City of Bones Audiobook By Cassandra Clare cover art

City of Bones

Mortal Instruments, Book 1

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City of Bones

By: Cassandra Clare
Narrated by: Ari Graynor
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Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistably drawn towards a group of sexy demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City - and the dangers of forbidden love.

©2007 Cassandra Clare (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Fantasy Science Fiction & Fantasy

Critic reviews

"The Mortal Instruments series is a story world I love to live in. Beautiful." (Stephanie Meyer)
"The story's sensual flavor comes from the wealth of detail: demons with facial piercings, diners serving locusts and honey, pretty gay warlocks, and cameo appearances from other urban fantasies' characters....Lush and fun." ( Kirkus Review)

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City of Bones Audiobook By Cassandra Clare cover art
City of Bones By: Cassandra Clare
Engaging Storyline • Unexpected Plot Twists • Brooklyn Accent • Amusing Characters • Entertaining Fantasy • Complex Hero
Highly rated for:
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If you could sum up City of Bones in three words, what would they be?

A world unimagined!

What did you like best about this story?

Jace and Clary - their romance, spats, and generally interactions ROCK! The world created is magnificent with intricacies that will only unfurl as the series continues

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is a book I read in sitting, listen to in one sitting and continue to listen to over and over

Any additional comments?

Love it, highly recommend it!

Magic!

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Where does City of Bones rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It has been good at keeping my attention. Its a good twist on the Twighlight concept with plenty of story lines running through & lots of amusing characters. Easy to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of City of Bones?

n/a

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

n/a

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Good distraction

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What made the experience of listening to City of Bones the most enjoyable?

There were so many twists and turns! Could not stop listening

What other book might you compare City of Bones to and why?

Similar to Divergent, Partials and even a bit like the hunger games with the epic forbidden love story!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I really tried not to listen to it all in one sitting because I didn't want it to end..

Hooked as soon as I picked it up

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Would you consider the audio edition of City of Bones to be better than the print version?

No, I'd say the print version was better. I really didn't like the voices of Magnus Bane or Hodge, although Clary's was good. I also didn't like how Graynor pronounced herbs as 'erbs' and foyer 'foy-eh'. Other than that, performance was good.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Simon. I just like him.

What aspect of Ari Graynor’s performance would you have changed?

Pronunciation of herb, foyer, and Hodge and Magnus Bane's voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No comment because of spoilers

Any additional comments?

Worth a listen.

Worth it

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If you’re skimming reviews to decide if this series is for you, you’re at the right spot. Yes this series is worth reading but read clock work Angel, inferno devices series first. If not for that series, I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the Mortal instruments series as much. I looked at this and wasn’t overly interested but after finishing The Infurno Devices was obliged to pick this up to answer some questions the other series left me with. How are Will and Jace related if they are at all? About to read city of glass book 3 and so far no regrets. Well used creds. It’s been a few months of entertaining listening and lots of good nights rest falling asleep to the adventures of Shadow Hunters and the downworld.

Yes but don't read yet!

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Where does City of Bones rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The best scifi fantasy book for the year

What other book might you compare City of Bones to and why?

Harry potter crossed with twilight and the hobbit

What does Ari Graynor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

a comprehensive depth to the story

Spellbinding

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I think the performance took away from the story… I suspect reading it on its own will be more rewarding

Eish…

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Where does City of Bones rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I normally consume plenty of Sci-Fi so I wanted a little break into the fantasy, this book was a great choice. I've seen the trailer for the upcoming film and I thought I would read (hear) the book before the story was ruined. There is plenty of Teenage angst in this book and it did peeve me off a little to have to relieve some of uncomfortable days, but this was balanced with a good deal of action and a evolving and interesting back story. There is good potential here and I can see why a movie company would love to kick off a franchise here. Let's hope that they stay true to the story (Potter Style).

I want to recommend this book to readers (listeners) who like to stay within the vampire, werewolf, witch and warlock sort of genre. No reinventing here but a solid story line so far.

Fern

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jase, the rebel without one cause type, and his cause is Demon Hunting.

What three words best describe Ari Graynor’s voice?

I love her Brooklyn accent and she managed to nail all the girl voices.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

They are so let's hope is a good one.

Pleasantly surprised

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This is a novel meant for pre teens. I thought that it would be something like The Hunger Games novels or Harry Potter that would appeal to a wider audience. What I was not expecting was a novel that was poorly written and followed a very similar plot to the Potter books. I am hoping that the next book will be much much better. I am giving the author the benefit of the doubt and am going to buy one more in the sincere hope that the first book was Ms. Clare's "teething" novel and the next one will prove that she can write and use her own imagination. Fingers crossed.

This deserved 2 1/2 stars

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Would you consider the audio edition of City of Bones to be better than the print version?

I would not consider the audio better than the print version as the performance was a bit lacking.

What was one of the most memorable moments of City of Bones?

The fact that Valentine was able to convince Clary and Jace that they were brother and sister.

Did Ari Graynor do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She could have done a better job. She would have been better off not trying to give the character's accents and just read the book naturally.

A great debut novel!

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