Book Club Letter #3: Plot and Setting - City of Bones

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Dear Book Club,

In City of Bones, Clary’s mother has gone missing and now she has found herself plunged into a new world she did not know existed.  Through really “seeing” through the “glamour,” Clary is witness to this strange new world of faeries, demons, vampires, werewolves, shadowhunters, and much more.  She has also discovered that she may not be the “mundane” (the shadowhunter word for “human”) she thought she was.  Clary, it seems, has Shadowhunter blood coursing through her veins.

The setting of City of Bones, allows us to entertain the notion that there are unseen nooks and crannies of New York right before our eyes, where Warlock’s host parties inviting “downworlders” to attend and drink blue cocktails that can turn a mundane into a rat.  From the seemingly decrepit, yet incredibly beautiful “Institute” where the young shadowhunters live, to the old abandoned hotel Dumort where the vampires live, we are taken on this incredible new imagining of  New York where Vampires can fly motorcycles that run on demon-energy.

Each new setting is vital to the plot as the readers’ eyes begin to see and adjust to the new surroundings along with Clary.  One poignant moment in the greenhouse of the Institute finds Clary witnessing a Midnight Blooming Flower, which blossoms and then dies in an instant.  The reader begins to adjust to the new magical world and is able to follow along the twist and turns as Clary does everything she can to try to find “The Mortal Cup” in hopes that it will help her find her mother. 

The main conflict in the novel is Clary’s need to find and free her mother.  The is an underlying “who am I” conflict that arrises.  As the story continues, a seeming love triangle occurs.  We see Clary and Jace, the incredibly sexy and confident young shadowhunter, share a kiss.  We also witness Simon, Clary’s mundane best friend, proclaim that he has been in love with her for ten years.  Clary, of course, has no idea how she feels about Simon and is, of course, dazzled and confused about her feelings for Jace.

In a disturbing twist, at the end of the novel, we discover that Cary and Jace may be brother and sister.  I hope this is not true!  I need to read the next novel to find out!

Until next time,

Danyelle