City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones	Loved it	Graded
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Elements: Vampires, fallen angels
Series: Book 1 of the Mortal Instruments series

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. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

A murder.

That's not really what you'd expect to find at a nightclub. Much less when every trace of the body disappears, living behind a bewildered Clary Fray and 3 armed, tattooed teenagers calling themselves Shadowhunters. Bad enough she's in a room with 3 murderers, they don't even think they did anything wrong! In fact, they think they'd just gotten rid of a demon. A good day's work for them, an experience Clary never wanted to be repeated.

In fact, it shouldn't have happened at all. Clary should never have seen the Shadowhunters nor the demon, even under its glamour. Curious, Jace, one of the Shadowhunters, decides to follow her. To make things worse, she fights with her mum who disappears after leaving Clary a cryptic message and warning her to stay away.

Scared for her mum, Clary defies her orders and returns home, only to be attacked by a demon. She kills it but is grievously injured. Lucky then that Jace was there to save her. From then onwards, Clary is thrust into a whole new world, one she never knew existed. Or did she?

The Shadowhunters are curious as to why she has the Sight and is able to see them and all the other creatures hidden by the glamour. How can one mundane, a normal human, be able to kill a demon? Why are demons even interested in her family? And most importantly...

Is her mother still alive?

It's up to Clary to find out the truth, and what she finds may alter her vision of how her past used to be.

The Mortal Instruments trilogy is something that I'll re-read just to relive the adventures. City of Bones was so well written that it was hard to keep away from reading the book. I could almost see the action scenes playing in front of me, and the tension between Clary and Jace... phew! *fans face*

I was rooting for them to get together in the short time I knew them, so when it turned out that they were siblings, I was deeply crushed. V. C. Andrews, anyone? How can you do this to us, Cassandra Clare?! Luckily, I'd already read a review for City of Glass (heh heh heh), and since one of the questions was "Is Jace really Clary's brother?", there was a chance (a high chance) that they weren't related.

*Hopeful look*

One thing I love is that the whole Mortal Instruments universe was so carefully thought out and planned, with not a single detail left to chance. The plot was tight and every single scene seemed to have a significance to it, whether to provide a back story, give more depth to the characters or further create conflict.

And is that supposed to be Jace on the cover? Quite an interesting cover; I thought he looked like Adonis.

All in all, this is a must read. I'm halfway through City of Ashes, the next book in the trilogy, and It's fast becoming my favourite series of 2009.

Recommended for:
Fans of urban fantasy, some kickass fighting scenes that accompany a pretty tight evil mastermind plot.