I went into City of Bones with mild curiosity, as I know people that have been really into the series years. What I got was… mixed. On the surface, it’s a decent urban fantasy. There’s hidden societies, demon-hunting, and secret bloodlines. But then it leans hard into that Special Girl Trope. The main character who discovers she’s not ordinary at all but actually super important and central to everything. Sometimes I can roll with it. I’m a Buffy guy! But here? It felt tired and predictable.
For most of the book, I was ready to call this just okay. It was entertaining enough but not breaking new ground (and not every book has to!). Then… came the quasi-incest subplot, which felt so wildly out of place and unnecessary that it derailed everything for me. What could’ve been a solid (if trope-heavy) start to a series instead left me feeling repulsed.
If you’re new to urban fantasy, there are plenty of other series that deliver the drama and romance without wandering into that kind of territory. For me, City of Bones is a hard no.
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