Originally reviewed on "http://bloodcrossed.blogspot.com&quot... Bloody Words. 
 Genre: YA Fantasy 
 Rating: 10 out of 10 (And I do NOT give this out easily.) 
 Buzzword: PERFECTION 
 Theme Song: "I Know What I Am" by Band of Skulls 
 Favorite Quote: "To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed." 
 Pros: 
 Beautiful, mature writing that is a gift to the genre 
 Amazing characterization and world-building 
 Lots of action and riveting fight scenes 
 Intense but subtle romantic triangles...or squares...more like polygons. 
 Cons: 
 To be perfectly honest, I don't have one. 
 Summary: Clarissa "Clary" Fray is a pretty ordinary 15-year-old daughter of a single mother. At an all-ages club in NYC, she notices a cute boy with blue hair. When she follows him and his pursuers into a storage closet in the club, she sees three teenagers in all black stab him to death. Except, he wasn't a boy. He was a demon. One of these teenagers, Jace Wayland, is very confused. Jace is a Shadowhunter, slayer of all things demonic and protector of mankind. "Mundanes" like Clary should not be able to see him. Before either of them can understand why Clary is different, her mother is kidnapped from their apartment and the place is overrun with demons. She sets out to discover how her mother is connected with the Shadow World in order to save her life. 
 Review: Well, just what I needed. Another fantasy trilogy to be addicted to. Ah well, it's too late now! The damage is done... 
 I don't give out a 10/10 lightly. Even Anne Rice's new work got a 9.8. The only other books I ever rated this highly were the three His Dark Materials books. But I literally cannot say a bad thing about this book. I bought the paperback of this, the first in the trilogy, to see if I would like it. By page 50 I knew I would be buying the hardcover box set. And so I have. 
 The characters... how can I adequately describe them? They are so real, so three-dimensional, so flawed and strong and beautiful. I am in love with all of them, especially Jace. Even though the story is from Clary's point of view, the skill with which the dialog was written let me see just as much of Jace's inner struggles as Clary's. The secondary characters are so full of depth and heart, I feel like they are really people in my life. Even Clary's best friend, Simon, the "mundane," has captured my affections full-force. 
 Clary is not a passive heroine, as has become the norm for most books in the genre. She goes out to find her past, her mother, the answers and the solutions she needs to get what she wants. She is driven, strong, intelligent, beautiful, and virtuous. She has her flaws, like pride and a slight naivety, but she wears them well. In other words, she is a terrific example of how teenage girls should strive to be. If I had a daughter I would want her to read these books and want to be like Clary. 
 Cassandra Clare is probably the greatest talent to come into this genre for a long, long time. She makes Stephenie Meyer look like a six-year-old scribbling in a spiral notebook. Her imagery is so vivid I feel like I lived this journey with Clary, and I still am in the next book. I felt her emotions and experienced her world completely. The inner conflicts for Clary are just as intense as the outer conflicts with the warlocks, vampires, werewolves, faeries, demons and other odd supernatural creatures at each others' throats. 
 And the romance, what a whirlwind ride! It was very, very subtle. By no means was this the point of the story, as with Twilight and some other popular YA fantasy stories. Instead it was a well-woven part of the plot that moved the story and the characters forward. It was not distracting, but when it was addressed the emotion was powerful. I was just as conflicted about my own feelings as the characters were! 
 The ending threw me for a loop, in a good way. I did know the truth before the characters did, but only by a few pages. The author kept me guessing for a long time. Actually I'm still not sure I know the actual truth. The other thing I loved about this book was that it didn't end the way you were rooting for it to. At least...not exactly. Clare didn't feel compelled to have the storybook happy ending. Instead the story flows into a realistic, believable end. (Take that, Breaking Dawn!) 
 Anyway, I don't know what I'm doing on this stupid blog when I could be reading City of Ashes. If you like YA literature at all, or fantasy in general, please do yourself a favor and pick this book up right now!