From Wikipedia

City of Bones is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series, a young adult urban fantasy series set in New York written by Cassandra Clare. It was originally published in the US in hardcover on March 27, 2007, and was released in the UK on July 2, 2007. It was also released in paperback in the USA on February 19, 2008. It achieved #8 on the New York Times Best Seller list (Children's books) in April 2007. City of Bones received considerable praise from Publishers Weekly, Locus, and authors Holly Black and Kelly Link. Criticism was also received from School Library Journal. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon

      In the article: Publication history | Background | Major themes | Characters | Plot | Allusions to other works | Cover | Reception | Film adaptation

From Publishers Weekly

This Buffy-esque YA novel does not translate well to the audio medium, and part of the problem lies in the story's pacing. Teenager Clary discovers she can see supernatural beings that no one else can, gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters (teens who kill demons and monsters) and learns that her mother is somehow mysteriously connected to all the strange happenings around her. As a result, a good chunk of the novel consists of long explanatory passages, as various characters fill Clary in on supernatural creatures, the history and rules of the Shadowhunters and her mother's entanglements—all of which come across as tedious lectures. In addition, narrator Graynor makes almost no attempt to differentiate the various teen characters' voices. Only the minor character Dorothea, played as a faux witch with a gravelly New York accent, is memorable. Graynor also frequently ignores the author's explicit textual directives, such as [Simon] came back, sounding worried or The tone of arrogant superiority was back in [Jace's] voice, for her performance, making this a program with an intriguing premise and cast but disappointing execution. Ages 14-up. (May)
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