Note: this is my personal opinion about this book--I know that many of my friends have greatly enjoyed this book and that's totally fine. It just didn't do it for me, and a lot of it is based on my own personal preferences. 
 There will be some spoilers in this review... 
 One sentence review: I WANTED to like this book, but I couldn't because it had poor characterization, a weak plot, and pretty lousy writing. 
 One sentence summary: A girl in New York realizes she has special powers and joins a group of demon-killing teenagers to rescue her mother and find an ancient artifact known as the Mortal Cup. 
 That summary sounds interesting, but for some reason, the book doesn't work. 
 (Note: I have heard that she plagiarized fanfiction, but as I do not read fanfiction, I can't address that). 
 I was not impressed with the way Cassandra Clare handled the plot, at all. 
 She had a good premise, but that premise gets lost in a mix of side-plots. 
 I'm okay with a story that has a complicated plot, but only if I can tell that the author knows what they're doing. It felt almost like Clare was just kind of winging it, like she really didn't have much of a plan. The plot is relatively basic, with almost no twists, except for a (I thought) really lame plot twist at the end. 
 I always felt sort of lost while reading--you shouldn't feel lost while reading, unless the author clearly wants to have the reader confused. But, the thing is that with "City of Bones" Clare is trying to explain EVERYTHING. Infodump after infodump hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. It was exhausting, especially since I felt like I wasn't learning anything about the world. Despite all of the information she threw at me, I just felt more lost at the end. 
 Other reviewers have pointed out that the book reads like a TV show--and I agree. The majority of the early plot doesn't flow together as a cohesive whole. It's just a bunch of scenes thrown together. Bit of a tangent here, but "The Mortal Instruments" is being adapted into a TV show. I don't plan on watching it, but I expect that it will actually do pretty well. 
 The ending of the book was not good. It was incredibly anticlimactic, with everyone explaining everything. There was no mystery, and the "big" reveal was just like "...ok...cool." It could have been great, but it all just felt painfully like Star Wars-met-Harry Potter. 
 Here we go with the characters.... 
 Clary: 
 the main character, a fifteen-year-old girl, raised by a single mom. Clary is a talented artist. She started out not too bad in terms of protagonist. Her relationship with her friend, Simon, was pretty cool. But things took a nosedive. Clary turned out to be a whiny, annoying, self-centered Mary Sue. (Mary Sue: a young, seemingly insignificant person who saves the day through amazing abilities; is often considered an author-insert). It seems like Clare was going for a strong female character in Clary. The thing is...she's not. She just slaps people and shouts at them. Somehow, I don't know how, she ends up saving the day. 
 Another thing about Clary: she describes herself as ugly and all that, but then all of the boys instantly proclaim her gorgeous. This sends a bad message: that you can't consider yourself attractive unless someone else tells you that you are first. Books should teach confidence! 
 Ok, the main problem with Clary is that she is a passive character who doesn't do anything. This makes her essentially useless to the plot. It almost seems that as Clare was developing the story, the farther she got, she just gave up on developing Clary, thinking the plot would carry the story. The end result is that Clary does literally nothing of importance and watches as the others save the day...but she is somehow the hero. 
 Jace: 
 I've seen a lot of snarky comments about Jace, and I wholeheartedly agree with all of them. Jace is supposed to be the ideal dreamboat of a guy: golden hair, "tawny eyes" (what?), golden skin, like a "god" or "angel." He's as far from an angel as a guy can be. He is a major jerk to his friends, and yet Clary treats it as "banter". He does have some redeeming qualities--at times he is rather funny, though it's in a sarcastic, rude way. (Note: I'm currently reading the sequel. Jace has changed for the worse, though he's treated as the same character). 
 I did not like the relationship between Jace and Clary. It was unrealistic, to begin with. And then, it was just...creepy. This is where the spoilers come in because you must be warned. It is revealed in the end of the book that Jace and Clary are siblings AFTER they have already made out. That's disgusting. It's like Luke and Leia but 1000000000% worse. With Luke and Leia it never seemed like they were in love, but Jace and Clary are clearly very attracted to each other, in a totally NON-brother-sister way. Trust me, I HAVE a sister. 
 Simon: 
 poor Simon. You had so much potential as a character. But then, you were downgraded to the second guy in the love triangle. This sends another poor message: that guys and girls can't be friends without one of them being romantically interested in the other. It is revealed that Simon is romantically interested in Clary, and it made me uncomfortable with how he revealed it. He was very pushy when he told her, very rude. But then Clary started playing with his feelings, and he didn't have the sense to get out. I'm in the second book now, and (view spoiler)[ they get together for a bit (hide spoiler)] and I still don't like it. I guess, though, if I had to pick a favorite character, it would be Simon, even though I didn't really like him, either. 
 Alec: 
 He has no development other than that he is gay. That's honestly it. And he hates Clary for some reason. 
 Isabelle: 
 Exists only for girl-on-girl hate, which really didn't need to be there. 
 Valentine: 
 He is basically Voldemort+Vader. Seriously. 
 Something that bothered me about the characters/writing is that all of the characters talk alike, with the same overuse of snarky comments and "ironic" or "witty" humor. It got annoying after a while. 
 And then, the overuse of similes. I read this on my tablet, but I wished I had read it hard-copy so that I could mark it up. I would have circled every simile, and it would have been a lot. I don't mind similes in writing, but the thing about theses similes is that they don't make sense. At all. 
 "City of Bones" is set in New York, but with angels and demons and shadowhunters and downworlders and bears oh my! But seriously, it gets hard to keep track of everything and everyone. They are hastily introduced and explained, but then it is all contradicted later on. And don't get me started on "the Clave" and "the Circle". 
 Random thoughts: 
 What's a stele? I don't get it. 
 Why is Jocelyn still asleep? That's poor plotting. 
 So...how many parents does Jace have? And who're actually his parents? 
 Final thoughts: 
 This book has a very specific target audience, and it delivers exactly what that target audience wants. I am not a part of that target audience, which is probably why I did not like the book. It is not great literature, it has no good characters. If you want to read really good YA fiction, read "The Hunger Games" or "The Giver" or "A Wrinkle in Time." If you want fantasy, try "Harry Potter", "Septimus Heap", "Artemis Fowl," "Chronicles of Prydain," or "Chronicles of Narnia."