City of Bones (Mortal Instruments)

Discover this first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

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...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

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Published Mar 27, 2007

496 pages

Average rating: 7.91

220 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *City of Bones* delivers an engaging urban fantasy adventure with likable characters like Clary, Simon, and Magnus, set in a vividly imagi...

siemelle900
Nov 28, 2025
8/10 stars
Clary Fray and her friend Simon arrive one evening at a club called Pandemonium only for Clary to come across something strange, something new, something indescribable in the form of Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood, and Isabelle Lightwood. Three Shadowhunters who quickly dispatch a demon in a storage closet. Which begs to question - how can Clary, a mundane, see them when glamor is supposed to keep them hidden from the "regular world"? So starts a journey of discovery for Clary and her best friend, Simon. It's a journey to discover who her mother - attacked and taken from their apartment - really is, what has been kept from Clary all her life, and how the new group of friends fit together. Clary Fray struggles to recover the memories that have been kept from her via spell blocking her mind from remembering, kept her from seeing the world as it really is. While I can definitely see the parallels between this story and a certain other fantasy series that will remain nameless, I found myself rather enjoying this tale (minus the ickiness of certain revelations. If you know, you know). So far, I think the fantasy aspect that is built around the mundane world is interesting and I look forward to how it is expanded upon in the rest of the series. Favorite characters so far? Simon, Clary's friend, and Magnus Bane, a warlock. Points to Alec, as well!
Abigail Bailey
Sep 30, 2025
8/10 stars
Loved till we find out that SPOILER Jace and Clary are brother and sister. Other than that, great.
b_marie
May 01, 2025
6/10 stars
I read this as a kid, so this was just a reread. Kind of a comfort read. Something I can go back to and know it's good.
Beth N
Mar 01, 2025
2/10 stars
The writing was weak. I remember feeling like there was too much world-building just thrown at me rather than being exposed to me slowly over time. I barely finished this just to get it done.
Mrs. Awake Taco
Nov 13, 2024
2/10 stars
Don't steal stuff from the greats. Quit with the tortured metaphors. And finally, can we finally get a heroine who doesn't suck? Clary is dumb, unobservant, magically great at all stuff she shouldn't be, and selfish. She isn't flawed in a sympathetic way, she's just lame. I gave it one star because it's not possible to give it less and those tortured metaphors did make me laugh. Would not recommend.

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