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The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - by Cassandra Clare

Popularly referred to as The City of Bones, this novel is the first in the series titled The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare.

I must be honest and I must admit that initially, I was hesitant to pick up this book. I had heard a lot of fuss about it but considered it to be part of the paranormal romance genre that's so popular with teenage girls at the moment and therefore, backed away from it substantially. However, my roommate convinced me to read it since she didn't want to go see the movie alone. I must tell you, I was pleasantly surprised.

The City of Bones introduces the intriguing protagonist of Clary Fray. Clary Fray was raised by a single mother, spending all of her life that she can remember in the same, small apartment. A seemingly normal teenager, her life is mundane until she stumbles across the stabbing of a man whose body then disappears from all existence. Confused and compelled towards the man who did it, she finds herself consorting with the Nephilim a.k.a. the Shadowhunters. Pretty soon into the novel, Clary has just witnessed a murder, found her mother missing, and is thrown into the deep end of destroying demons.

The world that is The City of Bones is imaginative and entirely unconventional to its genre. Cassandra Clare creates a story that is effortlessly easy to slip in to. The novel has just the right amount of ingenuity to make it a positively fresh read that differs from the typical paranormal young adult novel.

The movie was only just released so I highly recommend that you make sure to get your copy of the novel at the BYU Bookstore and read it before you see it.

Allanah Osborn is an obsessive reader who works for marketing in the BYU Bookstore.
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