City of Bones

By: Cassandra Clare

Narrated by: Mae Whitman

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

Don’t miss The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, now a major motion picture. Discover this first installment of the internationally best-selling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

When 15-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...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

©2007 Cassandra Claire, LLC. All rights reserved. (P)2007 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights resevered.

Could be better

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I couldn't finish this book. The writing is good for the young adult genre but the narrator is mediocre at best. I could have gotten past the horrible British accents but I couldn't stand her reading style in general. It's very...forced and immature. Emma Gavin and Marisa Calin are much better narrators. But perhaps it's the director's fault. Regardless, I would skip the audio and read the paperback.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Wish I hadn't listened to the audiobook

Any additional comments?

Didn't like the narration at all, most of the accents were super cheesy and didn't allow me to get into the book. I wish I had read the book instead of listening to it, because I'm sure I would have liked it more that way. The way it was narrated made me really annoyed with all of the characters. I only finished the novel for the sake of finishing it, I had no interest in how it ended.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Six of one, half-dozen of the other

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, if you haven't listened to the original version of City of Bones, narrated by Ari Graynor. If you're like me and have the Ari Graynor version, don't bother. When I say "six of one, half-dozen of the other", I mean both versions are mediocre, as far as narration goes. The story is worth it though, so if you haven't read or listened to City of Bones, go for it! It's worth the credit. If you're just looking for a different version with better narration, don't waste your credit.

What did you like best about this story?

City of Bones opens a captivating young adult series, The Mortal Instruments. Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter world is cleverly-built and the stories exciting. Keeping up with Clary as she learns about her heritage and discovers the world around her kept me hooked through all six books.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Mae Whitman?

Maybe? She wasn't terrible as a narrator, but her accents were. It would have been a much better listen without the questionable English accents.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Ugh...I wish I hadn't. The movie was terrible and it was one of the worst book-to-screen adaptations I've ever seen (but this isn't a movie review). I blame the movie for the bad English accents. The City of Bones movie decided that the Shadowhunters would have English accents and this is the result of that decision. In all of the other audiobooks (except for City of Heavenly Fire, which also came out after the movie), the Shadowhunters have American accents.

Any additional comments?

I wrote this review for listeners who have the Ari Graynor version of City of Bones and are wondering if this version is an improvement. It isn't.

26 of 29 people found this review helpful

Terrible narrator

What disappointed you about City of Bones?

Honestly, it takes a lot for me to write a review, but this book is that bad. I had read other ones who said the accent was bad, and yea, it's not great. But for me what is worse is the narrator's choppy, "every sentence is a statement" style of reading. She reads everything fast, and as if it's dropping a bomb. Even sentences that have a follow up comma are read that way. I could get over the accents, but the choppy way of narrating everything as if it's a single stand alone statement is grating.

What didn’t you like about Mae Whitman’s performance?

See above.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Love the series not the multiple narrators

Wish the same narrator was used on the books...hard to picture the characters when the voices keep changing.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Pretty Good Wish I'd skipped the move

What did you love best about City of Bones?

I saw the movie and thought the book would be worth a go. The book was a little difficult to get through since I knew what was going to happen. Look forward to the next book.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I don't know why all the Shadowhunters have bad British accents. I found that annoying.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Adults who loves fantasy, skip this book.

If you are new to the fantasy genre, this is a cute, fun world. The narrator needs to work on her accents/dialects but is otherwise fine. But if you are an Adult who loves fantasy, skip this book. You will find no new ideas or surprises here.

21 of 26 people found this review helpful

narrator terrible!!!!

The story seems promising but.... the narrator of this book made me want to vomit!

Don't listen to this audio book if you really want to read this book go get a physical copy.

That's what I did and I'm loving the book.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Horrifyingly bad accents

What would have made City of Bones better?

Using a narrator that can actually do voices, OR telling Mae Whitman to stop doing them.

What didn’t you like about Mae Whitman’s performance?

Her accents sound like bad community theatre. Why re-record the book if you aren't going to make it amazing? This one is as bad as the original.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I love this book but the audiobook is TERRIBLE.

22 of 28 people found this review helpful

Imagitive, if not to overly dramatic. 4 out of 5

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

I haven't read the printed version which is just as well after listening to the whole thing I am not in a hurry to read the story with a "Luke I'm you Father twist ending. And no there is no Luke or father figure's in the story I just meant a cliché ending like this one. And this story is no where as good as Star War. But it's almost as soap opera-ish and the main character is always being helpless and having to be saved by male characters. It's almost laugh-able. But the story is very entertaining and imitative at the same time.

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

When the girl throws herself over Luke's body to try and save him from the bad guy and she knows he will not stop his sword for her but throws herself anyway. Of coarse she is saved by her brother in the nick of time; by a great knife throw into the bad guys hand, who then has to lie and say he would never have hurt her blah blah blah.

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

She does a good job on the lead girls voice and the JC's more English accented voice making it easy to tell which one is speaking or thinking. But I think at times the accents were a little much and took away from the story, like why would JC who lived in the same town as her have an English accent and she have an American one?

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

Yes and No, I would love to have the time to listen to it in one day, But I don't so I listened at night before bed. It relaxes me to go to sleep most night, this one had me shaking my head wondering what the writing was drinking when she wrote this?

Any additional comments?

It's not really that bad, if you love Romeo and Juliet even though you know they both die than this is the book for you. If you like teen angst this is the book for you. If you like books with cliché twists this Is the book for you. If you like your heroines kinda helpless without a strong man around this is the book for you. No Buffy to save the day just the heroine following a mystery to find her mommy. If the mystery and fantasy appeal to you, this is the book for you. I did give it 4 out of 5 stars.

10 of 13 people found this review helpful