Book and Movie ~ City of Bones

Warning: This post contains spoilers.

Well, this has to be a first for me. I think I liked the movie more than I liked the book.

Last week, while I was finishing up the final touches on Deadly Crush, I was also rushing through reading City of Bones, trying to finish it before seeing the movie with my sister. I’ve always loved reading the book first, because, well, the movies rarely (if ever) encompass the entire book, so if I’ve read the book first, I can fill in all those missing pieces.

Anyway, I finished up the book last Friday night, which was actually a forced task. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the book. But that twist near the end kind of ruined my life.

I’m one of those people that gets completely lost in books. While I’m reading, I’m there in the story right with the characters. I’m one of them. So when I found out that Jace was actually Clary’s brother it crushed me. I snapped the book shut, only about 40 pages until the end, and right at that moment, I seriously considered throwing it across the room.

I didn’t actually throw it, but I did glare at it for awhile, and then finally I decided to just do something else. It took me about 7 hours to pick it back up again, and at that point, I was only picking it back up because I was going to see the movie the next day and I wanted to finish it before then.

Right now, it probably sounds like I hated the book, but I didn’t. Actually, I really enjoyed it. City of Bones had me hooked right away. The descriptions were amazing. Not once did I feel as if I was in a black hole of dialogue. Each scene and setting was painted with vibrant colors. It drew me in, and I was quickly lost in the shadowhunter world.

I loved the characters. Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec… All of them were perfect. Each one had their own unique personalities, and they were all easy to connect with. My favorite was definitely Jace. He’s a complex character. He’s tough, a bad boy, and acts like a jerk, but I loved him.

“Don't.” Clary raised a warning hand. “I'm not really in the mood right now.”
“That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,” Jace mused.
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

The dialogue was awesome and flowed wonderfully. It really kept the book interesting and moving along at a great pace.

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?”
Jace said, “Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself.”
... “At least,” she said, “you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”
“Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

And the story was action packed. There really never was a dull moment. The tattoo runes were interesting. I would have liked a bit more information on them, how they work, what magic is behind them, but it’s only the first book, so I’m sure that will come.

“Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?”
“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

So when I finished the book I went to bed, still stewing over that twist and debating on whether or not I was going to read the next one.  I was hoping that in the morning I'd feel differently, but on Saturday morning I woke up still annoyed. So annoyed, that when I saw my sister (who has read all the books) I made her spoil it for me. I just didn’t want to believe that Jace and Clary could be brother and sister.

Of course, my sister laughed, and she happily told me more than I actually wanted to know.

But as it turned out, and this is where I ended up enjoying the movie more than the book, I had nothing to worry about. In the movie we find out that they are not brother and sister. It’s all lies. And yes, I was totally squirming in my seat, thrilled with this news.

Overall, I thought the movie covered the book pretty well. Sure some of my favorite lines of dialogue weren’t in it, and it didn’t cover every single scene that I loved from the book, but it was action packed. If the book had have let me in on the lies, then I mostly likely would have said that I liked it more.

Thankfully the movie and my awesome sister spoiled it for me, because I'm now excited to continue on with the books.  I can't wait to see what happens.

So what about you guys? Have you read the book? Have you seen the movie? Which did you like better? Let me know.