City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

#1 Mortal Instruments series
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: young adult
Pages: audio
Challenges: 101 fantasy, young adult, audio
Author's Website 
My rating: 2.75/5

Simple Description: 
Clary Fray's life changes forever when she goes to a night club called Pandemonium one night.  While there she witnesses a murder.  As if this wasn't bad enough, she soon realizes that nobody else can see the parties involved.  Within 24 hours her world is torn apart.  Her Mom is kidnapped, she realizes that vampires and demons do exist.   Oh, and demons are after her.   It appears her mom was a shadow hunter, a person who hunted down demons and other nasties in order to protect weak humans.  Something that happened that made her Mom run away from all that though.  Clary wasn't brought up in that world, although she has it in her blood.

Clary is determined to find and save her Mom.  With the help of Jace, Isabel, and Alec, three other teenagers, she embarks on an adventure of a lifetime.  She has run ins with vampires, worlocks, and werewolves.  She learns more about herself and her Mom, things she would have never guessed.

Don't think everything will be answered in this book though.  This is the first of 4, so while it does wrap up a bit in the end, the story is still left open in order to entice readers to continue the series.


Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
I enjoyed the book but not as much as I had hoped I would.  However, I'm not so sure that wasn't because I listened to it via audio.   I thought the story itself was interesting, there was enough going on that it would probably be a page turner (if I had read the book version).

I really do think part of my issue with the book is the audio part of it though.  There were times when the tone of voice and the infliction ( I think that's the right word) just wasn't right for me.  The narrator would say a sentence or two and I would think "I wouldn't read the line like that".  I also wonder if part of this is why I could Clary annoying at times, because she seemed to whine a lot.   At times it was hard for me to get past how it was being read and just enjoy the story for what it was.

I did read the last 15-20 pages and I enjoyed that a lot more than listening to it.  So I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if I had read it.    I'm definitely going to plan on reading the 2nd in the series to see if I enjoy it.  I do have my hopes up that I will.   This is one that I do think others will enjoy and like, but I caution you to stay away from the audio version.

This audio book was rented from my local library.