Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, Bk 1) (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this book looked and sounded interesting. I read a lot of paranormal young adult books and was excited to see if this was a good series. I listened to this on audio book. The quality of the audio book was okay. The lady who read it had kind of a teenage know-it-all twang to her reading that tainted all of the voices for the characters; this may have contributed a little to how little I enjoyed this book.
In this book Clary sees some people luring a young man into a storage closet; when she follows them in there she sees that the three youngsters are attacking the young man. Her friend Simon runs for help but when the police show up; Clary is the only one who can see the group of attackers and the victim. As if this isn't weird enough Clary's mom suddenly wants them to move out of the city and out to the countryside. Clary and her mom argue and Clary leaves angry. When she returns her mom is gone and horrible creatures are in wait for her. Clary finds out that she can see the true world; which is composed not only of humans but also Downworlders and Shadowhunters. She ends up in a house full of Shadowhunters and tries to help them find the Mortal Cup in an effort to find her mother.
This book was just awkward. It's kind of done in third person but everyone talks in first person and everything is from Clary's point of view. It was a weird way to write it; it would have been a more pleasant read had it been written in first person from Clary's point of view. If this was the only problem of the book then I could live with that. Unfortunately it gets worse.
Most of the characters are pretty stereotypical. The banter between the characters, especially Jace and Clary, is meant to be witty and funny but comes off as unnatural and overly contrived. Clary's character is very inconsistent; at times she shows incredibly keen insight and at times she is incredibly dense. Most of all though Clary stumbles around causing trouble and relies on someone to come and save her. She is not the type of lead character I enjoy reading about.
The unseen magic world is very stereotypical. The relationships between werewolves and vampires are similar to everything else you've read. The plot was slow moving and predictable. I mean I figured out who Clary's father was pretty much right away. I figured out who Jace's father was mid book; and I was disappointed to find out that I was right. I don't like it when authors assume their readers are stupid and throw out some many clues that nothings ends up being a surprise.
The book ends at an odd spot. Her and Jace leave to take a ride somewhere to do something important ; then the book ends mid-ride. That was also irritating. Overall I thought the book was poorly written, paranormal drivel. The book tries, oh so very hard to be Gothic. The Gothic clothing and piercings and hair styles are described with such detail it's like the book is trying to force itself to be creepy and Gothic; the effort makes the book feel fake.
I usually try to point out some good things about a book too. I guess the Shadowhunter culture is kind of interesting and the use of tattoos as magic is interesting (although done before). Strangely enough I thought the plot was similar in a lot of ways to The Signs of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson; The Signs of the Zodiac is not a young adult series but many aspects of the plot of the Signs of the Zodiac series are seen here.
I won't be reading anymore of this series. I just can't stomach more of this. I never understand how some of these books sell so well; they are so many really good young adult urban fantasy books out there. Check out Holly Black's Modern Fairy Tale series for some truly high quality young adult urban fantasy.
In this book Clary sees some people luring a young man into a storage closet; when she follows them in there she sees that the three youngsters are attacking the young man. Her friend Simon runs for help but when the police show up; Clary is the only one who can see the group of attackers and the victim. As if this isn't weird enough Clary's mom suddenly wants them to move out of the city and out to the countryside. Clary and her mom argue and Clary leaves angry. When she returns her mom is gone and horrible creatures are in wait for her. Clary finds out that she can see the true world; which is composed not only of humans but also Downworlders and Shadowhunters. She ends up in a house full of Shadowhunters and tries to help them find the Mortal Cup in an effort to find her mother.
This book was just awkward. It's kind of done in third person but everyone talks in first person and everything is from Clary's point of view. It was a weird way to write it; it would have been a more pleasant read had it been written in first person from Clary's point of view. If this was the only problem of the book then I could live with that. Unfortunately it gets worse.
Most of the characters are pretty stereotypical. The banter between the characters, especially Jace and Clary, is meant to be witty and funny but comes off as unnatural and overly contrived. Clary's character is very inconsistent; at times she shows incredibly keen insight and at times she is incredibly dense. Most of all though Clary stumbles around causing trouble and relies on someone to come and save her. She is not the type of lead character I enjoy reading about.
The unseen magic world is very stereotypical. The relationships between werewolves and vampires are similar to everything else you've read. The plot was slow moving and predictable. I mean I figured out who Clary's father was pretty much right away. I figured out who Jace's father was mid book; and I was disappointed to find out that I was right. I don't like it when authors assume their readers are stupid and throw out some many clues that nothings ends up being a surprise.
The book ends at an odd spot. Her and Jace leave to take a ride somewhere to do something important ; then the book ends mid-ride. That was also irritating. Overall I thought the book was poorly written, paranormal drivel. The book tries, oh so very hard to be Gothic. The Gothic clothing and piercings and hair styles are described with such detail it's like the book is trying to force itself to be creepy and Gothic; the effort makes the book feel fake.
I usually try to point out some good things about a book too. I guess the Shadowhunter culture is kind of interesting and the use of tattoos as magic is interesting (although done before). Strangely enough I thought the plot was similar in a lot of ways to The Signs of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson; The Signs of the Zodiac is not a young adult series but many aspects of the plot of the Signs of the Zodiac series are seen here.
I won't be reading anymore of this series. I just can't stomach more of this. I never understand how some of these books sell so well; they are so many really good young adult urban fantasy books out there. Check out Holly Black's Modern Fairy Tale series for some truly high quality young adult urban fantasy.
Susan V. (nrlymrtl) reviewed City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, Bk 1) (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on + 297 more book reviews
Meet Clary Fray. Shes 15, lives with her mom, and has a bit of a submissive streak. Simon is her best friend, and he is a bit of a wallflower. So of course Clary needs to drag him off to a nightclub, Pandemonium. In an equipment room, Clary witnesses three armed teens kill what she thinks is another teen. However, the security guard and Simon dont see anything. Later, at a poetry reading (Simons idea), Clary sees one of the teens, Jace. Clary learns a little about the Shadowhunters and their never-ending quest to slay demons. Of course, she has trouble believing it, but that becomes much easier when she is attacked by a giant bug-like demon in her apartment. With her mother missing, and tons of questions, she turns to Jace and his fellow Shadowhunters for answers.
Alec and Isabelle Lightwood live at the Institute with Jace, and the elderly, scholarly Hodge Starkweather. Isabelle can be a bitch, but she is always straight forward. Alec takes a huge dislike to Clary right away. So even though she is temporarily safe from demon bugs, she isnt exactly being coddled and reassured all will be well. At that is one of the aspects I enjoyed about this book. The Shadowhunters are descendants of the first nephilim, those created from an angel mixing his blood with mortal blood. from this, they derive certain powers, such as the Sight which allows Clary to see Jace and crew at the night club.
The Shadowhunters also have other magical means, such as runes they draw upon their skin and then call upon for protection or healing. Yeah, it stings a bit, but they endure. they also have years of training in more mundane defense skills; hand-to-hand combat, various weapons training. Only Isabelle cooks, and she does that badly. Other than that, these teens all seem able to clean & dress themselves and order in when hungry.
The over all mystery was pretty compelling. Clary soon finds out her mother is more than she ever knew, along with he mothers long-term boyfriend Luke. Turns out the Mortal Cup, which was used by the angel to make the first nephilim, has been missing for a generation. It disappeared when the evil warlock Valentine was destroyed. Or was he? So plenty to explore there, both in Clarys present and also in the past.
The story quickly develops a love triangle, which then becomes a quadrangle, and then a pentangle. At that point, its just best to call it the Love Tangle. These teens need to get out more and meet more people, period. At first I was a little annoyed at the love triangle, but by the time we got to the Love Tangle, I could only chuckle at it. I dont think anyones going to get laid.
While some of the plot twists were predictable, the author still executed them with drama and scenery. Yep, scenery. They were quite lovely scenes, just predictable. And Clary seemed to spend 90% of the book reacting to her surroundings or doing what someone else tells her to do. She rarely acted on her own.
But other than those points, it was a fun jaunt through YA. Will I read the next book? Hmm.I dont know. If I find it on the library shelf while browsing and queue isnt already full, sure.
The Narration: Ari Graynor was a great voice for Clary. I dont think I can imagine Clary with a different voice now. Her male voices for older male was good (really excellent for Hodge) but were rather feminine for the younger males.
Alec and Isabelle Lightwood live at the Institute with Jace, and the elderly, scholarly Hodge Starkweather. Isabelle can be a bitch, but she is always straight forward. Alec takes a huge dislike to Clary right away. So even though she is temporarily safe from demon bugs, she isnt exactly being coddled and reassured all will be well. At that is one of the aspects I enjoyed about this book. The Shadowhunters are descendants of the first nephilim, those created from an angel mixing his blood with mortal blood. from this, they derive certain powers, such as the Sight which allows Clary to see Jace and crew at the night club.
The Shadowhunters also have other magical means, such as runes they draw upon their skin and then call upon for protection or healing. Yeah, it stings a bit, but they endure. they also have years of training in more mundane defense skills; hand-to-hand combat, various weapons training. Only Isabelle cooks, and she does that badly. Other than that, these teens all seem able to clean & dress themselves and order in when hungry.
The over all mystery was pretty compelling. Clary soon finds out her mother is more than she ever knew, along with he mothers long-term boyfriend Luke. Turns out the Mortal Cup, which was used by the angel to make the first nephilim, has been missing for a generation. It disappeared when the evil warlock Valentine was destroyed. Or was he? So plenty to explore there, both in Clarys present and also in the past.
The story quickly develops a love triangle, which then becomes a quadrangle, and then a pentangle. At that point, its just best to call it the Love Tangle. These teens need to get out more and meet more people, period. At first I was a little annoyed at the love triangle, but by the time we got to the Love Tangle, I could only chuckle at it. I dont think anyones going to get laid.
While some of the plot twists were predictable, the author still executed them with drama and scenery. Yep, scenery. They were quite lovely scenes, just predictable. And Clary seemed to spend 90% of the book reacting to her surroundings or doing what someone else tells her to do. She rarely acted on her own.
But other than those points, it was a fun jaunt through YA. Will I read the next book? Hmm.I dont know. If I find it on the library shelf while browsing and queue isnt already full, sure.
The Narration: Ari Graynor was a great voice for Clary. I dont think I can imagine Clary with a different voice now. Her male voices for older male was good (really excellent for Hodge) but were rather feminine for the younger males.
