This is the first installment in Cassandra Clare's riveting series, The Mortal Instruments.

Clarissa Fray is a perfectly normal girl. She's artsy, an only child and gets by with support from her best friend Simon. Yet, one night when they escape to Clary's favourite club, Pandemonium, Clary begins to see things that others cannot. One of those many things happens to be a brutal murder. This is the instant that will change her life forever, as she's introduced to the Shadowhunters, a group of elite warriors sworn to protect the Earth from demons seeking to destroy it. She gets swept into the world of one Shadowhunter in particular - daring, golden-haired Jace. As her life becomes a whirlwind of glamours, weapons and alarming discoveries, Clary's worst nightmare comes to fruition: her mother disappears and Clary is brutally attacked by a demon in her own home. Full of fear and shock, Clary has many questions...

Why would demons ever be interested in an ordinary girl like her? Is she truly as ordinary as she once thought?

She isn't the only one with questions. The Shadowhunters have some of their own, and they want answers.

Join Clary as she and Jace begin the desperate search for her mother, uncovering pieces of her past along the way.

As always, Cassandra Clare masterfully created an exceptional world full of mystery, depth and adventure. Throughout this novel, there were so many small moments that made the words lift off the pages and paint vivid images of the scenes. Between the sarcastic banter linking Jace and Clary, Isabelle's powerful, feminine warrior presence and Alec and Simon's quieter, more thoughtful personalities, I always felt as if I was in the midst of their conversations. There was real emotion woven into each passage, and a perfect balance between the fantastical world just out of reach and the harsher truth that is reality. This story truly makes me want to believe that all of the stories are true. Cassandra Clare's excellent writing has the ability of making you wonder if all of this is just outside of our reach, or if she really was able to concoct something so complex all within her mind. I highly recommend this series in its entirety, as it will surely sweep you away into the innovative, treacherous world of the Shadowhunters.

I have never read another author's writing that can quite be compared to that of Cassandra Clare's, but I would recommend looking into novels by Victoria Aveyard, Sarah J. Mass, Alexandra Bracken and Rick Riordan for more adventurous, otherworldly stories. 

Go and reserve City of Bones by Cassandra Clare now!