Hmm so I actually saw a lot of Harry Potter in this book! I really enjoyed it but I'm not 100% sure how much I liked the twists and turns it took. I felt like a little bit of paranormal overload sometimes, but really interested in the world of the Shadowhunters and I really want to learn more about how their whole world works. I enjoyed Clary's character, but most of all, I loved the sarcasm and the snark in the book! Definitely looking forward to reading more. 
 Full review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: Hmmm. I really enjoyed this book, but I still have somewhat of a mixed review! First, as a die hard Harry Potter fan, I couldn't help but see sooo many similarities! 
 Harry Potter // City of Bones 
 Voldemort // Valentine 
 Deathly Hallows // Mortal Instruments 
 Ancient Runes // Runes 
 Wormtail // Simon's accidental transformation 
 Harry orphaned by evil // Jace orphaned by evil/Clary almost orphaned 
 Hogwarts // The Institute 
 Totally not knocking it! I'm just saying that I couldn't help but constantly see all the similarities! 
 Okay, so now more into the review. I really enjoyed the amount of sarcasm in the book. I love sarcasm and snarky and I think books need more of that nowadays! I loved Jace's cocky attitude since it was cocky in a way that was humorous and not pretentious. I liked seeing Clary grow throughout the book and her developing friendships/relationships with Jace/Simon. What I wasn't really a fan of was the secondary characters. I didn't really see a whole lot in Isabelle or Alec and since it's a series, I'm sure they'll be more developed later on, but in this book, I didn't really see the point so much. 
 As for the story -- I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I just get paranormal overload. Along with the Shadowhunters who fight the demons, there are still several (or tons, I should say) of "downworlders" who are other paranormals who came from a combination of angels/humans/demons, etc. Along with Shadowhunters, we have the demons, but then vampires, werewolves, pixies, faeries, selkies, and so many more. I was just overloaded with all of the paranormal beings and I'm not sure it was entirely necessary. Again - since it's a series, that may play out later. We'll have to see! 
 I really did like the development of how the Shadowhunter's world works and all of the rules and practices. I'm hoping there's a little bit more focus and development of this in future books because I'm really interested in learning more about this world, and I'm super anxious to see Clary find her place in it! 
 I felt like there were a little too many similes and metaphors for my taste. They all made sense -- It wasn't like it was random -- But I feel like overuse of similes and metaphors takes away from writing rather than enhancing it. I was distracted by some of them, actually, instead of having them enhance the picture in my mind. I think part of the reason is because I get really vivid pictures in my head when I read the story and even if it's not exactly what the author is thinking, I like to be able to paint my own picture. Sometimes they really distracted me from how I was picturing things. 
 Um, for all of those people who have already read this (I won't spoil it for those who haven't) - Let's talk about this twist at the end. Does this have a better answer!? I was completely blown away (and maybe a little embarrassed that I didn't see it coming...) but also weirded out. I'm not sure if I got turned off by it or really interested to see how that works out in the next book! 
 Overall, I really enjoyed it! I definitely look forward to reading the next in the series.