City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


As someone who spent the majority of their teen years in the 90's, I could relate to many of the Hot Topic/"odd for the sake of odd" characters in this book. These are teenagers seeking an identity, trying to find their place in a world that they're only beginning to understand. Cassandra Clare does an excellent job of balancing a teen's desperation to hold onto the things they believed in their youth with the anxious lust for maturity (or to be seen as such) and the temptation to grow up too quickly. Cassandra's main protagonist (Clary) does not feel like a Mary Sue, which is refreshing (especially coming from the YA genre). She feels like a 16 yr. old who has just had her world ripped apart, and is trying to piece it back together. The Shadowmancers (Jace, Alec, and Isabelle) function individually, as aspects of society and personality, and collectively as the group of "cool kids" that one wants to hang out with in High School. Simon, my favorite character, is a wonderful foil, reminding Clary of who she is, beyond what the Shadowmancers are trying to make her.

Adult betrayal is a prevalent theme throughout the book, as the group is torn asunder, forcing them to trust those whom they had been taught to distrust and lose faith in those whom they'd seen as mentors. The psychological realism (ironic, in such an overtly fantasy-themed novel) adds depth to the characters, through their individual reactions to each action. If there is one flaw in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series (and there really isn't one; I love Rowling and her work), it's that the stories are focused almost completely on Harry, and everything that occurs is because of him. Clare avoids that almost immediately, making sure to add depth and texture to the secondary characters as well.

The narrative is not overly verbose, and the pacing is fairly consistent. The book did not feel like a video game, where the characters advance through the levels, in their relentless pursuit of the final boss. It also did not feel like clunky, as if the writer were expecting too much of their readers. One should appreciate how difficult it is to write a YA book that can be accepted by both teens and adults as a worthy piece of literature. Cassandra Clare does that well in this book.

There were many elements of this that I, personally, found engaging and creative. A few, however, I found to be rudimentary and cliche. The concept itself is fairly reminiscent of many other fantasy sagas, particularly the aforementioned Harry Potter or CS Lewis' Narnia books. That's not to be unexpected, since everyone from the pre-Nintendo age grew up reading those books, and this book has enough flavor to be appreciated on it's own. I did not feel as though I was simply rereading Lord of the Rings... although a few of the characters may have made cameos in the narrative.

I appreciated the slight nods to classic literature that were included in the story, and I look forward to exploring more of the world that Cassandra Clare has created here.



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