Review: City of Bones

I’ll admit I was a tad apprehensive when I decided to pick up this book – for those unfamiliar with Cassandra Clare’s history, she was a popular writer of fanfiction in the Harry Potter fandom before she became a published author. Most of my apprehension stemmed from the controversies surrounding her then-famous Draco Trilogy (written under the penname Cassandra Claire), which came under heavy fire for plagiarism. You can read about the plagiarism debacle here.

City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Trilogy revolving around 15 year old Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary girl living in New York. All this changes when she runs into Shadowhunter Jace Wayland at a nightclub, catalyzing a chain of baffling events that includes Clary getting attacked by a demon worm/centipede in her house,  her best friend Simon turning into a potential carrier of the bubonic plague,  and other exciting events one can only imagine transpiring (one can only imagine because I’m not going to reread the book again. The plot was, for the most part, forgettable, tedious, and entirely unremarkable.) Oh, and Clary and Jace? They’re siblings. I smell a Star Wars spin-off in the works!

Incest aside, Simon, Clary, and Jace form a love triangle of sorts -  if a convoluted, rusty scalene triangle might be imagined. Probably not. Simon’s unrequited love for Clary is both amusing and uncomfortable (as are all unrequited loves, really) but the real winners here are Clary and Jace, who manage to exude manic levels of sexual attraction most uncommon for two people who recently discover that they share the same X chromosome.  As for the side characters, I found them too flat to be of any interest whatsoever. Despite attempts to endear superfluous characters like Isabelle and Alec to the audience (making Alec a homo only made him more annoying than anything else), they remained largely two-dimensional for most of the story.

And the make or break of this review: Mary Sue haters, beware! Jace plays the perfect, tortured Gary Stu to Clary’s Mary Sue, and the time will soon come when you will have to decide for yourself who you want to stab in the face more.

While the book had its witty moments, some of the jibes seemed a little contrived and over-rehearsed. The book borrows too many elements from other paranormal/sci fi fiction realms to be considered truly original in concept. And if you’re not a fan of the typical “heroine has speshul powers and everyone falls in love with her as she saves the day” genre, this book definitely isn’t for you.

See also: City of Ashes, City of Glass

Plot/originality: 2/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Total score: 7/15