Esk Reviews Books

[mojoboy31]

[Eskarina]

I don't know.

This book is about Clary Fray a really rude, annoying girl who conforms to the "beautiful but doesn't know it" troop. Her mom, who is basically Joyce from Buffy, gets attacked by a demon monster thing and the rude but handsome stranger who several hours ago threatened to kidnap her becomes her recuer. He takes her to the Institute where she meets a guy named Hodge who tells her about underworlders and shadowhunter which is what tall, dark, handsome stranger is. He also conveniently mentions Valentine, a long dead traitor who is (I'm calling this right now)

[mojoboy31]

I've heard nothing but good things about the City Of Bones series. I haven't read them cause, I'm not big on the paranormal romance thing, but most everyone told me they beat the crap out of Twilight.

[Eskarina]

Really?

They do have a 4.14/5 on good reads, but the fact that no seems to be able to do anything without an adverb (she said angrily, while typing furiously at the ephemeral keyboard of iPad). Also, Jace's is tawny, topaz, lion-cat eyes (all used in the book) are getting on my nerves. The folklore is...weird. I feel like the author knows her stories, but ripped from any context and meaning it just misses the mark.

Also, I don't get Clary. She is constantly rude and angry even before she comes into distressing circumstances. She yells at Simon every single time he does something cute or funny or nice. She doesn't seem like a kind person, or ever particularly interesting.

I'll give it this: I do like Simon. He's the minor character who was friend zoned by Clary but is adorable and I want to steal him.

[mojoboy31]

[Eskarina]

*shrug*

Just because a lot of people liked it doesn't mean I'm not entitled to hate it. I just checked goodreads and it seems as if it get either one star or five, without much in between.

It hasn't won any awards that I know of, critical reception has been mediocre.

Part of it (not the adverb littered writing part, but a part) is that I find the "girl has boring, predictable life. supernatual boy shows up, saves the day and steals her heart" trope stale at this point. This has been reversed in some books (Neverwhere by Gaiman) with more success. Part of the reason is that when the boy saves the girl as a major plot point the story becomes about their relationship, when the situation is reversed the story focuses on the world and situations. The second is infinitely more interesting the first.

[mojoboy31]

[Eskarina]

The idea of normal girl and supernatural guy resulting in a normal guy and supernatural girl in stories that focus on love and relationships in a world of fantasy.

[~Ęlmįrą~]

Yup, that's the book I was talking about. i'm not much for lots of romance. Though the other day I read a really cool book. The main character had two love interests, and in the course of the book the author killed them both.

[Demonhunter]

I think I will push the bony city to the "I have read just about everything else I have (twice)" pile.

[Eskarina]

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Claire

The problem with YA novels is this: I am spoiled.

I've read The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and The Tortall Series for fantasy. For non-fantasy I've seen what the ingenious John Green did with Looking For Alaska and The Fault In Our Stars. I know what authors in this genre are capable of and honestly, Cassandra Claire, I expected more, and I expected better from your book, City of Bones, Book #1 of the mortal instruments series.

First of all there's the narrator, Clary (as in Claire, as in Cassandra Clare, get it?) is basically a blank slate upon which pre-teen girls can interpose themselves. She doesn't have any defining personality traits. Her flaws are that she's clumsy (the fallback of the Uncreative writer) and she doesn't know she's beautiful (but of course she is). She's certaintly not the brightest bulb in the box, often asking stupid questions that the reader could answer without thought. Perhaps the only thing that truely defines her as a character is the ability to make me hate her. Consider the following quote:

“Clary wondered if there were any ugly vampires, or maybe any fat ones. Maybe they didn't make vampires out of ugly people. Or maybe ugly people just didn't want to live forever”

That's correct. You read it correctly. Clary believes that people who are not attractive (whatever that means) have no reason to live. Claire presents this as a joke. Body shaming is not funny. It's not cute. It's a major problem that has led to a growth in eating disorders and body dysmorphia. This is not cute and funny, this is deeply harmful.

Besides being a body shamer, Clary is a deeply unfriendly person. Simon, her best friend and one of the first characters introduced in the book, is funny and smart (think your stereotypical nice nerdy guy). Clary, however, seems to get off on treating him like a big steaming pile of crap (By the way Claire, when you insult Simon for cheap laughs at nerds, you are insulting a large percentage of your readership). She's constantly telling him to be quiet and shut his mouth especially when he talks about the guy Clary's seeing, which brings me to my next point...

Why is it that love interests in novels lately are controlling, rude jerks? Jace is no different. Of course he's stronger, smarter, and faster than Clary. He is consistantly rude to both her and Simon which, of course, makes Clary fall head over heels in love with him. He's a bit contradictory, at times paralyzed with fear that Clary might get hurt, and at other times rushing her headlong into perilous situations.

I don't want to get too deep into the allegations of plagerism against Claire. I will say that they are not unfounded. Claire borrows heavily and without shame from other, better authors. This is a shame, because Claire has an interesting world on her hands and she doesn't need to borrow from Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy and (certainly not) Twilight to make it more interesting. In the end, when I found the plot engaging it wasn't because of her ingenuity, it was because she used a plot device that worked well in Star Wars or the Deathly Hallows. The ultimate bad guy is Valentine (Voldemort), who started the circle (death eaters). Jace is basically Draco who looks like Spike from Buffy.



As far as the actual construction of the plot, If, as Stephen King maintains, the road to hell is paved with adverbs Claire is a pile of smouldering ash in the center of it. A few adverbs here and there don't bother me, but Claire uses them to gross excess. I won't get into her smilies and metaphors, which often bordered on absurd. Perhaps most frustrating to me, large chucks of the plot weren't told through action, but through info dumps from characters. This is frustrating, because it feel like Claire wasted a really interesting world.

Conclusion: it's a shame that Claire's writing style is so poor and she insists on telling rather than showing, the basic idea is fascinating, but it ultimately fails.

Rating: 1.5/5 stars.

[mojoboy31]

This book, I shall skip. I was already weary of it, and its genre.

The body shaming thing is horrible, but is a fair question of the genre. Why are all vampires unbelievably attractive?

[gwenhyver42]

[mojoboy31]

[Eskarina]