gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Video review: https://youtu.be/yMwx5EMf4vQ?si=fEiP37QS3eW67hKf
Blended reading: audiobook and physical.
The Details:
Narrated by Ari Graynor
Unabridged
The Shadowhunter books have been on my tbr for so long, and on a whim, I finally decided to get to it, with book one.
I'm so glad I throughly enjoyed this. I thought I'd be super irritated by the old school YA and wouldn't be able to suspend my disbelief or get over potential juvenile narrations but I felt really invested in the characters and the world of the demon hunters. Don't get me wrong, the inital few chapters probably would have dragged, had I not been listening to the audiobook, but once we got through that it was upwards from there.
City of Bones sort of gave me Percy Jackson vibes and when this became apparent to me, my enjoyment instantly increased more so.
Clary was pretty enjoyable to read from. She felt pretty immature at times but it was believable, especially recalling how I acted as a 15 year old. She did pretty well in the grand scheme of things, considering....
On thing I couldn't ignore about Clary, however, was that she was such an awful friend to Simon, consistently forgetting his whole existence... so much for 10+ years of friendship. It was almost like she was just waiting for something better to come along and it made me sad. Especially when Simon did himself a disservice by answering her beck and call after a major blow up, with no conclusion or conversation to really settle what happened.
I did love Simon though. I thought he was funny and a sweetheart but he wasn't over kill as a typical comic relief. It was fun to see his perspective as a regular person thrown into this world and I think, despite her ignoring him, he was a good person to humble and keep Clary grounded, but he lost himself in his love.
I loved that we had a cast of adult characters too. It took away some of the minor annoyances of following a group of young teenagers, and Luke was probably one of my favourite adults. However, when he said something like (and here, I paraphrase) 'don't call me uncle, I'm not old enough to be your uncle and I'm not reeeeally your uncle, just your mums long time friend.... ' rang super creepy to me. I mean I get it after everything that happened by the end, and understand the complex relationship he had with Clary's mum, but it initally felt so creeper alert.
Jace was so hot and cold, I felt like he was charming and the typical YA heart throb/swoon-y obvious love interest, but then he'd switch and be really spiteful. And then of course there's the big issue of... (see spoiler).
Overall, I had so much fun reading this and I'm hopeful the rest of the main series is an enjoyable one for me. It made for easy and fun entertainment, that had me really invested in particular character arcs, as well as the overarching direction of the plot and I'm eager to pick up book 2.
Blended reading: audiobook and physical.
The Details:
Narrated by Ari Graynor
Unabridged
The Shadowhunter books have been on my tbr for so long, and on a whim, I finally decided to get to it, with book one.
I'm so glad I throughly enjoyed this. I thought I'd be super irritated by the old school YA and wouldn't be able to suspend my disbelief or get over potential juvenile narrations but I felt really invested in the characters and the world of the demon hunters. Don't get me wrong, the inital few chapters probably would have dragged, had I not been listening to the audiobook, but once we got through that it was upwards from there.
City of Bones sort of gave me Percy Jackson vibes and when this became apparent to me, my enjoyment instantly increased more so.
Clary was pretty enjoyable to read from. She felt pretty immature at times but it was believable, especially recalling how I acted as a 15 year old. She did pretty well in the grand scheme of things, considering....
On thing I couldn't ignore about Clary, however, was that she was such an awful friend to Simon, consistently forgetting his whole existence... so much for 10+ years of friendship. It was almost like she was just waiting for something better to come along and it made me sad. Especially when Simon did himself a disservice by answering her beck and call after a major blow up, with no conclusion or conversation to really settle what happened.
I did love Simon though. I thought he was funny and a sweetheart but he wasn't over kill as a typical comic relief. It was fun to see his perspective as a regular person thrown into this world and I think, despite her ignoring him, he was a good person to humble and keep Clary grounded, but he lost himself in his love.
I loved that we had a cast of adult characters too. It took away some of the minor annoyances of following a group of young teenagers, and Luke was probably one of my favourite adults. However, when he said something like (and here, I paraphrase) 'don't call me uncle, I'm not old enough to be your uncle and I'm not reeeeally your uncle, just your mums long time friend.... ' rang super creepy to me. I mean I get it after everything that happened by the end, and understand the complex relationship he had with Clary's mum, but it initally felt so creeper alert.
Jace was so hot and cold, I felt like he was charming and the typical YA heart throb/swoon-y obvious love interest, but then he'd switch and be really spiteful. And then of course there's the big issue of... (see spoiler).
Overall, I had so much fun reading this and I'm hopeful the rest of the main series is an enjoyable one for me. It made for easy and fun entertainment, that had me really invested in particular character arcs, as well as the overarching direction of the plot and I'm eager to pick up book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, War, Animal death, Death of parent, Child death, and Violence
Spoiler
Oh my gosh Clary and Jace are siblings?!? Oh gross!!!annaae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, Death, Incest, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
zandrabanana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Kidnapping
thatbookbitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Medical content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Animal death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
gibbse97's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Murder and Incest
Minor: Death of parent
jadyn_renee62's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Animal death
m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I was afraid I wouldn't like the City of Bones as everyone's read it like 10 years ago in middle school, but I'm glad I gave it a try — and ended up liking it! It took me a while to get a proper grasp of the world, but once I was in, I could easily devour 100 pages in one sitting. The plot twist in the end was great and unpredictable, though I also hate it because...
can't wait to read the sequel!
Spoiler
I could guess pretty early on that Clary was Valentine's biological daughter, but there's no way Clary and Jace are actually siblings??!! For once when I was actually rooting for the protagonist's love story my hopes are crushed... hopefully not forever and it's just another sick game of Valentine's. Anything as long as Clary doesn't end up with Simon, I really don't like him and the idea of them as a couple even less (sorry Simon but you should stay in the friend zone or even be a rat idc).can't wait to read the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Xenophobia
booking_along's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Let’s start with the two things i didn’t love since that’s faster:
i disliked the trope of two boys being interested in the same girl and behaving in ways that makes me want to smash their heads together to make them stop with their jealous postering.
and the second thing is the “forbidden” love trope that is mostly added as a shock valued. the shock could have been there without it the “love” part since being friends would have been an easier option especially with the amount of time those two characters knew each other at that point.
i just really dislike that particular trope since i have not read one book we’re it was used were it could have been done differently without issues and left the ick factor out of the entire thing.
moving in!
i liked the tiring even if the descriptions are sometimes very out there but not too extreme so that it doesn’t make sense anymore.
the world is well developed and explained for book one and gives a nice overview of what’s out there on that world and that was interesting.
the characters and the behaviors where sometimes a bit stupid but honestly they are 15-17 so i can let it slide by for the main characters even if i have to say that the adults - beside Magnus! that character deserves an entire 12 book series just for giving stories about that character and his shinanagangs please!- they behaved quite often more childish than the actual kids.
the entire book was a bit drawn out for the amount of plot it told overall but it wasn’t too bad and it kept me entertained and i wanted to keep reading so clearly nothing too bad.
so all in all?
it’s a good book.
i can actually see why so many people love it even if i strongly dislike the love-tropes used. the reader want too bad and it was overall very entertaining and a quick read!
i disliked the trope of two boys being interested in the same girl and behaving in ways that makes me want to smash their heads together to make them stop with their jealous postering.
and the second thing is the “forbidden” love trope that is mostly added as a shock valued. the shock could have been there without it the “love” part since being friends would have been an easier option especially with the amount of time those two characters knew each other at that point.
i just really dislike that particular trope since i have not read one book we’re it was used were it could have been done differently without issues and left the ick factor out of the entire thing.
moving in!
i liked the tiring even if the descriptions are sometimes very out there but not too extreme so that it doesn’t make sense anymore.
the world is well developed and explained for book one and gives a nice overview of what’s out there on that world and that was interesting.
the characters and the behaviors where sometimes a bit stupid but honestly they are 15-17 so i can let it slide by for the main characters even if i have to say that the adults - beside Magnus! that character deserves an entire 12 book series just for giving stories about that character and his shinanagangs please!- they behaved quite often more childish than the actual kids.
the entire book was a bit drawn out for the amount of plot it told overall but it wasn’t too bad and it kept me entertained and i wanted to keep reading so clearly nothing too bad.
so all in all?
it’s a good book.
i can actually see why so many people love it even if i strongly dislike the love-tropes used. the reader want too bad and it was overall very entertaining and a quick read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Gaslighting, Gore, and Homophobia
psliz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
idk. lots of info-dumping. weird dialogue for a bunch of teens. the pacing was fast yet slow at the same time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and War
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Blood, Child abuse, and Suicide
slipp99's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I’m a simp for Jamie Campbell Bower
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, and Child death
Minor: Incest