a very entertaining book.  However, there are some elements where I couldn’t help but be reminded of Harry Potter, such as the following:  (1) The use of the word “mundane” (sounds a lot like “muggle”); (2) The use of wands (pretty wizard-like to me); (3) Making one’s self invisible (only in this book, a spell is cast, no Invisible Cloaks around here); (4) The “look” of the Silent Brothers (they reminded me of the Dementors); (5) Luke’s secret identity (a lot like Lupin’s).  Then again, Cassandra Clare was originally a Harry Potter fanfic author, so that’s probably just the Harry Potter influence seeping into her story.

It would be interesting to find out how Cassandra Clare develops her story in the other installments, and see whether this series would be able to stand on its own as an original, or fall flat on its face as a Harry Potter wannabe. 

RATING:  4