Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Re-read)

ISBN: 9781416955078
Release Date: March 27, 2007
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1
Page Count: 485 pages
Find it on Goodreads

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

"When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder. Much less a murder commited by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons--and keeping the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. 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 an ordinary mundane like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know..."

     REVIEW:
WHAT I LIKED:

• Surprisingly, I dont hate the characters in this book considering they are characters I would normally not love in another book (teenagers MCs tend to be annoying). This was a re-read for me, and I loved it when I first read it, but admittedly the novelty has kind of worn off. But I dont hate them. Jace is your typical 15 year old, but kind of independent and unique. Clary, yes, annoying, but he's vulnerable and I love me some vulnerable boys. Everyone else kind of did their job as secondary characters and I liked the way they were portrayed. They fit.
• The world building is pretty good. Not wonderful, but better than in her spin-off series, The Infernal Devices, and it makes me want to visit the City of Glass and be a part of the Shadow World.
• I wasnt super into re-reading this book, but I told myself I would do it because I wanted to see the movie. However, when I did read it, though it moved a little slow for me on the second go-around, the plot points and the clever way it all unfolded definitely reminded me of why I loved the series to begin with!

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:

• The dialogue was often unbelievable or just seemed awkward.The only way I can explain how I felt about it is to say that many scenes in the book felt too obvious and like Clare was trying too hard.
• The ending didnt seem believable for me either. I just cant see how Clary and Jace kind of just picked up an un-awkward friendship like nothing ever happened over the last week. I didnt love it, but I know how the story progresses so I guess that's OK.

RATING: ★★★★

The four star rating for this book is kind of an in-between for how I know I felt about it when I first read it a few years ago (5 stars) and how I felt about it now (3.5 stars). I didnt want to be unfair because I wasnt in the mood for a re-read, but it really is a good book. Sometimes awkward and annoying, but definitely good. I have realized though that its not a book I'm going to add to the re-readable list. Its probably not a series I'll want to revisit for quite some time. After re-reading it though, I also realized that I enjoyed it a lot more (this time and last) than the Infernal Devices series. Still trying to figure out why though...

I know a ton of you have read this over the last few weeks leading up to the recent release of the movie (which I'll be doing a post on with my friend Amber from Paradise of Pages soon), so I'd love to hear what you think! Do you agree or disagree with me on the points I've made?

A.