City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is one of the most cliched books I have ever read. The characters are annoying. There’s a scene that could be wiped out, and the romance was gross.

Clary, the main protagonist, is a useless character. She sees something supernatural, whines about it, seems like she’s crazy to everyone else, and proceeds to pretend to save the day while everyone else does the work. Everyone is in love with her. She’s this perfect and annoying angel in the world of shadowhunting, which is a group of people that fight supernatural beings. She’s so beautiful that she doesn’t believe she’s beautiful, and that makes her irresistible.

Jace, Clary’s love interest, is the cliche adrenaline lover. He loves to fight. He seeks out the fight. He smiles when in danger and loves almost being killed. Yet, when Clary slaps him for no reason, he believes it was justifiable.

There is an object called a stele in this book. As far as I can tell, a stele is an object that can save the character in any given situation, no matter what the problem is. Get attacked by a monster? No problem. The stele can save the character. End up trapped within four walls? Well, the stele can fix that. The author never specified what a stele is, only that it managed to save all characters from different situations.

The romance seemed to be the only good thing in the book. While it was lacking a well developed relationship, it was enjoyable to read. The characters seemed okay for each other, and the witty dialogue between them was fun. That was until it’s revealed that the romance is between siblings, and suddenly everything about it is disgusting.

There’s a scene, roughing out to about 100 pages, that could be cut out completely and the book would move on just fine. Clary’s best friend, Simon, for some reason is always around in this book, especially this scene, even though he serves no purpose. Simon is jealous of Jace, Clary’s brother and lover. Clary, being the idiot she is, couldn’t see Simon’s obvious love for her even though everyone else can.

Most of this book is in third person point of view, but there is one chapter that switched to first person. This chapter makes no sense. It is all dialogue, in the point of view of a side character. The dialogue of this chapter is unnatural, unrealistic and a nightmare to read.

Valentine, the antagonist, was said to be dead throughout the book. The author didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was actually alive. I knew who Clary’s father was the moment the antagonist was first introduced. I knew the plot before it even began, and the only thing I did not predict was the incest.

This book is filled with two dimensional characters and has no suspense. The characters are annoying. The plot has too many loopholes and the incest was unnecessary.

I give it ½ out of five stars for every word written.

There is another book by Cassandra Clare that I have yet to read, but is said to be significantly better.