Review of "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Note: I have read the City of Bones a couple of years ago. However, I failed to write a review at the time. Having been fuzzy on some of the details (but of course I remember the ones that are very significant), I decided read the book again; and now I can finally make a review.

A word of caution before I start: I don't think I can make good reviews. This is pretty much more of a reflection of what I have read than the real kind of critique Literature professors produce. Generally, this is just me ranting and rambling. You have been warned.

Immediately after having read the City of Bones some years back, Cassandra Clare became one of my favorite authors. I couldn't get over the book and I read it afterwards for what seemed like endless times. I love her writing style SO MUCH. It's very vivid, plus her descriptions are so detailed, but not to the point of being wordy and tight to read. She inspired me to improve my own writing - I can say that she's one of my ideal writers. We should admit it - these days it's quite difficult to stumble upon a writer who doesn't only have amazing stories, but also have the skill to narrate it perfectly. (That is why most of my favorite authors are Classic writers; they wrote stunningly well.) But Cassandra Clare is different from writers in this age: she is the epitome of what a great story-teller should be (Isn't it still obvious how much I love her?).

The book is thick but I managed to read it in less than a day. One sitting if I didn't have other things to attend to. It is surprising how the whole story occurred only in a span of two weeks. So many events have happened; and yes, some might seem pretty mundane but they actually contributed to making this story more readable and realistic. It isn't like other books which would skip for a succession of days, and then afterwards so many things have happened and you would be left wondering: "How did it become like this?" In the City of Bones you would never ask that question. You would witness how the events unfurl yourself. You would see the process of how things came to be.

Jace swiftly became my fictional crush, that need not be said. But thinking deeply, he isn't really what you would call the kind of guy girls would usually dream for. Sure enough, he's gorgeous, dangerous and hot and goodness knew what else, but he had another side. Sarcastic and witty and talkative? Where do you see those in a girl's fantasy? He is very charming, but his personality at times seems off and undesirable to me for a guy. But then again, that's where the wonder lies. He's different. He doesn't only portray perfection, but he has a "not-quite-hot" side too that makes him realistic.

The romance between Jace and Clary? At the very beginning of the book, it was obvious there would be something between them and they would eventually fall for one another. It was expected, but still, the chapter The Midnight Flower (which is my favorite, by the way) still impressed me a lot. The romance was amazing in the sense that even though you expected it, it still managed to become unexpected. And fortunately, it is not love at first sight or Clary thinking that Jace is so damn sexy she wants him. That would be annoying. The two of them are often together and we readers have seen how they interacted with each other - just normal, with its ups and downs. We wouldn't know when exactly the romance started. It just didn't happen and emerge all of a sudden. It came about gradually, when we are too busy reading through their adventures that we wouldn't be bothering to think how they suit each other very well.

And now.

The revelations.

In some books the authors make a revelation in a really overly dramatic manner, but then the revelation doesn't seem so surprising, thus only rendering me infuriated. Why make a big deal when it's not so unexpected and startling anyway? But again, Cassandra Clare turned the tables. Even if this isn't the first time that I read this, I still have goosebumps while reading those one-sentence revelations usually located at the end of the chapter. I can't imagine how I must felt the first time I read this. It would be superbly astonishing.

Let me cite some for purposes of example:

• Jocelyn Fray is Valentine's wife.
• Hodge is a traitor.
• Luke is a werewolf.
• Clary is Valentine's daughter.
• Valentine is Jace's father.

All right. I was already expecting Valentine to be Clary's father, and while I read, I was feeling so mighty of myself, saying: "Hah! I managed to see through what you're thinking, Cassandra Clare."

But boy was I wrong. I wasn't expecting there to be more surprises. Like, VALENTINE IS ACTUALLY JACE'S FATHER? So they are siblings? (But of course, I know they're not. I feel it. Then it is confirmed after I stumbled upon some spoilers.)

I was like: "CASSANDRA CLARE YOU ARE AMAZING!"

And when Valentine was manipulating their emotions because they loved each other? It was so disturbing and yet very well executed. I might as well say, since in every book there will be one character or so who would strike me as interesting, I'd say Valentine topped the list. (I know it's incorrect for me to think this, but he seems rather hot to me. Badass. But evil, of course.)

I think Magnus Bane is so cool as well. And when I learned that Godfrey Gao would play him in the movie, and when I saw this picture:

I would tell you, I almost fainted. He is perfect to play Magnus Bane and that shot is just so hot!

(All right, I think I'm straying away from my original intention already.)

Aside from those two, Simon is also pretty interesting. He's the kind of person that could be my friend. His sense of humor is epic. He and Jace together will start a war of words. I felt bad for him as well, because it hurt me that he was wounded when he discovered there's a thing between Jace and Clary in The Midnight Flower . . . and yet he is still such a true friend. He's just so amazing.

Some concepts in the book are cliche or are becoming too overused (vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, witches, etc) but Cassandra Clare, being a spectacular author, managed to pull it off. Even though some ideas are not new, she was able to present them in a way that made them seem fresh.

I think this review-slash-rant will never come to an end, so I might as well try to refrain myself from rambling further. For a final word, let us hear a few words from Lucian Graymark:

"Disappointed you didn't get to marry him yourself, Blackwell?"

That, Luke, is amazing. Despite the tension, I found myself laughing at your wit.