I remember reading City of Bones back in 2011 for the first time. I must have loved it because I read the entire series via ebooks (I find it very hard to read anything longer than a novella via ebooks thee days) and I was so excited to watch the movie that came out a few years later. Given it had been more than a decade since I read the books, I decided to start my reread of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare in June to decide if it was a series I would keep on my shelves or endeavour to sell to a better home.

It almost feels surreal to comment on City of Bones as a book when multiple series have come from this original sextet. We have the Infernal Devices Trilogy, The Dark Artifices Trilogy, The Darkest Hours Trilogy and many more incredible series and titles. Forgive me when I say this, but City of Bones feels rudimentary and underdeveloped in comparison. Hear me out, City of Bones would’ve gone through the most pressure and stress to be shaped into a YA Fantasy book fit for its time in the mid-to-late 2000s. Aspects such as multiple third person perspectives, character interactions and relationships, world-building and reflection would’ve been stripped back to give the book the best chance of grabbing a young reader’s attention. And it did, as we well know given it’s success and longevity in the book world. But that doesn’t mean it contained all it could have.

Let me start by bringing up the perspective. We know in latter Cassandra Clare books, books in this series at that, that she loves telling a story with multiple people’s views and experiences influencing their actions and insight. What is a Cassandra Clare book without the whole shebang of voices coming through, right? City of Bones doesn’t have that. It’s primarily, if not wholly, in Clary’s limited perspective and, as such, inhibits the scope of knowledge the reader can take from this story. We barely see Izzy and Alec or even a mention of them because Clary doesn’t know them well. We don’t get their depths and individualisms as foundational characters in this series, and the Shadowhunter Chronicles as a whole, until the third book, City of Glass. It’s a shame because I feel like the first book sticks out in a bad way on that point. Clary’s voice also feels underdeveloped and removed to a certain degree. We don’t get a lot of her lingering thoughts and motivations, instead we have her immediate recognition of the events and situations around her. We don’t get her anguish and sadness and desperation leaking through into her monologue like we do in latter books.

This isn’t to say Cassandra Clare shouldn’t have been published. She absolutely should have. If anything, it’s proof that you don’t have to have a pristine first book or have your narrative style and sound nailed down for that first book. You’re allowed to develop and improve as you publish, as you get a finer grasp on what it is you like to say and write and portray to an audience. This is a thank you to Cassandra Clare for getting City of Bones published in its current state because it alleviates the pressure I hold over my own head in regards to what my novel should look like before I send it for submission to publishing houses.

Another thing I would like to point out just so we’re clear. I’m not supporting the incest plot. It’s vile. For some reason, though I can’t pinpoint the passage now, I remember a line Hodge says to Valentine about him lying to them (them being Jace and Clary) and that had me thinking that the incest plot was set up from the beginning for a readers as a lie to escape the claim of the blatant incest theme going on. If someone knows this quote I’m talking about, please tell me. Regardless, this whole plot line is horrific and had it been addressed and/or removed, we could have had a more concise City of Bones and City of Ashes but that’s for another post. With this plot having such a chokehold on this book and the underdevelopment of Cassandra Clare’s signature voice in City of Bones, it’s another sore thumb to stare at and scrutinise with this debut.

It’s not a bad book all in all. Yes, there are aspects that are weak or straight up bad, but at it’s core it’s a great book and that proves to be so. If Cassandra Clare has done one thing right with her debut book, it’s the possibilities she’s created to further the series and the Shadowhunter world. This book gets a 4/5 from me but it could never be rated higher in my mind. There are too many things about it that just done sit right with me.