City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Look, I could talk about derivative work and transformative work as apparently you are required to do if you review this series, but I think I’ll save it. Because beyond all the bland teenage demon-hunting shenanigans, beyond the “surprise, no, wait, everyone act surprised!” unexpected relatives plot twist, I don’t actually want to talk about the plot.

There’s a moment early on in this book where one girl says to another (and this book completely fails the Bechtel test, by the way), that yes, the hot blonde demon-hunting angst-fest is very rude, “that’s what makes him sexy.”

This is one of those things I like to forget, you know? That there are people – that there are women in particular – who subscribe to this theory of male attractiveness. I almost never get all riled about the message that young adult fiction sends to young readers, because who needs that bullshit. But I’m just going to take a moment here to be appalled that this is yet another in the thundering chorus of media telling young women that self-centered, sarcastic, emotionally constipated boys are desirable. They may hurt you, but they love you anyway!

...Or possibly they’re just assholes. It’s always hard to tell.

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