City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones (Mortal Instruments Book 1)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published: February 2008 by McElderry

My Rating: 5 stars (I wish I could give it more!)
Tags: YA | Fantasy | Suspense | Vampires | Werewolves | Warlocks | Paranormal Romance
Includes: Violence, Witchcraft

First Lines: "You've got to be kidding me," the bouncer said, folding his arms across his massive chest. He stared down at the boy in the red zip-up jacket and shook his shaved head.

Clary Fray, an overall normal teenager living in New York, witnesses a murder one night at a club. Except that no else can seem to see the things and people that she sees. From there, Clary's world takes off on an adventure full of shadow hunters (descendants of angels that kill demons), warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and many other paranormal creatures. Along the way, she'll have the help from the charming Jace, and learn about all of the dark secrets of her past that her mother never told her about.

I don't want to say much about the plot, because I really don't want to give anything away! This book is full of surprises and there are many twists and turns along the way that were very unpredictable. The story kicks off strong, and has so many intense scenes along the way, you almost never have time to wind down and breathe.

From page 280
The windows exploded inward in a shower of broken glass. She heard herself cry out, saw the vampires - barely an arm's length from her and Jace - whirl in astonishment, shock mingling with terror on their faces. Through the shattered windows came dozens of sleek shapes, four-footed and low to the ground, their coats scattering moonlight and broken bits of glass. Wolves.

I fell in love with Clary and Jace's characters; they're the protagonists in the book, and their more-than-just-friends relationship was really believable and interesting. Sure, Clary sometimes made stupid decisions, or craved comfort and protection, but that's what made it so much more real! Jace's witty and sarcastic personality drew me in right away, yet somewhere deep within him there's a sensitive and caring boy.

From page 449
At last Jace looked at her. She saw the disbelief plain in his eyes. She could see the fragile construct of his faith in his father that he wore like a transparent armor, protecting him from the truth.

Now for the storyline....wow. Even though the main plot in the book was for Clary and the other Shadow Hunters to retrieve the Mortal Cup from the villain, Valentine; there are some side plots to the story too, that will keep up the reader's attention. It was a thrilling read, and there were nights that I would stay up reading for hours simply because I couldn't put the book down! It's a really unique and creative story, and I hadn't read anything like it before. The author's writing was so believable and understandable, and I could easily visualize everything that was happening. She didn't hesitate to include many details in her writing.

This is one of the longest books I've ever read though. It's almost 500 pages, and for me being a slow reader, it took me what felt like forever to finally finish it. But it was definitely worth it. This ending will have you shocked like never before. My fingers are itching to hold the next book and begin reading it. Why did I wait so long to start reading this fantastic series?!

Book Supplied by: Publisher for review.