Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have not read Cassandra Clare's fan fiction, although I do know that she started in fanfic. You can tell. For a fanfic, I would consider this to be very good, but I expect more out of a published novel. Clare's writing style is nothing to get excited about. It moves the story along, but does nothing to add to it. I give her props for not abusing fragments (a pet peeve of mine) as a lot of YA writers do these days. However, she writes like someone who has just started getting into creative writing--she has figured out how to string words together, but she hasn't figured out how to use them to tell a story. Instead, she tries to find out clever ways to describe something or pulls out a thesaurus where none is needed. However, everything in this book--plot, characters, settings--is cliche. This book has been written many times before and better. Since you know how everything is going to play out from page one, there's really nothing to get excited for in City of Bones. She goes out of her way to reference things in anime and fandom which I assume is supposed to be cute, but I find it obnoxious. In fanfic, that might be acceptable, but not in a published novel. She also distracts from the plot by having her characters have a lot of "witty" banter. For the most part, I didn't find it particularly witty or funny, and it's never a good sign when another character in the book has to remind the other characters (and you) that the plot is still happening. That's very sloppy writing. I really did not care for the main characters. Jace, the Love Interest, is one of your typical "Bad Boy" types who we are repeatedly told is "charming." Over and over, Clare will tell you that he is charming, oh so charming. To quote The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Perhaps as a 14 year old I might have been fooled into believing Cassandra Clare that her character is, indeed, just so charming, but as an adult... His actions, his attitude, and the way he talks do not make him a charming or attractive character. If I met Jace in real life, I would think he was a rude, obnoxious brat. Then there's Clary. It is painfully obvious that Clary is a self-insert of the author herself. This is not inherently a horrible thing. I would be perfectly willing to overlook it if the book and character were better written. The trouble is, Clary is not a sympathetic lead. She comes off as being jealous and hateful. Important, plot-related things might be going on, but Clary can always find the time to be jealous of and "hate" someone for having nicer eyelashes than she does. There is only one other female character in the book, Isabelle, and of course the two of them don't get along because they're so jealous of the other's beauty (but of course Clary doesn't think of herself as beautiful) and because they have to compete for all the boys' attention (naturally). Like Jace, I have a feeling I would not like Clary Fray at all if I met her in real life. The biggest thing that bothered me about City of Bones and the character of Clary was the constant bashing of people who aren't thin and/or conventionally attractive. Of course, all the main characters are thin and conventionally attractive--that goes without saying. But Clary spends an inordinate amount of time in the book picking apart her and other people's physical flaws (or more likely being jealous of their perfections and hating them for it). Then, of course, there's the lovely quote, "She 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." I realize Clare is going for humor, but that's still a very offensive line and definitely not the kind of thing I want to see in a YA novel. The implication is that people who are "fat" or not conventionally attractive have nothing to live for. Considering most readers of this book are likely to be young girls who may already have problems with their self-image, is that really the message they should be receiving? Perhaps she's going for some kind of realism. Maybe there are a lot of teenage girls who spend a lot of time focused on the physical looks of themselves and those around them and are jealous of others and hate them for looking better than they do. I was never one of those girls, and I don't find that to be a sympathetic trait in anyone--fictional or not. Had Clare written the story as if she were aware of Clary's mental/emotional flaws rather than just her physical ones, that would have been acceptable. Instead, Clary is portrayed as the Every Girl and we are meant to sympathize and agree with her. Unfortunately, I don't. Cassandra Clare is a capable writer, and she could even be a good writer. Unfortunately, in City of Bones, she is too self-indulgent, and too lacking in originality and self-awareness to pull off a decent novel. I have no desire to continue this series, but I would hope that her later works show improvement because thus far the talent is there, just not the ability.