City of Bones: The Mortal Instruments, Book 1
- By Cassandra Clare
- Genre: Fantasy
Common Sense Media says
Exciting start to teen fantasy series in urban setting.
- By Cassandra Clare
- Genre: Fantasy
What parents need to know
Educational value
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that there is lots of fantasy violence with swords and knives here, including some that is gory, with fountains and puddles of blood, throat stabbing and cutting, etc. Also, there's some kissing. This is the start of a series that explores some compelling ideas, such as what makes a family and whether it's OK to hide a big part of yourself away from loved ones, even if it's in the name of protecting them from harm.
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What's the story?
Clary goes to an all-ages nightclub, and there encounters Shadowhunters and demons, all of whom are invisible to everyone else. This encounter, and her mother's subsequent kidnapping, brings her into a shadow world of age-old warfare between the Shadowhunters and the demons, from whom they protect humanity. Clary discovers that her mother and her own past are not what she thought, and that she is intimately involved in a power struggle among the Shadowhunters.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
Teen urban fantasy is a popular sub-genre, and this first installment of a new series has all the essential elements: a city-dwelling teen discovers an invisible world of magical beings and monsters living hidden among us, and that she has a place and power within that world due to a past that has been kept hidden from her. It's the variations the author wrings out of the formula, and the attitude, that make the difference. Author Cassandra Clare doesn't go for the teen sarcasm and black humor (much), nor the hip urban cool, of some of the other members of this small but growing category.
Instead, she offers an intriguingly complex world with reams of backstory involving numerous characters, creatures, factions, and relationships. In addition to the various sides among the Shadowhunters, there are vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks, and others, each group with its own politics, powers, and agendas. Then she wraps it all up with exciting action told in vivid, occasionally melodramatic, but always engrossing, prose that sweeps the reader along and makes even the exposition fascinating.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about the popularity of the book series. Why do you think teens are interested in reading a story with several installments? What do authors and publishers have to gain by creating a series?
How does this book compare with other fantasy novels you've read? What similarities and differences do you notice in the types of characters, their struggles, their romances, etc.
Book details
| Author: | Cassandra Clare |
| Genre: | Fantasy |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | March 1, 2007 |
| Number of pages: | 485 |
| Read aloud: | 12 |
| Read alone: | 12 |
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QUALITY
Unpleasantly surprised
I was unpleasantly surprised at the inaccurate review given for this book. It doesn't mention language or sex and there was enough in the first chapter to cause me, an adult, to stop reading it. The first scene in the nightclub had sexual innuendo and harsh swearing. I am new to this website and it leaves me doubting the accuracy of the reviews. I am a positive person, but this left me jaded.
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QUALITY
best since harry potter
i love love love LOVE this book. best ever. the characters suck you into the story and keep you guessing till the very end, and even after that. there is just enough romance to get tweens interested but not so much that they're lying awake thinking about terrible things. the blood is no big deal because THERE ISN'T THAT MUCH. great book, i highly reccommend
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QUALITY
Wonderful Read!
This book was absolutely amazing! A beautiful plot, intriguing characters, and great action. There is swearing fairly often, including sh-t, p-ss, d-mn, h-ll, -ss, and the Lord's name in vain. One guy is mentioned as being gay, and another man winks at him and says 'call me'. Maybe an innuendo or two. It was truly a wonderful book that I recommend to anyone thirteen and older.
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