Reviews tagging 'Violence'

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

76 reviews

ashe01's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

I’m not quite sure how I went so long before starting this series, because this book was great! This is such a captivating story, and the numerous plot twists throughout were actually insane! I had problems at times keeping up, because it felt like the world building was so large that it’s a lot to retain and figure out story-wise. I found myself at times getting confused with all the names being mentioned and the different types of beings. The transition from chapter 20 to chapter 21 (and the entirety of that background story chapter) was INCREDIBLE, probably my favorite part of the whole book! I thought it was a very unique take to share such vital information to the story, and it was done beautifully!!! 
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cristina_reading24's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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minzzi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? No

3.5

  I read this book for the first time when I was thirteen, it was the book that turned me into a reader. 
  I love the characters, the settings, the whole world behind the narrative. It just makes me smile rereading this book and remembering the happiness this universe brings to me.
  However, as an adult with critical thinking skills, I can't look past the flaws in the story anymore.
  The dialogue is extremely exposition heavy (specially in the first third of the book), the whole thing with Simon turning into a rat was completely unnecessary to the plot, and above all, the main character, Clary, suffers from a serious case of "not like other girls" syndrome. Seriously, it's bad.
  But, even so, this story is so filled with nostalgia that I could never give any books in this series a bad star rating.
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rafacolog's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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oystersauce's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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kal517's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

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singalana's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

2.75

I wonder if I'm getting too old for these kinds of books. But despite its flaws, I kind of enjoyed it anyway. 

The main character, Clary, gives off a “not like the other girls”-vibe and seems hostile towards other girls in this book. 

What I liked: The banter was pretty good at places. The audiobook had a good narrator, but at times, she sounded very posh. 

What I didn't like: The author has a case of thesaurus madness, sometimes, the word choices don't quite fit the context, in my opinion. Also, she likes adverbs very much. And the word ‘hard’ (e.g. “She hit the ground, HARD.”)... And there were a few throwaway comments that were quite insensitive. 

About the ending… 
Spoilers! 
Oh boy, the ending knocked the rating down. First of all, I didn't understand the scene where Valentine came to retrieve the cup. How did she not see Clary, or did I miss something? And there was so much explaining, and the ending seemed to drag on forever. Also, I didn't like the way Jace behaved in the end, it didn't feel believable. I listened to this as an audiobook, and finally, when I heard the word “epilogue” and I checked the time, I noticed the epilogue was AN HOUR long! That's not an epilogue, that's 10 % of the book! (It turned out that there's a bonus chapter of one of the author’s other books. But still, the epilogue was like 30 minutes long.) 
 
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annikenr's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.75

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toastyghosty13's review

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

i read this book back in middle school originally and remembered enjoying it. i recently watched brittany broskis show “the broski report” on youtube which was talking about enemies to lovers books and she mentioned being obsessed with this series when she was younger. this made me decide to reread it, since i never finished the series the first time around. 

i enjoyed this book as much as i remember enjoying it the first time. it’s a very interesting world with characters that you care about and want to learn more of. the magic system is cool, plus there is the potential for world building outside of new york city which is where this book takes place. i vaguely recall one of the books taking place in the country Idris that is mentioned, which will be fun to read about again. 

everyone who has read this book has probably had the same complaint about
clary and jace being siblings. i am pretty sure this is why i stopped midway through the series initially way back, besides the fact that it hadn’t been completed by that point.
. it’s weird and i feel like it was totally unnecessary for this to be a part of the plot. obviously,
i know it isn’t true now so the ick factor on it isn’t as bad and i will continue the rest of the books. i just hope there isn’t anything else like that in the future of this mega series.
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augustinedreams's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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