I just want to note before starting this review that I actually had read this book when it first came out in 2007 when I was 20. I didn't remember much about the book before I picked it up this second time, but I did remember that I thought the story was absolutely ridiculous (especially with what happens at the end), and a comfortable hatred settled in my chest in regards to it. However, when two of my friends wanted to read it with me for a bookclub read, I decided I might as well read it again and see how I found it this time around. 
 Well, I didn't hate it. The book isn't bad and even the ending didn't make me want to stab the author in the eye this time. The story seemed to flow nicely and made sense most of the time. Some of the characters I loved while others I didn't like so much. 
 I didn't particular like Clary very much. She feels as if she is just there for Clare to tell the story through. She doesn't have any discernible qualities that I liked, and I found that she was probably my least favorite character of the book which is weird considering she is the main character. Jace seemed like a complete asshole, but I did find his witty dialogue to be quite funny at times. In fact, the dialogue as a whole made me laugh on quite a few occasions (even if the dialogue appears to be the same between all characters). 
 My favorite characters would have to be Simon and Alec and Magnus. How cute were they? One thing that I do highly appreciate the author incorporating into this book is a gay character. She didn't play on the fact he was gay too much, and I thought it was done relatively well. I do wonder how it plays in the story in the future, however. 
 However, there is a whole other element to my review: Cassandra Clare herself. It's not secret (especially on this site) that Clare has been nabbed a plagiarist. Just briefly, the specifics on this are that she was an author in the fanfiction world (Harry Potter fanficition to be exact), and she wrote a trilogy about Draco that became rather popular. However, it came to the surface that she copy/pasted entire paragraphs from other authors' works into that trilogy without proper citation. Her defense was that it is common practice to copy other authors' work in fanfiction but, from what I gather, most agreed that to the extent that she did it, without any reference to the original, is not common practice. It also has to be said that her reaction to the general public in regards to this fiasco was completely asshat-erie, and makes me think even worse of her. 
 Well, that was in her past and doesn't have much to do with this book, right? I would say wrong! Many reviewers here have pointed out that nearly all the characters contained in this book are nearly indistinguishable to those in the Draco trilogy which were plagiarized to begin with. As well, there are many shocking similarities between the Harry Potter book especially (as well as Star Wars and other works). 
 Here are the face value similarities that I have picked up between Harry Potter and City of Bones: 
 -Voldemort = Valentine 
 -Muggles = Mundanes 
 -Valentine is supposed to be dead but comes back (similar story line with Voldemort) 
 -Valentine's want to extinguish "unpure" beings that initiated his quest(exactly the same with Voldemort) 
 -Lucian = Lupin (really? This one is completely see through) 
 -Simon looks exactly like Harry and Clary resembles Ginny 
 Those are just the basic similarities, and there are many more. There are some original pieces to the story as well (Hodge is a great example), but a reader can't deny that there are many shocking similarities between this book and other works. 
 Now, knowing this, how do I base my judgement of the book? Do I rate this book upon the story within or upon the actions of the author who seems to borrow more than the average author (way, way more, I would argue)? I believe that every single person can make an impact in this world, and that every single person should take care when making decisions. That sort of goes unsaid... but in the arena of books, authors and reviewing, I believe that judgement of a book should involve consideration of the author as well because supporting a book means supporting that author too. 
 Therefore, even though the story, by itself, is more than likely 3 to 4 star worthy, I am only giving is 2 based upon Clare herself and the borrowed elements of the story. And let me note that the story is 4 star worthy only because authors like Rowling wrote such amazing stories on her own while others, such as Clare, can capitalized upon those achievements. Does Clare have the talent to write on her own without borrowing ideas from other stories? I wouldn't think so... considering this story is completely co-defendant upon other works.