City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Reading Level: YA, Fiction, Nephilim Awesomeness
Author: Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments series

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Summary: 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 the boy has died. Or was he a boy?

Suz: I will be perfectly honest in my review-it took me forever to read the first half of the book. I really can't explain it because it was interesting, fast paced, well written; yet I just dragged my feet on this one.

Determined though, I kept at it and carved away at the 496 pages each moment I got. Somewhere along page 250, things took a turn for the better thankfully, as I became entranced with the twists and turns. This is where I felt myself get into that mode where you can't put a book down and you have to see how things play out-then all of sudden you find yourself spouting profanities when things unveil themselves to you, hitting people that are near you (wait, is that only me?) I think I may have knocked my daughter over a few times when I learned a few key important facts... (no spoilers here). Needless to say, I finished the last half in record time and ate up the first chapter to the next book.

Overall the author does a good job of developing the characters but clearly shines in the later half of the story-with pivotal plot points being revealed tortuously and slowly in the bitter end. I may hate Clare for that one, but she's good. I do want more-and now I will have to read book 2, City of Ashes.

I found this quote in the book (the picture below) to be perfect-for it tells how I felt while reading the book. As I said, the beginning of the book is the ascent... a very slow ascent. Patience is key.

Then the book picks up its pace, and the descent is like riding on a motorcycle fueled by demon-energy, down through the NY sky lights.

So in the end, I thought the book was a fun read and would happily recommend it. I give it four stars.