City of Glass

Please read the 'City of Bones' and 'City of Ashes' review for some more back-story.

Rating: 90/100

     City of Glass is probably my favourite out of the Mortal Instruments books so far. It answers a lot of the questions brought on by the first books, while also giving a few more. I liked how Cassandra Clare introduced more characters in this book. They give a way to elongate the series, while also satisfying the viewer in the ways of dear Valentine's end. Although, it was a bit of an anti-climax when Madeleine is killed by random Forsaken. I was a bit like... WTF? How didn't anyone even not notice a bunch of zombies just being dropped off at a church? But anyway, it works as a plot-pusher.
     The story is set not to long from City of Ashes. Enough time for Clary to tell everybody how to wake her mum up, and enough time for Jace to come up with the thought that he doesn't want Clary to go to Idris. (BTW, I was listening to the City of Bones audio book  and apparently Idris is pronounced (i for igloo)(dris with an i, the same as before). I always pronounced it as (eye-dris) in my head. I like eye-dris better as well. Heh heh... eye-drizzle.
     I guess I can repeat what I've said in the past reviews for this series, but DUH DUH DUH!!! The story pusher for this dear novel is!!!
     Say it again with me! Nasal style!
     The Mortal Mirror.
     Or at least that's what I think it's called.
     The twist is... nobody even knows where or what the Mirror is. Simon points out that it will be a reflective surface, but besides from that it could be anything...
     I really liked the idea of the Mirror, because it is completely misleading, under everyone's nose, and it can't be owned.
     One thing I have been wondering throughout the series, is how much planning does Cassandra Clare do? Has she already planned everything out? Or is she writing and then making up new bits? The reason I am wondering this, is there are a few bits in the books that have plot devices or just various things that have come in later in the books, and haven't even been hinted on before hand. They seem to have just been added in and it doesn't need back-story, because it was hidden from the characters in the first-place. But the story is still believable and interesting, so I guess that's what counts.
     Yet again, the story finds itself in a third person perspective, and also seems to be getting more and more confident with going to other people. I was genuinely surprised when the identity of Samuel, Simon's cell-mate was revealed, but that might not be the case for other people since I have a very trusting nature, so I believed everything he said.
     I think the plot in City of Glass was better than City of Ashes by leaps and bounds. City of Bones would be my second favourite, but City of Glass just seems to be particularly gripping and outstanding, with a ton of revealed secrets and a satisfying bit for the squealing fans of MAGNUS! By the way, I went to Build-A-Bear a little while a go and made a rabbit named...

MAGNUS BANE FRASER

     Ho ho ho! He wears a suit and looks a little like the goblin from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. Whoop whoop!

I just realised something but, gee, wasn't it helpful that Madeleine died, creating a startlingly large plot-pusher... How. Bloody. Helpful. Of. Her.

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Written By: Cassandra Clare
First Published: 2009
First Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Series:  The Mortal Instruments #3
Pages:
How Wide?: About 3cm


What The Hell's Going On With That Front Cover?: Apparently it is Sebastian, but he totally doesn't look like the away he is described in the book. He kind of looks like he's had collagen or something put in his lips, HA HA. Or maybe a fishy pout... hmm... Yet again we have a city to emphasise the title 'City....' But this city doesn't actually the city we have had in the last two books. This time, we have Alicante, Idris' capital city. It actually is slightly incorrect in it's technicalities, because I don't believe the entire city is made of the glass stuff, and the ward-tower things are supposed to be especially outstanding, compared to the rest of the city. I would have thought them to be the only glass stuff, and also pointier and taller than the rest of the buildings. But anyway... what can you do? Sebastian has some nondescript, un-inked-in runes on him, but I have no idea if they are doing anything. Their are pretties all around him too, but they seem to just be decoration, so as to make the book look more interesting. It kind of looks tie dye... LOL!


Why The Title?: Well, it's fairly simple. In the book, Idris is known as the City of Glass, because the big pointy towers are made out of this stuff that looks like glass. Something for those who have already read City of Glass, and I'm not positive this is true, but apparently a City of Glass has something to do with homosexuality, and I do believe a certain jean-clad boy and a certain glitter covered boy GET IT ON IN THIS BOOK! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Team Magnus! All the way!


How Did I Get My Hands On This Book?: The same as the last one, I read the rest of the series, enjoyed it, and hey, book three was there when I picked up the rest of the series from my book club, so... I just read it when I finished City of Ashes.


Blurb:


Super Super Short Summary: Valentine has made his way to the final Mortal Instrument, the Mortal Mirror, and it's up to Clary, Jace, and the team to save the world once again.

Short Plot and Extended Plot combined (My short plot was reeeeally long): After a lot of kerfuffle, everybody ends up in Idris.
Madeleine dies due to a Forsaken attack.
Jace and the Lightwoods stay at the Penhallow's house.
Clary stays with Luke's sister, Amatis.
Clary goes to find Jace and they have a major MAJOR fight.
Simon unwittingly walks straight into an unfair prison sentence.

Clary tells Sebastian about her mother and the sorcerer she needs to find.
A day or two later, Sebastian takes her to meet said sorcerer, only to find Magnus.
Magnus freezes Sebastian and tells Clary that the sorcerer has been killed, but if she finds... 'the white book' he should be able to wake her mother up.
Sebastian kisses Clary and tells her about Simon being in jail.
When Clary gets home, Jace is there. She fights with him about Simon, then they leave for the old Wayland manor to find 'the white book'.

As well as finding the book, they find a secret passage, and in the dark dark passage is a dark dark room and in the dark dark room... there is... A SKELETAL ANGEL!!!???
The angel, Ithuriel, shows them memories from the past...duh, and Jace finds out that he is part-demon.
Ithuriel ends up killing himself (In a good way) The manor collapses because his energy holds it up.
Jace is hit hard by his now known knowledge and ends up kissing Clary, then they have another fight.
In super awkward silence, they walk back to Alicante, only to find the entire city in flames and demons running around everywhere.
Lightwood children, Sebastian and Aline are attacked by the demons.
Jace and Clary go to the Hall of Accords.
Clary gives the book to Magnus and Sebastian is angry about it. He then tells her that Simon is still in jail.
Clary, Jace and Alec rush to save Simon. They do, then they save Samuel, who turns out to be... HODGE!!!
He tells them that the Mortal Mirror is actually Lake Lyn, then random Sebastian steps out and kills him.
Because his cover is blown, Sebastian admits to being Valentine's spy, Simon attacks him so he flees.
The foursome go back to the Hall of Accords, only to find out that Sebastian has killed Max.
Aline reveals pictures of the real Sebastian, and that our Sebastian was an imposter.

In the Hall of Accords, Valentine projects himself, kills the Inquisitor, then tells everybody that they will have to make him their leader, or fight innumerable demons.
The next day Simon sleeps with Isabelle. but not sexually.
Jace confesses his love for her and they sleep together, not sexually.
In the morning he's gone, only leaving a note and his Morgenstern ring.
She keeps the ring, goes downstairs to find Simon and Isabelle and they talk.
Cue dramatic entrance. Who is it? Jocelyn. What is Clary's first reaction? You took my life away!
Jace goes to find Sebastian.
Clary and Simon realise that the Clave has decided to surrender.
Clary shows the Alliance rune to the Clave.
They eventually agree, and so the Shadowhunters join their powers with the Downworlders.
Magnus and Alec... PASH!!! Eeep!!!

Jocelyn tells Clary she has angel blood in her, Jace actually isn't her brother and he has angel blood too, and Sebastian is the bro with the demon blood.
Raphael appears as a projection and tells everyone that the vampires will only join the battle if they bring Simon to him. (Presumably to be killed since he is a threat to them.)
In panic, Clary bestows upon Simon, The Mark Of Cain, which will bring the wrath of god upon anyone who harms Simon.
Simon goes to the vampires, and because of the Mark, Raphael lets him go, but he has to be a loner, and he has to fight in the war.
Meanwhile, a quick summary of Jace's adventures are... Jace finds Sebastian and Valentine, Valentine leaves for the battle, Sebastian captures Jace, they fight... a lot, and just when Jace is about to die, Isabelle interferes and starts to fight Sebastian. Jace ends it by stabbing him through the back and into his heart.
 Jace heals himself then goes after Valentine who is at Lake Lyn, about to use Clary as a sacrifice to summon Raziel.
Jace fights Valentine, and Valentine kills Jace. He actually seems to mourn his death.
The sacrifice begins the ritual and Valentine begins the summoning.
Clary tampers the runes used to summon Raziel.
Raziel kills Valentine then, because of Clary's wishes, brings Jace back from the dead.
Jace and Clary attend a party and Jace tells her about a box Amatis gave him which contains letters and small belongings from his biological father, in a hope to get Jace to warm to him. (Jace's dad is dead and so is his mum.)
So, in the end, Jace and Clary are together, Magnus and Alec are officially together, Simon is getting cozy with both Isabelle and Maia, Sebastian is "dead", Valentine is definitely dead, Jocelyn has admitted that she is in love with Luke, Hodge dies, and... Max dies.


Characters: Clarissa (Clary) Fray (Morgenstern) (Fairchild): is doing her thing. She definitely seems to have grown as a character, maturity wise. In this book she figures out - most of - her problems with Jace, and the relationship between her and Simon is finally normal. We find out that she has quite a lot of pent up emotions about the entire thing, for example; that she had her memories stolen from her, and that she had a brother, and all that...stuff. She also finds out who her real brother is in this book, and that she has angel blood.
Jocelyn Fray (Fairchild) (Morgenstern): awakes from her magical slumber, only to reveal herself to Clary, and be grotesquely scolded for taking away her memories. We also see the real glory of how Jocelyn was before she moved herself into the human world. She also provides a sigh of relief and a YAY for all fans of Jace <3 Clary. Oh, she also tells Amatis (Kind of) that she is in love with... LUKE! Eeeeeeeeeep!
Lucian (Luke) Graymark (Garroway):  Really steps up into his protective dad role. He jumps after Clary when she makes the portal, and he creates an army to protect her. Isn't that sweet? He also gets the girl in the book. Ha ha.
Jonathan (Jace) Christopher (Morgenstern) (Wayland) (Herondale)... (?): is extremely confused about himself. He saves Simon though, which is extremely admirable. We also find out that he doesn't actually have a name, because he has been a changeling from the moment he was cut out of Celine's stomach. :( All his names are purely biological, or what he's picked up along the way. During the book, he discovers that he has demon blood, and becomes very upset. When he finds out that he is not actually Clary's brother, and that he too has angel blood, I'm guessing that a LOT of weight has been taken off his chest. BTW, this is a bit of a spoiler, so don't read if you don't want to know, but HE DIES!!!!  Then comes back to life. But don't be led into a false sense of security, in the next book, City of Fallen Angels, some pretty big problems arise from this one simple fact = He was brought back, but he was brought back WRONG. Remind you of anything?
Valentine Morgenstern: is still evil, and it seems that in his day, he was certainly getting around. LOL. One surprising thing, is that he actually feels something for Jace. After all, he did raise him, he just couldn't stop the niceness that came with the angel blood, meaning that he has a more... kindly? approach to him. After he kills Jace, he actually mourns for a few seconds. Turns out Jace isn't his biological son though, he demented his own son with demon blood, and hid him away from Jace a short while away, while also successfully raising them both. He also hates Clary because Jocelyn loves her more than him. He ends up being killed by Raziel because Clary altered his summoning runes.
Simon Lewis: is a Daylighter. A vampire who can walk in the sun, also because of being buried in a Jewish cemetery, he is only affected by Jewish holy marks. He also gets it on with Isabelle, and seems to be getting slightly on the naughtier side of friendly with Maia too. How will this play out in City of Fallen Angels? You'll have to read it yourself, or read the review. He is definitely growing as a character too. He is becoming more mature and understanding. He is also slowly growing out of comedy relief, sure he still comes out with ha-ha's but they are not as frequent as City of Bones, when he was still getting used to everything.
Isabelle Lightwood: is getting a bit horny with Simon. Lordy! When Max is killed she blames herself, even though she was knocked out by Sebastian around the same time.
Alec Lightwood: has matured considerably since City of Bones. And for fans of Magnus and Alex, you won't be disappointing with a really big MEGA PASH! You be ecstatic! He doesn't seem to be as mournful over Max's death as Isabelle.
Hodge Starkweather (Samuel): it is probably because of my trusting nature, but I never even twigged to the connection between Samuel and Hodge until it was spelt out write in front of my face. Am I thick? Or was everyone else surprised? Well now we know where Hodge was when he didn't reappear in City of Ashes.
The Silent Brothers: are still kicking, but barely. In the last book, City of Ashes, I thought that all the Silent Brothers had been killed, but in this book we find out that there is still a small bunch of them left doing their duty.
Raphael: seems to take on a not-so-friendly role in this book. I genuinely liked him in the past two books, and I guess I still do, but throughout City of Glass, Raphael threatens to kill Simon, banishes Simon, tells him a heap of white lies, refuses to help in the war unless Simon sacrifices himself, then ends up just fighting then doing his thing... which isn't much... except being reeeeeally vain.
Magnus Bane: gets LUCKY! And he poses as Wizard-What's-His-Face, then wakes up Clary's mum. My GOD I love him. Note the Build-A-Bear bisexual rabbit with dear Magnus as his namesake. -sigh-
The Ex-Inquisitor (Imogen Herondale): is dead as doornail, but her past secrets are... REVEALED! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The New Inquisitor (Forgot his name...): has never been mentioned before, and I never really liked him, but I was genuinely surprised when he was killed by Valentine, and I was MILDLY sad. If I can even say that. But I guess he did sacrifice himself, and in my eyes, that is noble.
Maryse Lightwood: is warmer towards Jace. She is pretty morbid after the death of her baby boy, and seems to be getting stronger... you know, like in the MIIIIIIIIIIIIIND.
Robert Lightwood: is (I'm guessing) also pretty down about Maxy Waxy Woo Woo. But I wouldn't know, BECAUSE HE NEVER GETS MENTIONED!
Max Lightwood: is being ever so cute until, BLAM! He hits his character's final finale, in which we don't even get a first hand look at. What is the point of his death anyway? A distraction? A reason for deeper emotions in the surviving characters? Mindless slaughter?! Who knows!
Madeleine: dies about 2 seconds into the book. WHAT. A. SHAME. I know I cried.
The Faerie (Seelie) Queen: is doing stuff that I can't really remember. I think she does some shiz about letting the faeries join the war.
Maia Roberts: joins in the war aswell, and seems to be getting suspiciously close to Simon... will tension arise in the next book between the love triangle of Isabelle, Maia and Simon?
Stephen Herondale:'s secrets are also being revealed, and his box reveals Jace's past... except Jace don't feel no connection to him!
Amatis Graymark (Herondale): is introduced in this book as the never-mentioned-before-long-lost-sister of Luke/Lucian. She used to be married to Jace's father, Stephen, but after Luke was turned into a werewolf, Valentine ordered the divorce of the pair, and the marriage of Stephen and Celine. She believed the lies that Valentine spread about Luke, and practically banished Luke from Idris. She accepts Clary though, and during the mini-war, I believe that her heart starts to warm up once again with the knowledge of truth and forgiveness.
Celine Herondale: was apparently really young when she was married to Stephen... like 19... which isn't that young... but still. When she was pregnant and found out that Stephen had been killed, she committed suicide and Valentine or Hodge had to cut Jace straight out of her corpse, hurrah.
Sebastian (Jonathon Christopher)Verlac (Morgenstern): is HALF DEMON SCUUUUUUUUUUUM! Also a spyyyyyyy. Also Valentine's REAL son. Also the reeeeeeeal Jonathon Christopher. When he was a baby or still inside Jocelyn as reeeeeally little baby, he was infused with demon blood by Lilith, who you will meet in the next book. He was raised aware of Jace, but never meeting him, in a little shack thing a short while away from where Jace was raised, the mansion. He grew up totally eeeeeeeeeebil, and ends up being the murderer of little Max, the almost murderer of Isabelle, and the one who took down the wards around Idris, letting the demons in to rain havoc upon everywhere. He is killed by Jace by plunging his sword through his back so it gets his heart, but when people went back to get his corpse... HE WASN'T THERE. Aggggggghhhhhhhhh.So my dearies, Sebastian is actually Clary's brother, but he is evil, and he kissed CLARY!!! Incest!
Aline Penhallow: tried to get intimate with Jace. FFAAAAAIIIIILLLLLLL. Her parents house is where the Lightwoods stayed while in Idris.
Malachi: SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! SPY! EEEEEBILLLLLLL!!!!!


Quirks To Make You Think, OMG!: Well, there are random anime references and even if I couldn't exactly find or remember anything, there might be Blah Blah: A Modern Faerie Tale references. There are also people from The Infernal Devices that apparently reappear. It is said it is good to have read Clockwork Angel beforehand, but you don't have to.


Sequels and Prequels?: 
City of Bones
(The Mortal Instruments #1)

City of Ashes
(The Mortal Instruments #2)

City of Fallen Angels
(The Mortal Instruments #4)

City of Lost Souls
(The Mortal Instruments #5)

City of Heavenly Fire
(The Mortal Instruments #6)

Clockwork Angel
(The Infernal Devices #1)

Clockwork Prince
(The Infernal Devices #2)

The Dark Artifices series (Not Out Yet)


Movie Adaptations Or Vice Versa?: The City of Bones movie is coming out in 2012 with the name, The Mortal Instruments.

 Thus ends another bloody long review. Damn!

City of Ashes

 Please read the 'City of Bones' review for some more back-story.

Rating: 70/100


     City of Ashes takes off a little after City of Bones, maybe a week? I think the time spanning was good. It wasn't straight after the big hd/sd, meaning that the characters have had a chance to settle into the post-story life. And because it is not set too far apart from the City of Bones, we don't have any more big problems that have arisen while we were away.
City of Ashes, I think I have to say, is good, but not as good as City of Bones. It is slightly less epic, I think you'll find. It's still really good though, so do read it. This one's main plot device to push the story forward is... duh duh DUH!!!
     The Mortal Sword. (Please say this in a nasal, monotone voice to influence the use of humour in our society.)
This time, the Mortal Sword is properly stolen and is put on a ship, alongside protection, such as the Demon of Fear, various other demons and... other stuff. We find out more about Jace, but not as much as the next book, City of Glass.
     There isn't much that I can say, but yes, this storyline was slightly predictable again, but there is still stuff in their to keep you guessing and interested. The size is about the same as last time, so that was good. One thing that didn't really take me fancy, was the front cover. I didn't like the gray colour scheme, and it needed more red, besides from the bit of shine in the water at the front, and Clary's hair. Cassandra Clare's writing has definitely created a lot of hype, MANY teenagers and adults alike are loving this series. I believe that this book, compared to the others of the series I have read so far, is less epic than the others. It just doesn't seem as important. Sure there are some things, like the Inquisitor, the Mortal Sword, Madeleine and yet again, Clary's relationships that have to be addressed, but mostly, it's predecessor and sequel are much more entertaining.
     One thing I did notice, was that the point of view has a minor change to it. I didn't mind too much, but it was a change. I guess you could say it provided a little bit more insight into the story telling. For those who haven't read these books, City of Boners is set in third person, but primarily follows Clary  around. In City of Ashes, it is still in third person, and it does still primarily follow Clary around, but we also go into the minds of Jace and Simon, and maybe some other people, but I can't remember.
     The characters are still lovable, and the motives for the things they do aren't too questionable (They can usually be backed up by the back-stories and past encounters of the characters.)
     I must praise Cassandra Clare for her describing skills. She seems to have an unnaturally talented ability to describe the people and  places she wants to describe.
     Although this wasn't my favourite of the series, I still enjoyed reading it and I will go on to read the rest of the series, purely because I love it. I have become a firm fan of the characters and I am absolutely comfortable with admitting my love for Magnus Bane. He is just Too Awesome. I highly recommend this series to people who enjoyed City of Bones (Make sure you read that one first) and otherwise, people who enjoy a quality teen fiction novel series, with fantasy, action and twists to keep everyone gripped to the edge of their seats and carrying around every book available in the series, in their man-bags.
     Yet again, I congratulate Cassandra Clare on the intriguing world she has created, and hopes she knows that she has made a lot of people happy, and filled their lives with  little bit of sarcasm from our book-families.
     City of Glass comes next my friends! And get ready for THE BIG ONE!
     Will Valentine finally be defeated?
     Who is the mysterious Sebastian, so interested  in Clary?
     And will Clary and Jace's family problems finally be resolved? Or will they part forever?
     Stay tuned for the next review of Cassandra Clare's best-selling third installment in The Mortal Instruments series!
     Whoo!

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Written by: Cassandra Clare

First Published: 2008

First Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Series: The Mortal Instruments #2

Pages: 453

How Wide?: About 3cm.

What The Hell's Going On With That Front Cover?: Miss flame red hair would just happen to be Clary, our protagonist. She has her new runes on her arms, and they are either just made up ones from the front cover designer, or they are actually the sign that Jocelyn gives Clary, and the one Isabelle draws on her. I'm taking a wild guess here, but that bridge may be Brooklyn Bridge, in which is mentioned slightly in the series. In City of Ashes, the main BIG fight happens on a ship in the middle of the river or whatever it is, so the body of water on the front cover is just slightly symbolic, don't you think? Yet again, there is the city in the background, which I do believe is New York City, and it gives... product? to the title.

Why The Title?: I believe it is because at the end, Valentine's ship is blown up, and all that is left is ashes flying around everywhere. They get in everyone's hair and go all over the city. That is about as much as I can say about that...

How Did I Get My Hands On This Book?: I read City of Bones and I went to my school book club one day to discover that they had bought the entire series, plus Clockwork Angel. I quickly took them, hid away in a corner and marked them with my scent. They are MINE!!! I have accidentally actually made them mine in various way, like sleeping with City of Glass, and folding the cover in half, then I was reading and eating at the same time and got sauce in City of Ashes, I have continuously dropped the series in the mud and just plain on the floor. I feel very guilty.

Blurb: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? Clary would love to spend more time with her best friend, Simon. But the Shadowhunters won't let her go - especially her handsome, infuriating newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil - and also her father. When the second of the Mortal Instruments is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor suspects Jace. Could Jace really be willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

Short Plot: Valentine summons the Demon of Fear.
Valentine steals the Mortal Sword.
The Inquisitor suspects Jace is on Valentine's side.
Simon and Clary are officially girlfriend and boyfriend.
Clary figures out why Valentine is stealing the Mortal Instruments.
Jace and Clary are still confused about their relationship.
Simon turns into a vampire.
Big hd/sd on a boat.
Simon drinks Jace's blood.
Clary blows the boat up.
Simon can walk in daylight.
Jocelyn is still in a coma, but a mysterious woman, Madeleine tells Clary she knows how to wake her up.

Extended Plot: It starts off... maybe a week after City of Bones finished. Yet again, it it set in third person, but instead of solely following Clary around, we start to get more perspective and different locations of other people. For example; Jace, Simon, Alec, etc.
First thing in the prologue, we meet Valentine again. He is with a young warlock (15 or 16) with webbed fingers and big scary wings. The kid's name is Elias, and he is drawing a pentagram on the floor to keep the demon he is going to summon, contained. The demon, Agramon (The Demon of Fear) escapes the pentagram (Because that is what Elias feared) and kills Elias. Valentine uses the Mortal Cup to control Agramon, and in a way, recruits him even though Valentine hates demons.
Meanwhile. Jocelyn is still in a coma and Simon and Clary go to Luke's house  where they watch anime (Hooray!) and eventually they end up flicking to a vampire show. It might be a Dracula one. Simon totally freaks out and goes into the kitchen, and Clary follows. Simon ends up kissing Clary right there and then, and Clary obliges.
Isabelle and Alec's parents and younger brother, Maryse, Robert and Max Lightwood, have returned to the Institute and Maryse is slightly uncomfortable with Jace's presence, now that she knows that he is Valentine's son. She ends up kicking Jace out.
Jace ends up at the Hunters Moon, a werewolf pub, where Maia, a young werewolf girl (Yet again about 16) is there with her pack. She is a member of Luke's pack, and for a while she talks about her past with her ex-boyfriend who Turned her, and how she wasn't sad when her brother died. Jace starts a fight with one of Maia's werewolf friends, and ends up creating a whole-pub-rumble/fight. Maia's friend gets sent outside, and Jace is left inside because he is Nephilim. Later, Maia's friend races back in, shouting that there is a dead werewolf child (15 year old I believe.) Everyone races out to see the kid, except Jace who doesn't care. Luke saves him from the pack and takes him to a back room. Luke tells Clary that Jace is causing trouble, and Clary and Simon rush down to Hunters Moon to have a chat with Jace. Simon stays outside the room though, and meets Maia. Jace reveals that he was thrown out by Maryse, and Luke and Clary decide to go with him to ask her why. When they go to the Institute, Maryse tells them she just wanted to spare Jace from meeting the Inquisitor, who wants to talk to Jace because of Valentine. Jace decides to stay to talk to the Inquisitor, because he has nothing to hide.
Clary, Simon and Luke go back to Luke's house, where Clary is currently living. Maia comes over for a second and Simon says that Clary is his girlfriend. Da da DUHHHH!!!
Simon and Clary have a pretty heavy make out session (But we don't really get any details, Clary just says it.) and Simon stays over for the night. Clary goes to clean up in the bathroom, and ends up getting a text message from Isabelle.
Sometime during this I think, the Inquisitor came over to interrogate Jace. Using his sarcastic wit and quick temper, Jace accidentally makes himself look like Valentine (In the eyes of the Inquisitor) and so she decides to put him in a cell in the bottom of the Bone City for a night.
Back to Clary, Clary receives a frantic text message from Isabelle, saying that Jace has been locked up. Clary rushes over to the Institute and meets with Isabelle and Alec, who decide they are going to break Jace out.
Meanwhile, Jace is in full darkness and has a handcuff/ manacle thing on his right wrist (Jace is left handed so he's alright with it.). He is slightly scared to begin with, even though he isn't scared of anything, but when he starts to hear screams from above, he practically goes hysterical and rubs his right wrist raw. Brother Jeremiah comes running down the stairs screaming (Silent Brothers do NOT make noises.) and his mouth is bleeding from where he has pulled out his stitches by opening his mouth. He dies in straight in front of Jace, for no particularly visible reason. A short while later, Valentine and Agramon enter Jace's cell. Valentine gets a bit taunty with Jace, then leaves with Agramon. Clary, Isabelle and Alec find Jace and take him out, only to find that all the adult Shadowhunters are back from investigating a fay child murder.
The Inquisitor is not impressed by Jace's escape and demands he be locked up again. Alec decides to call Magnus, who has a good history of keeping criminals in his house for the Shadowhunters. Magnus agrees and also heals Jace.
Back at the Institute, Clary realises the reason Valentine is collecting the Mortal Instruments, so she gets Simon and Alec and they go to Magnus' apartment to tell him.
He decides what they are saying is true, and later Isabelle texts them, saying tat the Faerie Queen is requesting their presence in her court. Our team obliges, but Alec agrees to stay in Jace's places at Magnus' house, so that Jace can go with them to meet Isabelle.
When they get there they find Isabelle who is currently dating a faerie knight, and using a pond, go inside the Faerie Realm. Jace has to pull Clary away from the dancing faeries, and Isabelle puts a blindfold over Simon.
When they get to the queen, Jace talks to her a bit, and they are offered faerie drinks. Jace tells everybody not to drink them, but a little faerie bites Clary, and she licks the wound.
The Faerie Queen agrees to do what she can against Valentine, but when everybody is leaving, Clary finds that she can't. The queen says that Clary must kiss the one she truly desires, so Simon steps up. The queen says no, and eventually they work out that Clary must kiss Jace. Awkward much! Jace kisses Clary, and they get a bit passionate, but when they leave, Simon stomps off before even saying goodbye.
Isabelle, Jace and Clary all go back to the institute, and Jace and Clary go up to his room to get Clary a dry shirt (As they are all wet from the pond.).
They end up having a fight because of their feelings for each other, and Jace has a shower while Clary falls asleep on his bed.
A short while later the Institute bell rings. Clary thinks it might be Simon, but it is actually Raphael. He is holding a dying Simon and gives him to Clary. He tells them that Simon came to the Hotel Dumont/mort, and asked if he was coming a vampire. The vampires in the Hotel attacked him and drained him, commencing the Change process.
Simon dies in Clary's arms and she insists that he be buried in a Jewish cemetery, for him to rise in.When he does rise, he attacks Clary, but gets pulled off her and is fed blood out of little baggies by Raphael.
Clary leaves and the next chapter begins a few days later.
Clary is a bit freaked out by how different Simon is, but feels guilty because of how upset he was when she
kissed Jace. Simon comes over to Luke's house to talk about whether he is going to tell people and stuff, and when Luke comes home, he is carrying Maia and there is a squashed demon under his car.
He pulls out the spikes out of Maia's wound but she still needs warlock help.tries to talk to Maia, but she is rude to him because Simon has become a  vampire, and werewolves and vampires do not get along.  Clary calls Jace, who grabs Alec and Magnus, and they teleport to Luke's house.
Luke goes back outside to fix the car, but a short while later, Clary gets worried because he hasn't come back inside. While Magnus is healing Maia, Clary goes outside with Simon and Jace, to look for Luke. His car has been parked, and the engine is still running, and he has been injured in the garden. They take him inside to Magnus, then go out again to look for the demons that attacked him. I need to add that a little while ago, while Clary was dreaming, her mother visited her and brandished her with a special mark! Back to the plot...Clary, Jace and Simon find the demons and they get into a fight. Jace is attacked by the first one, and Clary the second, but for some reason (Maybe the fact that the demons saw Clary's special mark) they randomly run off. Simon, Clary and Jace all return to Luke's house and explain the situation. Magnus heals everybody, and Maia stays the night at Luke's house. During the night, Raphael delivers a vampire motorcycle to Jace, and Jace rides it around until he notices a random boat in the middle of the big body of water found under the Brooklyn Bridge (Please excuse my lack of facts!). He gets on the boat, and is confronted by the owner of the ship,... Valentine! They talk for a few hours, with Valentine giving a preview of the scary demons to come, and what he's going to do with the Mortal Sword.
The next day, Maia jumps out the window and goes to find Simon because she wants to apologise for being rude to him. While she is walking, she is stopped and attacked by Agramon, who appears as her dead brother who abused her. He almost scares her to death, and Valentine kidnaps her to later use her as part of a blood ceremony.
Back at Luke's house, Jace has returned and nobody has realised Maia has left yet. The Inquisitor randomly arrives and accuses Jace of allying with Valentine, providing proof with the fact that she put a tracking rune inside a piece of the portal mirror Jace keeps with him at all times so he can try to see Valentine in Idris.
I think a little before this though, Clary created a 'fearless' rune, to try and prove that she could create new runes, and tried it on Alec who said he couldn't feel anything.
For a reason I can't remember, Maryse and Robert Lightwood turn up. Because of the 'fearless' rune, and because Magnus is there, Alec decides it is a fitting time to come out of the closet to his parents. I believe Magnus knocks dear Alec out for a few seconds to save him from making this regretful decision.
The Inquisitor takes Jace and puts him inside a Malachi Configuration. An electrified cell made from special swords stabbed into the floor in the points of the compass.
Clary realises that Maia has gone, and then again realised that she has probably gone to see Simon. She rings up Simon who says she hasn't arrived, and a little into the conversation, Simon admits that he the thinks someone might be trying to break into his house (Might I say all a bit too casually). To Clary's commands, Simon commits himself to barring himself up inside his room, until eventually his door is bashed down by... YOU GUESSED IT! Valentine.
Valentine kidnaps Simon, who drops his phone, while Clary is still listening.
Meanwhile, sometime, Alec comes to Jace's aid while the Inquisitor talks with Maryse, who are planning on using Jace as a hostage for Valentine's cooperation. Valentine OBVIOUSLY declines, because he doesn't not have he same humane feelings for his 'child' than the Inquisitor metaphorically does (Because her child is dead). The Inquisitor is completely caught off guard by Valentine's lack of heart and kind of goes into shock. Jace uses his weird ability to jump straight out of the Malachi Configuration.  Jace and Clary contact each other, and Jace tells her and Luke to pull up outside the Institute. They arrive, and Clary witnesses what she thinks is Jace committing suicide by jumping out of a window, when it is actually Jace jumping out of a window using his new ability to jump big distances, safely. He gets in the car, and along with Magnus, who they meet at the docks, they turn the car into AquaTruck, or whatever it is they call it, and drive straight out onto the water and across it until they are near Valentine's boat. They are attacked by Valentine's flying demons, and Clary is abducted by one and taken to his ship.
Meanwhile (Do you notice I'm using a lot of meanwhiles?), Simon and Maia are tied up inside Valentine's boat. Enter Valentine. He throws silver dust on Maia to stop her from stopping him, and slits Simon's throat and wrists, while also collecting the blood. Simon is left to die but is separated from Maia.
Jace, in pursuit of Clary, with Luke, gets on Valentine's boat, thus commencing a massive battle, and because Clary drew the 'fearless' rune on him, he isn't showing any restraint or will to preserve his life (Which is not healthy, kiddies).
Meanwhile (Another one!), Clary finds herself with Maia, and Clary burns a hole in the wall using a rune, and helps Maia escape. Meanwhile again, Jace finds Simon, and noticing that he is drained of blood, makes Simon drink from him. The two has an emotional moment then go off to find Clary. When they do find her, she is facing off with Valentine, I think, and Jace and Valentine pick up where they left off in the first book (Fight, bitches!). Meanwhile again, all the available Shadowhunters have made their way onto the boat to fight the demons. Clary draws the 'open' rune on a wall of the boat, causing the entire boat to pull itself apart and explode and all that. Valentine is nowhere to be found, and a lot of the Shadowhunters, including Clary are saved by mermaids and river faeries, thanks to the Faerie Queen. Valentine has escaped with the Mortal Sword, and Clary is unconscious in the AquaTruck. When she wakes, the dawn is just approaching, and Simon has to come to a very quick realisation that he is about to die for a second time, but when the light hits him, he doesn't burn. What a miracle! How could this be?
For a while, all is well except for the fact that Jocelyn is still in a coma, but as Clary is leaving the hospital, she is approached by the gray haired woman, who introduces herself as Madeleine, an old friend of her mother's. She tells Clary that Jocelyn is in a self-magically-induced coma, and that she knows how to wake her up. Da da DUH!!!  Also, Simon breaks up with Clary because he can see that she doesn't love him romantically, she loves him like a brother. Then the book ends.

Characters: Clarissa (Clary) Fray: is struggling with the fact that she and Jace are siblings. Her relationship with Simon seems to be a bit awkward too. Clary seems to be growing as a character too, though occasionally she gets put back in her place when she is accidentally rude or obnoxious. Clary also discovers that she has a magical ability (The whole rune thing) in this book, and so begins a plot device in which we wonder, why an how does she have this gift? 

Jocelyn Fray (Fairchild): is still asleep throughout the book, even as we find more and more twists to her past. It is revealed that she actually induced the coma herself to protect the Cup.

Lucian (Luke) Graymark (Garroway): spends everyday sitting at Jocelyn's bedside. It is revealed that he is actually in love with Jocelyn, but he has never told her or pushed his feelings on her.

Jonathon (Jace) Christopher Morgenstern (Wayland): is still in love with Clary. At the battle on the boat, he gets marked with the 'fearless' rune, making him get extremely injured. What else can I say about him? Stay tuned, because the next book holds surprising secrets about him! We also get the whole romantic sibling love thing worked out in the next book, so DO stay tuned.

Valentine Morgenstern: with the help of Elias, summons the Demon of Fear. In City of Ashes we find out his proper plans for the first two Mortal Instruments. When Jace sees Agramon, he sees him as Valentine, which surprises Valentine himself. In the final battle when Clary blows the ship up, Valentine's body cannot be found. Jace has a saying that is something about not saying your enemy is truly down for the count until you see the dead body for yourself. And so, I think we can expect our dear evil guy to reappear in City of Glass.

Simon Lewis: becomes a vampire in this book. He no longer needs his glasses, and his looks apparently become more stylishly rugged. In City of Fallen Angels, Isabelle describes him as looking like he just got out of bed... someone else's bed.

Isabelle Lightwood: is dating Meliorn, a faerie knight, but dumps him after her episode with the queen. What can I say? She's as bitchy as ever...

Alec Lightwood: is still partially in love with Jace, but starts to truly realise his feelings for Magnus, and starts to act upon them.

Hodge Starkweather: is nowhere to be heard or seen of.

Brother Jeremiah and the Brotherhood: meet a grizzly fate at the hands of Valentine and Agramon. The are aid to have died from fear, as they burst open their mouth stitches, screaming.

Raphael: is Simon's sire. He buries him too. 

Magnus Bane: is bi as ever. And determined not to ruin Alec's life by letting him admit his relationship with Magnus at the wrong time. He saves Alec's life at the end of the book too.

The Inquisitor (Imogen Herondale): is a widow and mother of a dead child. Pity her. She is said to be extremely cold and cruel, but there is a surprising twist in her family traceries, so keep tuned to her family tree people. She is killed my a demon on Valentine's boat when she throws herself in front of Jace to protect him from an oncoming demon attack. She dies in front of him (Or in his arms, I forgot) and whispers her last words into his ear. She has greying hair and wears grey clothes. 

Maryse Lightwood: is Alec and Isabelle's mother. She is described to look like an older Isabelle with grey streaks in her hair, and she often has it harshly tied back. She is said to be cold, but a loving mother and a skilled Shadowhunter. In her glory days, she was a devout follower of Valentine and the Circle, and due to fears, decided not to leave. Because of their child, they were given a slight bit more leash in their punishment than Hodge.

Robert Lightwood: is Alec and Isabelle's father. He is married to Maryse and used to be in the Circle. In the big hd/sd he is injured and is bed ridden for a long time (Until the next book, where he is fine again.)

Max Lightwood:  is Isabelle and Alec's younger brother. He likes manga, and Clary has promised to take him to Forbidden Planet. Cute as... something cute.
Madeleine: appears at the very end of the book, telling Clary she knows how to wake Jocelyn up. Clary notices her several times before this eventual meeting though. She has gray hair, but is around 35 years old.

The Faerie Queen: is a right bitch. She tricks Clary into a tricky trick where she has to kiss Jace to get out of the Faerie Realm. This is quite high on Clary's ranking of C. R. U. E. L. Later though, she pays out by using her influences to save the Shadowhunters when the ship blows up and people are strewn all through the water, left to drown. She reappears in the next book as well, and is also a character in Holly Black's 'Tithe' series.

Elias: a teenage warlock with black wings, employed by Valentine to summon Agramon. He meets a grizzly fate, due to his fear that Agramon would escape his protective pentagram.

Agramon: is the Demon of Fear. He is summoned by Elias and because of the Mortal Sword, he is under Valentine's control. He kills people by scaring them to death. Eventually, he himself is killed by Jace who sees him as his father. Jace has encountered his twice. The first time it was Clary, injured.

Maia Roberts: makes her debut performance in City of Ashes. She has braided, curly brown hair and naturally tanned skin. She is biracial and has a dead brother, who when he was alive, assaulted her in places that can't be seen when wearing clothing. She was turned into a werewolf by his boyfriend, who had rapidly turned violent. He left afterwards, and Maia Turned. She then joined Luke's pack and continued with her life. She becomes friends with Simon, and seems to hold a romantic interest for him. Valentine kidnaps her and plans to use her as a werewolf sacrifice, but she is saved.

Quirks To Make You Think, OMG!: The faeries in the faerie court, as well as the queen are all characters in Holly Black's Tithe series.

Sequels and Prequels?:
City of Bones
(The Mortal Instruments #1)

City of Glass
(The Mortal Instruments #3)

City of Fallen Angels
(The Mortal Instruments #4)

City of Lost Souls (Not Out Yet)
(The Mortal Instruments #5)

City of Heavenly Fire (Not Out Yet)
(The Mortal Instruments #6)

Clockwork Angel
(The Infernal Devices #1)

Clockwork Prince
(The Infernal Devices #2)

The Dark Artifices series (Not Out Yet)

Movie Adaptations or Vice Versa?: City of Bones will come out in 2012. I believe it will be called the Mortal Instruments.

City of Bones

I really enjoyed City of Bones. Cassandra Clare's writing is extremely gripping and interesting to read. Valentine and his Circle is slightly like Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but it doesn't really matter because Valentine has his differences. For one he is the protagonist's father. I don't seem to recall Voldie getting it on with anybody lately!

The characters are extremely lovable, with back-stories to give them personality and family problems to boot.

The Mortal Instruments series are most definitely aimed at a teenage audience. There are a lot of teenage themes, for example the love triangles, the confusion of knowing who you are, discovering your parents when they were little, teenage angst,, fighting... all that stuff.

I researched all over the Internet and drew so many pictures of this book, I believe I have gone slightly crazy.

I think it would be worthwhile for fans of this series to actually check out themortalinstruments.com and look at the pictures of the characters and the fan-art, some are really good, and some are like... that's how you imagined them? Lordy!

The plot story of The Mortal Instruments series is quite complex, especially the deals with the family ties! But some of the things that happen are slightly predictable, and the dialogue can be scoffed at at times. All in all though, it doesn't really matter because I was enjoying the series so much.

I was reading on Wikipedia when I came to the bit about the Tithe series references. I got quite excited about that, but I didn't actually notice at the time, except for the unnaturally well described description of two random citizens sitting on the street.

The width of each book, including City of Bones, is fairly standard, and in my perfect size range. It reoccurs with practically all the books in the series too.

I have noticed that this series has a reoccurring plot device: at the end of each book, there will be a final, mega-big ho-down/ show-down. In the case of City of Bones' hd/sd is the fight with Valentine and sibling what-the-hells at the end.

Cassandra Clare's settings are an interesting change from some other books of the same genre I have read. It incorporates modern technology with ancient myth. I love the snippets of when Simon and/or Clary will be talking about anime, or something else us young people know about, and Jace is like... "WTF are you talking about ya bunch of crazies?" (Jace never says that, but it is implied.)

This debut performace and any more books by Clare are ones to watch, I will definitely be a hard-core fan of this series, and the prequels and sequels to come!

And almost always crowd pleaser is the wit and humour, and combined in with the twists, sub-plots, drama, action and thrills, I believe we have a new competitor in the fight for fans, along with Harry Potter and Twilight.

Good job Cassandra, this series is music to my ears!
__________________________________________________________________________________

Written by: Cassandra Clare

First Published:2007

First Publisher: Walker Books

Series: The Mortal Instruments #1

Pages: 442

How wide?: About 3cm.

What The Hell's Going On With That Front Cover?: The unnaturally well-muscled upper-torsoed man is Jace. The swirly markings on his body are magic runes. Each rune provides a different ability. For example one rune is for protection, another for remembrance, another for healing. I'm not positive of why there is light shining out from his chest, but I think it might be just some pretty dazzle or a reaction from the runes doing something. The cemetery and city is just to emphasize the 'city' part of the title, but I also think the cemetery is there to give an air of  creepiness.

Why The Title?: The City Of Bones is actually called the Bone City. The Bone City is where the Silent Brothers live and might also be the Silent City, or at least in it. The Bone City actually isn't all that important because Clary only goes there to find that her mind has a block, but the Silent Brothers can't fix it. it isn't until the next book where something actually happens at the Bone City, but you'll have to read the City Of Ashes review to know exactly what.

How Did I Get My Hands On This Book?: My friend has been reading this series and was always telling me how good it was, so when I went to the library and saw it sitting there I thought, "Why not?" And I borrowed it, read it,... AND FREAKING LOVED IT!

Blurb: It's after dark in New York City, and Clary Fray is seeing things. the best-looking guy in the nightclub just stabbed a boy to death - but the victim has vanished into thin air. Her mother has disappeared, and a hideous monster is lurking in her apartment. With her life spiralling into darkness, Clary realizes that she has stumbled into an invisible war between ancient demonic forces and the secretive Shadowhunters - a war in which she has a fateful role to play...

Short Plot: A young girl witnesses the murder of a supposed 'demon'.
The next day, her house is trashed, her mother kidnapped, and she herself is attacked by another type of demon.
She kills it, but is wounded, and this results in one of the murderers of the first demon, to save her and take her to his tutor.
Along with her new demon hunting friends, she is dumped into a world of supernatural creatures and surprising family secrets.
Main points covered in this book is...
What I said before.
They meet Magnus, a warlock.
Simon is turned into a rat, and bites a vampire when Clary and Jace go to save him.
Valentine is alive.
Clary and Jace kiss.
Clary finds the Mortal Cup.
Valentine takes the Mortal Cup.
Luke saves Clary from Hodge, who is on Valentine's side.
Luke is actually a werewolf.
Luke and his pack take Clary too Valentine's place to save Jace and recover the Cup.
They epically fail.
Jace and Clary are actually brother and sister, Valentine is their dad, Valentine takes the Cup and goes through a Portal.
Jocelyn is in a magically induced coma.

Extended Plot: Clary and Simon arrive at a nightclub, Pandemonium, only to end up with Clary witnessing three teens murder another boy. Simon and a bouncer can't see the murderers, and one of them, Jace, tells Clary that the boy was a demon.

The next day, Clary sees Jace in a shop and she follows him outside. He wants to take her to see his tutor, Hodge, to figure out why she could and still can see him and his friends. Before she can reply, she receives a frantic phone call from her mother. Clary runs home, leaving a confused Jace behind, to find that her house is trashed and her mother is missing.
While Clary looks around her apartment, she is attacked by a Ravener demon. But luckily she is able to kill it by shoving Jace's Sensor (that she stole) down it's throat.
Clary falls unconscious, and wakes up in her garden with Jace, who says she has been poisoned. He puts an invisibility rune on her, and takes her to his home, the Institute, which is glamoured to look like an abandoned church.
Clary stays several days unconscious while she recovers from the poison. When she wakes up, she meets Hodge who calls for a Silent Brother, who may be able to help figure out why she can see things, normal humans don't.
Before the Brother arrives though, Jace takes Clary back to her house, and they are attacked by a band of Forsaken (Humans that have been marked with runes, they are practically zombies.). When they go downstairs, they meet Madame Dorothea, and in a pack of cards Jocelyn painted for Dorothea, Clary draws the Ace of Cups. The love card. Clary and Jace are then pulled through a Portal, and arrive at Luke's bookshop. There they discover Simon lurking in the bushes. Clary tells him about the supernatural world she has discovered, then Jace takes them inside the bookshop. They discover bloody manacles and weapons in a duffel bag, and they observe when Luke and two men arrive in the shop. Luke tells them he doesn't know where the 'cup' is and they talk quite sarcastically and menacing towards each other. He also tells the men he doesn't care about Jocelyn, turning Clary instantly against him.
Afterwards, when they get to the Institute, Brother Jeremiah takes Clary to see the Brotherhood, who discover that Clary has a block in her mind, and there is a name in her head, Magnus Bane.
Clary tells her new friends, Jace, Alec and Isabelle (the murdering teens who are actually Shadowhunters who kill demons) about the name, and the trio, plus Simon, go to Magnus Bane's party.
There, they ask Magnus about the mind block, and he says he can't reverse it because he did such a good job on it the first time. Simon drinks a faerie drink and gets turned into a rat, then gets stolen by a vampire by accident.
In a desperate attempt to get Simon back, Clary and Jace convince Magnus to tell them where the vampire's lair is. Eventually he tells them, and Clary and Jace arrive the Hotel Dumont, or Hotel Dumort as it has been so lovingly renamed.
Outside the hotel, while trying to find a secret passage inside, they meet a Spanish boy named Raphael, who shows them the way inside. As they make their way through the bottom level of the Dumort, Raphael is taken away by a vampire, Jace and Clary find him, but the vampires close in, and it is revealed that Raphael if the leader of the vampires, and obviously, a vampire himself. Clary tries to tell them that they have Simon, a human, and a vampire brings him forward. Using Raphael, Jace tries to strike a bargain of Raphael's safety, for Simon back with Clary. Everything goes manic, but the vampires, Jace and Clary are interrupted by the arrival of a pack of werewolves asking for Clary. A mini-war rages between the weres and the vamps, and in the process, Simon bites Raphael to save Clary. In the commotion, Simon, Clary and Jace are able to escape to the roof, but with everyone and everything on their heels. Jace steals a vampire motorcycle, and they fly to safety.
But as the dawn creeps over the horizon, the cycle starts to sputter and they only just make it to land as the cycle turns into ash. They make it to the Institute, but in the halls, Clary and Alec have a fight about a certain unrequited gay love, and then Clary is invited up to the gardens with Jace because it is her birthday. They have a picnic and end up kissing, but leave because of Hugo, Hodge's bird. When they go inside, they kiss again, but Simon walks in on them, and Clary and Simon have a fight, then because of what she had said, Jace and Clary have a fight, and Clary ends up alone. During the night, Clary is sketching and discovers where her mother hid the Mortal Cup. Clary tells Jace, and the two, plus Alec, Isabelle and a grudged Simon, go to Dorothea's house. Clary finds the Mortal Cup inside the Ace of Cups card, but as they are leaving, a Greater Demon, Abbadon, attacks them, and mortally wounds Alec.
When they get back to the Institute, Hodge fixes Alec up as best he can, but they need the help of someone else. When Jace and Clary tell him that they have found the Cup, Hugo randomly attacks Clary, and when he leaves her face, Jace is unconscious at Hodge's feet and Hodge has the Cup. Valentine magically appears via Portal, and takes the Cup, then extinguishes the curse on Hodge. Valentine also takes Jace.
Using a stele, Clary breaks out of her cagey thing, and pursues Hodge down the street. Hodge attacks Clary, but a wolf  jumps Hodge and bites him on the shoulder, rendering him unconscious. Clary goes unconscious too, and wakes up in a prison cell. Luke comes in, revealing that he is actually a werewolf, and tells her that Hodge dragged himself away. He then tells her about his entire past with Valentine and her mother. Luke tells her that she is Valentine's daughter and so on.
Because Jace has been kidnapped and Clary has reason to believe that Valentine is going to kill him, Luke, his pack, and Clary, all head off to the Renwick Ruins. In formation, they make their way up to the manor, but are attacked by a massive amount of Forsaken, Gretel is killed, but Luke and Clary are able to get themselves inside. They go from room to room, and eventually find Jocelyn asleep on a bed. She is in some type of magical coma. While they are in there, Blackwell and Pangborn walk in, and a small kerfuffle arouses. Blackwell is killed, and Clary escapes the room as Luke and Pangborn start to face off.
Clary finds Jace in a big room with a large mirror. He tells her that it has all been a mistake and that his father isn't dead. In walks Valentine, Jace's father. Clary is slightly bewildered by the fact that she and Jace are siblings, and Jace doesn't even know it yet. Luke arrives with the news of Pangborn's death, and another fight starts between Luke and Valentine. As Jace is partially brainwashed to think Valentine was on the good side, he aids Valentine in a way. Only until Valentine is about to strike the killing blow does Clary fling herself in the way of the sword, and in a panic, Jace throws a dagger to stop Valentine from plunging the sword. Valentine denies that he would have hurt Clary, but the fight resumes with Alaric sacrificing himself for Luke, Jace finally realises that Valentine was lying about being good, and helps Luke and Clary, but not in enough time to stop Valentine from escaping through a Portal. Valentine gives Jace the chance to kill him, trying to bring out his weakness, and he succeeds, as Jace is unable to kill him (Understandably, right?). Clary and Jace have an emotional and quite distraught hug while Luke patches things up.
Presumably a few days later, Jocelyn is in a human hospital, supposedly in a coma, and Luke spends every waking moment at her side. The book ends with Jace and Clary in quite a moral dilemma as they are still thoroughly in love with each other, even though they are siblings.

Characters: Clarissa (Clary) Fray: is our protagonist. She is a fifteen year old female with flame red hair, freckles and green eyes. Mid-way through the book she turns sixteen. She was raised by her mother, Jocelyn, as a single child and widowed mother. Luke, in a way, is her father figure, and Clary actually says that Luke is her father because he was the one she grew up with. Valentine is her biological father. Clary has the ability to make new runes and read every rune ever made. As well as her mother, she is a fantastic artist. Clary is around five-feet-tall. Jace provides a love interest, but their romantic relationship is thwarted by the learning of the fact that they are siblings. Clary had a mind block that made her forget anything to do with the supernatural world.

Jocelyn Fray (Fairchild) (Morgenstern): is Clary's mother. She has the Clary's red hair, but is more of a willowy build. When she was seventeen, she joined a cult club named the Circle, with her boyfriend, Valentine, who was the leader.Jocelyn was married to Valentine but after learning that he was truly evil, and giving birth to a child, Jonathon Christopher, she decided that she would leave the Circle. On the night of the Accords Valentine faked his and Jonathon's death, and Jocelyn, secretly pregnant with Clary, fled to New York until Luke found her and became a close family friend. She is a professional artist and raised Clary herself. She is a Shadowhunter and made it so anything supernatural Clary saw, she'd forget. Jocelyn is in a magically induced coma. Jocelyn also stole the Mortal Cup and hid it from Valentine.

Lucian (Luke) Graymark (Garroway): is metaphorically, Clary's father. He has a beard and glasses and owns a bookstore. A while before the Accords were made, he was bitten by a werewolf and turned into one. He then killed the old pack leader who had turned him and become the new pack leader. After the Accords battle, he tried to find Jocelyn, and only succeeded  few years later. He is extremely protective of Clary and Jocelyn. Luke used to be a Shadowhunter, and Valentine's right hand man until he was turned into a werewolf. He now has a pack that live in a Chinese shop.

Jonathon (Jace) Christopher Morgenstern (Wayland): is the deuteragonist of the series. He has golden hair, eyes and skin and is quite a looker. He flirts a lot with women but has never been in a proper relationship. He believes he is Jace Wayland and that his father was Michael Wayland, but Valentine just killed the real Wayland family to make it look like Jace and Valentine were dead. Jace is the best Shadowhunter in his age category, and hates being called a child. After learning that his true name is Jonathon, he hates people calling him that too, because it is the name Valentine gave him, and Jace refuses to be a son to him. Jace is arrogant, insolent, has a quick temper and a snarky, sarcastic personality. He doesn't cry, because he was taught not to, and he doesn't like to show his true feelings. show. He is in love with Clary, but the whole sibling part of it kind of makes their relationship confusing. His mother and father are the same as Clary's.

Valentine Morgenstern:  is pure eeevil. He is also the antagonist of the series. He started the Circle when he was seventeen and used to be married to Jocelyn. He is a Shadowhunter and looks like Jace, but with white-blonder hair. He is said to be a large man, but not fat. In an attempt to steal the Mortal Cup, he kidnapped Jocelyn, but Jocelyn is in a coma. Valentine also faked his death, posed as Michael Wayland while bringing up Jace as Jace Wayland, then his death again when Jace was 10. He returns to steal the Mortal Cup.

Simon Lewis: is the tritagonist. He is Clary's best friend and is in love with her, but Clary only loves him as a friend. He has dark brown hair and glasses, as well as being geeky and in a band. He is simply a mundane, but after drinking a faerie potion, he accidentally got turned into a rat. He seems to be falling for Isabelle throughout the book and has had several girlfriends, but we actually find out that all the girls were just his twisted way of getting Clary to be jealous and realise her feelings for him. He also knows his anime.

Isabelle Lightwood: is dark haired, pale skinned, tall and beautiful. Her brother is Alec and she has a younger brother named Max. Her weapon of choice is a golden whip, which she takes everywhere with her. She is kind of snobby and breaks a lot of boys hearts. Isabelle grows throughout the first book because she sees the changes that Clary makes to her surroundings. Isabelle has never had a female friend.

Alec Lightwood: is Isabelle's gay brother. He is dark haired and is in  love with Jace. At the start of City of Bones, Alec doesn't like Clary because of the relationship she and Jace have, but by the end of the book he warms to her. His weapon of choice is his bow and arrows. He has never killed a demon because he chooses to protect Jace and Isabelle. Alec is wounded by a Greater Demon, but Magnus Bane saves him. Magnus also seems to have a thing for him.

Hodge Starkweather: is cursed to stay inside Institute because he was in the Circle and didn't leave. He tutors Jace, Alec and Isabelle and is trained as a basic medic. He has a pet bird, Hugo, but it is later found out that the bird is actually Valentine's, and is named Hugin. Hodge is the librarian in the Institute, but he betrays everyone when he hands the Mortal Cup to Valentine,, has Hugo attack Clary and allows Jace to be taken by Valentine. His curse is lifted by Valentine, and Clary follows him, but he attacks Clary with his favourite weapon, the chakram, and in turn, Luke attacks and bites Hodge. Hodge seemingly escapes because his body is nowhere to be found.

Brother Jeremiah and the Brotherhood: is a Silent Brother. He took several oaths and has many other brothers like him. They guard the Bone City and the Silent City, and talk telepathically. They are pale, wear robes and have stitched shut mouths. They can psychically search people's minds and they guard the Mortal Sword. The brothers meet a grim fate in the next book, with Jeremiah meeting his near our dear Jace.

Raphael: is the leader of the New York vampire group. The Night Children all live in the Hotel Dumont, or the Hotel Dumort as they so fondly renamed it. He was turned into a vampire after attempting to kill all the vampires inside, alongside his friends. He has a scar on his neck where a cross necklace would sit.. He has black hair, and a majority of what he says is in Spanish. He was bitten by Simon in the kerfuffle of the werewolf Vs. vampire craziness.

Alaric: is Luke's third. He is a werewolf as well, and after Gretel gets killed, Alaric become Luke's second, and when Valentine is about to kill Luke, Alaric sacrifices himself to save Luke's life. In the Hotel Dumont, Alaric gets stabbed by Clary, but he says he doesn't mind because it was a good throw. Alaric dies in Renwick Hospital in Luke's arms.
Gretel: is Luke's second. She is a werewolf and is extremely devoted to Luke. In the battle with the Forsaken, Gretel is stabbed and hacked to death by another Forsaken. Clary watches it happen. At her death, Alaric is promoted to second.

Blackwell and Pangborn: are Shadowhunters in Valentine's Circle. They never left the Circle and remain evil and loyal to Valentine. Blackwell and Pangborn harass Luke in his bookshop, then at the end of the book, Luke kills them, one after the other. He kills Blackwell by throwing a dagger across the room and hitting him in the neck. Pangborn says that Blackwell always talks, blurting out their plans, while Pangborn is insinuated to be the smarter one. One of these guys has a pointy beard.

Magnus Bane: is the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He is bisexual and has an interest in Alec, who blushes when Magnus does something to show is feelings. Magnus hosts a lot of parties and wears showy, glittery clothes and makeup. At the wishes of Jocelyn, Magnus put a block in Clary's mind to make her forget whenever she saw something supernatural. Magnus saves the day a few times, but most importantly he saves Alec's life when he is mortally wounded by a Greater Demon, Abbadon. Clary thinks he might be half-Asian.
Madame Dorothea:

Quirks To Make You Think, OMG!: For those who have read Holly Black's Tithe series, including: Tithe, Ironside and Valiant, you may or may not have realised the following things.
In Tithe, Ellen Fierch has a band called Stepping Razor, and in the start of City of Bones, Clary listens to Stepping Razor.
In Valiant, some of our main characters are Val, a girl who shaved her head, and Luis, a boy with multiple facial piercings, is blind in one eye and has dreadlocks. In Chapter Ten of City of Bones, Clary notices these two characters sitting in the street.
Coincidence, no?
NO.
Cassandra Clare is friends with Holly Black and obviously added this stuff in as a bit of a tribute to her friend... and maybe for a little laugh.

Sequels And Prequels?:
City of Ashes
(The Mortal Instruments #2)

City of Glass
(The Mortal Instruments #3)

City of Fallen Angels
(The Mortal Instruments #4)

City of Lost Souls
(The Mortal Instruments #5)

City of Heavenly Fire
(The Mortal Instruments #6)

Clockwork Angel
(The Infernal Devices #1)

Movie Adaptations Or Vice Versa?: AGHHHHHHHHHHH!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes my dear children and superiors, there is a movie coming out based on Cassandra Clares, City of Bones. May I repeat an old sentence.
AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
O. M. G.

Clary will be played by Lily Collins.
She is really pretty, and with the red hair and green eyes, it looks like Clary just stepped out of the book.

Jace will be played by Jamie Campbell Bower.
Jamie played Caius in New Moon.
It is said that his audition made Cassandra Clare cry, and that Lily Collins said he was PERFECT.
I'm gonna go with the author and say, TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT GUYS! THERE ARE A LOT OF GIRLS... AND BOYS... COUNTING ON YOU! HOORAH!