City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1)

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...

*May Contain Spoilers*

Cassandra Clare creates the Shadowhunter legacy with the opening novel of the Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones. A novel full of surprises, characters to love as well as hate, and a promise of much more to come. After reading the Infernal Devices series, I knew this would immediately be on my reading list. Though the prequel series was written after City of Bones, and the writing style has definitely evolved, the excitement I had to read this book was definitely warranted. 

Clarissa Fray is an un-average teenage girl. Even if she doesn't know it. When she first develops the Sight, she's intrigued and confused that she is able to see things that mundanes aren't supposed to be able to see. When she learns that she is a Shadowhunter descendant, what she can now see becomes a little clearer. Clarissa is a wonderful beginning character. She's naive, but courageous. Open, but situationally reserved. For a character that is guaranteed to evolve into something much greater, Clarissa is easily relatable and trustworthy. Readers will enjoy seeing the real world through her eyes. The world that has hidden secrets living in plain sight. 

The plot of City of Bones introduces Clarissa and the Shadowhunting world side-by-side. As Clarissa discovers innate characteristics and her blocked memories resurface, the world around her simultaneously changes in a co-existing evolution. Clare does a fantastic job aligning Clarissa's growth with the unveiling of the world's truth. With the kidnapping of Clarissa's mother, she now a has a purpose to aid the Shadowhunters in retrieving the Mortal Cup: a cup that creates Shadowhunters from mundanes. A cup that her mother stole and hid from an enemy. A cup that could be traded for her mother's life. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups