The first book in the series, City of Bones, can be read online for free until Aug. 10th at this link .  Unfortunately I’m a total sucker for a free book, no matter how bad it is, so I decided to give it a read.  First off, these books have to be read together.  They are not complete stories on their own, so if you’re committing yourself to read one- you’re committing yourself to read all them.  This was the first of many problems with them for me.  These are probably a great read for teenagers, as long as you don’t mind the completely cavalier attitude toward underage drinking, the occasional drug use, casual sex between anyone and everyone, and most of the storyline revolving around an incestuous relationship.  I remind you, these are geared toward teenagers.  I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t consider myself a prude-  but I really felt like Cassandra Clare was just trying to push the envelope a little too hard.  So much of this was just completely unnecessary to the storyline- it felt a little like Gossip Girl meets Dungeons and Dragons.  Speaking of the storyline, I found it a little tedious.  I’m so tired of the love triangles between the mysterious, dangerous guy, and the fun loving best friend.  Ok already, been there, done that- even with Clare trying to make it fresh with new twist and turns (including the whole incest thing)- it just fell flat for me.  These aren’t books for those of us that love literature, they’re totally geared to a texting, myspace, mtv watching, late teens/early twenties crowd.  I was interested enough in the plot to keep me reading, but I wasn’t up late into the night devouring them.

City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass are written by Cassandra Clare