City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1) by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis:

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. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a 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... 
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was 150% a guilty pleasure read. I originally read City of Bones in 2011, when I was 14 years old. I remember having high expectations because the series was so popular, and feeling lukewarm about it at best. I thought it was kind of boring, and I didn't really like the characters.

I pretty much swore off the Shadowhunters books as I got older. Besides my less-than-great experience with them at 14, all I really knew about them was that they were trashy and equally hated as they were beloved by readers. If you had told me two months ago that I would love rereading City of Bones, I would've said you were full of sh**.

I don't know what compelled me to pick up The Mortal Instruments series in particular. With finals looming on the horizon, I've been in the mood for quick, easy-to-read, trashy YA. It's like eating a comfort food. I grew up reading trashy YA, and it's what made me love to read. It's my roots. As much as I've come to now adore reading giant fantasy novels with dense prose and complicated world-building, sometimes a girl's just gotta read some mindless, fun YA. City of Bones was exactly that for me. I loved it.