City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

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   When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

    This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Wow. Just....wow. I just barely finished this one, and I'm not sure what I am thinking. There is so much that I want to say, but I don't want to write spoilers in case someone else hasn't read this yet. I'm actually surprised I never read spoilers for this, though it's not like I was looking. Let me just say that this series didn't really seem like something I had to read, but I kept seeing it everywhere I went, so I gave in to my curiosity. I'm quite glad I did.

I like the way the author's writing flowed, and it kept me reading. I'll admit, sometimes Clary annoyed the hell out of me, just like *almost* every other YA female lead in a paranormal series (yet, I keep reading them), but she wasn't that bad. I mean, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "The Worst Mary Sue" and 10 being "Cooler Than Hermione or Katniss," I'd say she was like a 4.5 on the scale. Still, it was cool to read a book featuring a red-headed, freckled female lead. And the story was too engrossing to stay annoyed for long - lots of turning points and action.

I automatically enjoyed any scene involving the warlock, Magnus - he was odd, but so darn likable (at least, to me). It's so hard to not give away spoilers, but Alec! *squee* Ahem. Anyway. I also enjoyed the unraveling of Clary's mother's past, and the story of why she fled from the shadowhunters. But I will say this: during the last few chapters I just had this big WTF?! face. I could still feel it on me, and it makes me wanna hurry and start the second book already. Yes, I had a small inkling that this plot twist was going to happen as I read more, but still. My goodness. Now I need more.

I did hear through Goodreads about some little controversy going around about the author, but I say "Who gives a crap?" I read this story, it was good, and I liked it. Who cares if the author supposedly plagiarized HER OWN fanfiction? She freakin' wrote it, unpublished, so she could mold those ideas into something new if she wants to. And as for the similarities people dig up between this and certain books and movies, how often does something truly original in a story ever pop up? I could list a ton of books that have similarities to previously created works, but the point is that the author made it their own by telling it in a way that only they could, because no one else shares their brain. It's not like "Oh darn! He used a love-triangle between a cat and two dogs, and now it can never be used again. I guess I'll just have to make one of them a turtle."

I'm sorry for this review if it confused you, because there is so much in this book that I don't want to spoil. Am I the only one who hadn't read this until now? I know that I'm not, and I am glad that I hadn't read spoilers on this book before reading it, because it was fun to learn about things as Clary discovered them. That's why I refrained from giving anything away. All I can tell you is that I hadn't cared beforehand whether I read it or not, but I did read it, and I did like it, and I am going to read the rest of the series. Probably right now. (4/5 stars)