I finished soon-to-be published novel "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare last night. I was fortunate enough to get a copy from the publisher, signed by Ms. Clare (more on my obsessively geeky signed book collection later).
The book is exactly what Holly Black blurbs it as - dark, sexy and funny as hell.
I am tremendously envious of Cassandra's ability to write dialogue. Her conversations sparkle and ring entirely true. Many of them are laugh-out-loud funny.
It's an imaginative urban fantasy, up there with the best of them. Fans of (old school) Gaiman, DeLint and Emma Bull should not miss this first novel.
I have heard rumor that Cassandra will be coming to Ann Arbor later this spring in the company of Holly Black and I could not be more excited.
Ps. An interesting post on her livejournal here showing the UK cover. As much as I admire the US jacket from S&S, I think the marketing angle (not to mention the teen reading demographic) is all about Clary and the UK cover really picks up on that.