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A review by luhsoona
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
1.0
Re reading and finishing the whole series in 2017, because I have a weird hobby of reading awful books. I don't know why, I enjoy it, I don't find it a waste of my time. I like having my own commentary.
Anyway, reading this in 2010, I didn't finish it and I was... I think 16? Probably 15? At the time. It depends which half of the year I read it in, and I don't remember, and I couldn't finish it. I gave it back to the library, now I just like reading for the sake of reading a lot more now and reading all the books in this series in a marathon seems like an idea of fun to me.
I'm not done yet, but this book is really dated. Like...it has all the tropes that were prevalent back then, all the phrases and jokes, it's all weirdly dated rather than universally funny. I read fantasy from the fucking 80s so this isn't usually a complaint of mine, but maybe it's bc I was a teenager back then, so I'm just cringing at myself.
Two gripes so far:
* why do all the boys like this girl? She's dumb and annoying and doesn't listen to what she's told. She is literally "I'm a strong female character" as a trope, like she's mean and weird and I'm supposed to like her "attitude"? No anyone who acted like this irl is a bitch tbh.
* what's with this girl on girl hate? Why is Clary so jealous of Isabelle for no reason, when as far as I can tell they're the only two girls in this entire book. It's so stupid. She has no reason for it except she's pretty and wears low cut clothes. Maybe it's not hate, just annoyance, but still. It's grating. Why did this pass as good back in the day?
* a goldfish could figure out these two dudes love her like fucking honestly
* did clary ever consider looking at a obituary about her fake dead father? Like did the thought never occur to her? She would have seen who he was survived by
* lol the incest plot is here, I know it get resolved, but it's...so cheap 🙄
* okay I don't get why Jace even loved his father in the first place, yeah I mean, that's all he ever knew and then he "died" and maybe his last memory was his dad trying to keep him safe. But come on now Jace, your father is a douche
- After reading the first three books, I think this is supposed to allude to the fact Jace is "sensitive" and "gentle", except I don't give a shit if he's sensitive, he's just a fucking doormat for the most evil person on the planet (his father) and the most obnoxious person on the planet (Clary) but doesn't take shit from anyone else? It's a stupid character trait to make him seem more deep, when he's just as selfish as Clary and also an asswipe. It doesn't make him any more complex it just makes him an idiot, people do irrational things for love but he knew Clary for a total of a couple of days and he hasn't seen his father in years (I mean, he thought he was dead but then he figured out the truth...sooooo, why isn't he mad???) And it's like, whatever if those are his bad character traits BUT THEN EVERYONE IN THE BOOK GOES AROUND AND PUTS THEIR ENTIRE FAITH IN THESE TWO CHARACTERS, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Finished. I don't actually have anything to say about this review that hasn't already been said. Like it's just not good y'all.
Also I'm wondering if the collection was edited compared to the first print? Because I never caught some of the grammar/spelling mistakes like other reviewers mentioned.
Anyway, reading this in 2010, I didn't finish it and I was... I think 16? Probably 15? At the time. It depends which half of the year I read it in, and I don't remember, and I couldn't finish it. I gave it back to the library, now I just like reading for the sake of reading a lot more now and reading all the books in this series in a marathon seems like an idea of fun to me.
I'm not done yet, but this book is really dated. Like...it has all the tropes that were prevalent back then, all the phrases and jokes, it's all weirdly dated rather than universally funny. I read fantasy from the fucking 80s so this isn't usually a complaint of mine, but maybe it's bc I was a teenager back then, so I'm just cringing at myself.
Two gripes so far:
* why do all the boys like this girl? She's dumb and annoying and doesn't listen to what she's told. She is literally "I'm a strong female character" as a trope, like she's mean and weird and I'm supposed to like her "attitude"? No anyone who acted like this irl is a bitch tbh.
* what's with this girl on girl hate? Why is Clary so jealous of Isabelle for no reason, when as far as I can tell they're the only two girls in this entire book. It's so stupid. She has no reason for it except she's pretty and wears low cut clothes. Maybe it's not hate, just annoyance, but still. It's grating. Why did this pass as good back in the day?
* a goldfish could figure out these two dudes love her like fucking honestly
* did clary ever consider looking at a obituary about her fake dead father? Like did the thought never occur to her? She would have seen who he was survived by
* lol the incest plot is here, I know it get resolved, but it's...so cheap 🙄
* okay I don't get why Jace even loved his father in the first place, yeah I mean, that's all he ever knew and then he "died" and maybe his last memory was his dad trying to keep him safe. But come on now Jace, your father is a douche
- After reading the first three books, I think this is supposed to allude to the fact Jace is "sensitive" and "gentle", except I don't give a shit if he's sensitive, he's just a fucking doormat for the most evil person on the planet (his father) and the most obnoxious person on the planet (Clary) but doesn't take shit from anyone else? It's a stupid character trait to make him seem more deep, when he's just as selfish as Clary and also an asswipe. It doesn't make him any more complex it just makes him an idiot, people do irrational things for love but he knew Clary for a total of a couple of days and he hasn't seen his father in years (I mean, he thought he was dead but then he figured out the truth...sooooo, why isn't he mad???) And it's like, whatever if those are his bad character traits BUT THEN EVERYONE IN THE BOOK GOES AROUND AND PUTS THEIR ENTIRE FAITH IN THESE TWO CHARACTERS, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Finished. I don't actually have anything to say about this review that hasn't already been said. Like it's just not good y'all.
Also I'm wondering if the collection was edited compared to the first print? Because I never caught some of the grammar/spelling mistakes like other reviewers mentioned.