Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

The Book

City of Bones is the first in a series of books that merges the mundane world of 21st century America with that of the fantastical - werewolves, vampires, demons, fairies etc. They live amongst us but with a veil of glamor that shades them from discovery.
The setting is not an unfamiliar one, but the pace never lets up and by the end as Clary and Jace flew over New York, I was almost convinced that these creatures might just live amongst us too. Clare doesn't dwell too much on lengthy background or exposition, but leaks out explanations and back story gradually over the action, which helps keep the pages turning.
The main characters were interesting and a whole range of teen situations were explored - unrequited love, family loss, adoption, homosexuality and trying to get a sense of who we want to be as an adult.

 The dialogue was witty and had some great retorts to situations (asking the werewolf if he wanted to hang his head out the car window as they drove along for example).




By the time you get half way through the book, however, there have been so many revelations, that you sort of question everything and work out the rest, so it comes as no big surprise at the end. It's all very reminiscent of Star Wars with Leia (Carly) and Luke (Jace) and Valentine (Darth Vader).
Still, it was an entertaining read and easy to lose oneself among the pages.



Film website

The Film   

There were a few minor omissions from the book when it came to the film version, but nothing glaring until you come to the finale. Changing the reason that Simon is taken by vampires seemed sensible and avoids an excellent Robert Sheehan the indignity of metamorphosing into a rat and back, but then his apparent neck bite afterwards only affects him enough to improve his eyesight and not make him one of the undead?
I liked the ridiculous touch that J.S Bach was a shadowhunter and that his music was an irritant to demons. (I'll keep a closer eye during the Proms next year to see who sprouts tentacles).
The film's finale happens inside the Institute rather than Valentine's lair, so we have to assume that Clary's mother was there due to Hodge's double crossing shenanigans. The script manages to give something for every character in the showdown, which was lacking in the book as it felt more of a Obi-wan (Luke) vs Darth Vader (Valentine) combat.

There are a lot of assumptions that need to be taken on board by the audience that might leave them puzzled or unclear at the end - whether Jace and Clary are definitely brother and sister (as Hodge advises Valentine to say this to muddy the waters), that Alec gets better (we never see him after Bane's visit), and worst of all that Clary still has the Mortal Cup in the Tarot card, despite giving it to Valentine (we assume it was the replica she handed over). This is yet another case of studio hesitation over whether to continue with the series, as Valentine has the real Cup at the end of the book but there are more relics to collect. 

Despite a faithful adaptation, I felt it lacked something - heart and good main actors. Originally Alex Pettifer was mooted to play Jace. This might have worked better, as Jamie Campbell Bower can do arrogant but conveying humour and love were not his forte. Lily Collins also lacked an array of emotions considering all that she's ever known is revealed to be a lie.

If you enjoyed the book, try Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
If you enjoyed the film, give The 10th Kingdom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural a go