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colorcrystals's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Homophobia
amre23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Blood, Suicide attempt, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Misogyny, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Genocide, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, Child abuse, and Bullying
Minor: Torture, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Toxic friendship
lakinglaze's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was such an incredible ending to this series. The Bone Witch series is honestly now one of my most favourite set of books. What a triumph. I was not ready to leave this world and I don’t think I’ll ever really leave it and it’ll just live rent free in my mind and heart always!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Animal death, Violence, and War
literary_han's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Transphobia, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
deesquared's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
noellelovesbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
2/12/2022
Content Warnings: Blood/gore, dead bodies, murder, parental abuse, child abuse, death of a relative, misgendering, suicidal thoughts, war themes, and death.
Do you ever just love a book so much, that when it comes to writing a review, you struggle to put into words all the emotions you have? This book made me feel all the emotions.
Between Tea and "the bard" we learn and uncover so much about the eight kingdoms and the politics, and traditions, behind them. We meet so many characters, most of which we fall in love with whereas others we dream of their demise. We learn, and witness, how power can corrupt regardless of one's intentions. For some, there is nothing they wouldn't sacrifice for power, they find ways to justify any and all sacrifices they make in the quest for it.
This book is full of uncovering puppeteers who've been orchestrating and manipulating people, and sometimes entire kingdoms, in their quest for ultimate power. We also see how strong the bonds of love can be, and how even if it seems the entire world has turned against you, as long as you have one person who believes in you, you can find the strength to continue on.
Throughout the series, aside from Tea, my favorite character has always been Likh and in this book, they shine so brightly. Realistically I know it doesn't make sense, for the author, to revisit this world but oh the joy I would feel to see Likh have their own book. The growth Likh has throughout the series is so beautiful, I loved getting to watch them find their confidence and strength as they discovered they could be who they were always meant to be. Finding your strength and confidence and being able to be surrounded by those that love and support you is really a dream so many of us have.
If you're looking for a YA fantasy series full of finding your strength, political intrigue, love, finding acceptance, and beautiful world-building...I highly recommend picking up this trilogy. This continues to be one of my favorite YA series, really a favorite fantasy series in general, and I will continue to recommend it over and over again.
09/30/2020
This entire trilogy was such an epic and full series to read. The way in which we go back and forth between the Tea of the past and seeing her through someone else's eyes in the present is like watching a movie unfold in your mind.
This series is about family, obligation, love, hope, betrayal, and so much more. This is one of those series that leaves you desperately wanting more...because the world that Rin created, and the character's she created, are so beautiful, real, and flawed and you just want to know each and every little thing about all of them.
Content Warnings: Blood/gore, dead bodies, murder, parental abuse, child abuse, death of a relative, misgendering, suicidal thoughts, war themes, and death.
Do you ever just love a book so much, that when it comes to writing a review, you struggle to put into words all the emotions you have? This book made me feel all the emotions.
Between Tea and "the bard" we learn and uncover so much about the eight kingdoms and the politics, and traditions, behind them. We meet so many characters, most of which we fall in love with whereas others we dream of their demise. We learn, and witness, how power can corrupt regardless of one's intentions. For some, there is nothing they wouldn't sacrifice for power, they find ways to justify any and all sacrifices they make in the quest for it.
This book is full of uncovering puppeteers who've been orchestrating and manipulating people, and sometimes entire kingdoms, in their quest for ultimate power. We also see how strong the bonds of love can be, and how even if it seems the entire world has turned against you, as long as you have one person who believes in you, you can find the strength to continue on.
Throughout the series, aside from Tea, my favorite character has always been Likh and in this book, they shine so brightly. Realistically I know it doesn't make sense, for the author, to revisit this world but oh the joy I would feel to see Likh have their own book. The growth Likh has throughout the series is so beautiful, I loved getting to watch them find their confidence and strength as they discovered they could be who they were always meant to be. Finding your strength and confidence and being able to be surrounded by those that love and support you is really a dream so many of us have.
If you're looking for a YA fantasy series full of finding your strength, political intrigue, love, finding acceptance, and beautiful world-building...I highly recommend picking up this trilogy. This continues to be one of my favorite YA series, really a favorite fantasy series in general, and I will continue to recommend it over and over again.
09/30/2020
This entire trilogy was such an epic and full series to read. The way in which we go back and forth between the Tea of the past and seeing her through someone else's eyes in the present is like watching a movie unfold in your mind.
This series is about family, obligation, love, hope, betrayal, and so much more. This is one of those series that leaves you desperately wanting more...because the world that Rin created, and the character's she created, are so beautiful, real, and flawed and you just want to know each and every little thing about all of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Child death, and Death of parent
samusc's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This compelling conclusion to The Bone Witch trilogy contained every piece of an iconic, unique fantasy work:
- An unapologetic, compassionate, misunderstood heroine faced with difficult choices and trials.
- Lovely Queer representation.
- Intricate politics, magic, and world-building. I adored the scenes in Yadosha!
- Betrayal and twists foreshadowed expertly, yet still surprising.
Rin Chupeco excels at writing multiple complex character relationships within this story, and giving them all attention. Tea and Fox spend a majority of this installment separated from one another, but it's still evident how Tea's concern for her brother drives her motivations.
Once again, the alternating chapter perspectives provide great depth and intrigue to the story, as I spent a majority of the time wondering how can this saga possibly end happily for characters I've grown to care tremendously for.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of The Shadow Glass is the focus on how history becomes myths and is rewritten to fit a particular agenda. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Baron also does a wonderful job of tying this into the main conflicts.
This series and Never Tilting World has absolutely solidified Rin Chupeco as a must read author for me. The impact of their writing and support of debut authors of color is immeasurable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Shadowglass delivers on the promises made in The Bone Witch and continued in The Heart Forger, weaving a narrative so tight that it has the feel of a well-executed time-travel story, but with nary a time machine in sight. For most to live, magic must die.
I love how Likh’s story is handled. It feels like a quiet revelation, slowly unfolding alongside Tea’s life, subtle but so powerful. All the secondary characters (that ones made it to book three, for this series is not afraid to kill major characters) get to shine in different ways. The villain reveals are surprising while still fitting the previous books, I now have complicated feelings about people I thought I was supposed to like, supposed to dislike... all the feelings. The first book had a lonely quality to it, with just two people talking in the interstitial and Tea trying to navigate this new place in the main story. By the end of the trilogy there are so many amazingly-written characters to love and hate, and to have that feel balanced in both storylines, using the structure to full advantage... I'm just in awe.
The way the interstitial narration and the main story come together is fantastic, it makes me want to immediately re-read the whole trilogy so I can understand all the implications from the start. It allowed for some really dramatic moments where someone shows up in one storyline for the first time then shows up in the other, and it makes one of the moments feel like a reveal even though the character or plot element hadn't shown up explicitly before. This was such a smart way to construct a trilogy (also the perfect length, this structure could work for 1-3 books but probably not more). Dramatic reveals can happen from one perspective then be shown to have been laid in for ages in the next. When I read the first book I was hoping it would hold up all the way through and it did, so well. I have no complaints. What I do have is a wonderful mix of happiness at how the story turns out and sadness that it's over. Normally I'd reach for a time-travel story to give me some of the feelings I got here, and seeing it in a fantasy form is so great, I love all of this.
I love how Likh’s story is handled. It feels like a quiet revelation, slowly unfolding alongside Tea’s life, subtle but so powerful. All the secondary characters (that ones made it to book three, for this series is not afraid to kill major characters) get to shine in different ways. The villain reveals are surprising while still fitting the previous books, I now have complicated feelings about people I thought I was supposed to like, supposed to dislike... all the feelings. The first book had a lonely quality to it, with just two people talking in the interstitial and Tea trying to navigate this new place in the main story. By the end of the trilogy there are so many amazingly-written characters to love and hate, and to have that feel balanced in both storylines, using the structure to full advantage... I'm just in awe.
The way the interstitial narration and the main story come together is fantastic, it makes me want to immediately re-read the whole trilogy so I can understand all the implications from the start. It allowed for some really dramatic moments where someone shows up in one storyline for the first time then shows up in the other, and it makes one of the moments feel like a reveal even though the character or plot element hadn't shown up explicitly before. This was such a smart way to construct a trilogy (also the perfect length, this structure could work for 1-3 books but probably not more). Dramatic reveals can happen from one perspective then be shown to have been laid in for ages in the next. When I read the first book I was hoping it would hold up all the way through and it did, so well. I have no complaints. What I do have is a wonderful mix of happiness at how the story turns out and sadness that it's over. Normally I'd reach for a time-travel story to give me some of the feelings I got here, and seeing it in a fantasy form is so great, I love all of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
CW for betrayal, suicidal ideation, death, massacre, gore, descriptions of battle, major character death.
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