City of Bones and City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones and City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Summaries:

City of Bones-
Their hidden world is about to be revealed....

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

City of Ashes-
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil -- and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings -- and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Rating: 5/5

My Double Review:

Occasionally, I'll find a book that immediately captures my interest. I'll pick it up and start reading, and just be hooked.

City of Bones was one of those books. From the very first chapter, I was intrigued. This series was unlike any other fantasy books I've ever read. I mean, come on... Shadowhunters? What the heck are those? Um, hello? Uniqueness! It's a great concept, and these novels have it all.

So I started reading, and I was interested. My first question was: who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Every single character has an element of mystery to them; and while a lot of questions were cleared up, I still find that the depth of the characters extends beyond just good and bad. The characters are real, flawed, and none of them are perfect, even if they do happen to be on the "good" side.

And then I read further and I found myself genuinely caring about the characters and what happened to them. Believe me, I really got into it. At some point in time during the second book, I closed the book and couldn't read anymore, because I just couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening. I was borderline obsessed. I found myself caring about the characters, and also wanting to be in their world. This was one of the first times that I've found myself actually believing and hoping that it could be possible for a fantasy to be real. I mean, vampires? Whatever. Werewolves? Yeah, okay. But Shadowhunters? How cool would that be?! How fascinating.

I have a strange fascination with the Shadowhunters.

Just like how I find myself with a strange fascination with these novels. Which is perhaps why my review is so strange; these books are definitely at the top of my list, and I really recommend them to anyone.