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kaziaroo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.5
On the whole I loved this – the characters, the magic system, the mystery were all amazing (plus a queer-normative world!). I would have liked it if the setting was more fleshed out, maybe going more into the cultures of the different islands rather than them all feeling the same, but overall the story was immersive enough and the characters lovable enough to look past that. I loved Jovis and Mephi in particular, and I liked Lin too; there's always a difficulty in amnesiac characters as they have such a short background on which to build a personality and identity, but I think the author did an admirable job. I wanted to see more of Bayan, alas... :(
My only real criticism is that I felt the book would have been better without Ranami and Phalue's POV chapters. Their story had an interesting message and moral dilemma but it just didn't seem to fit and their chapters were quite dull to get through compared to the rest of the book. As a novella on their own, those chapters would have been fine, but I found myself skim-reading them to get back to Jovis, Lin and even Sand. Maybe more will come of Ranami and Phalue in the sequel, but I just couldn't get behind their relationship or find the point of their storyline or its impact of the overall plot.
My only real criticism is that I felt the book would have been better without Ranami and Phalue's POV chapters. Their story had an interesting message and moral dilemma but it just didn't seem to fit and their chapters were quite dull to get through compared to the rest of the book. As a novella on their own, those chapters would have been fine, but I found myself skim-reading them to get back to Jovis, Lin and even Sand. Maybe more will come of Ranami and Phalue in the sequel, but I just couldn't get behind their relationship or find the point of their storyline or its impact of the overall plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Trafficking, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Body horror, and Medical content
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
Minor: War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's a pretty large cast of narrators, listening via audiobook helped enormously with keeping track of them since there are three audiobook narrators to handle all the perspectives. Those performances are great, making helping keep the characters distinct even when the same performed voiced multiple characters.
The plot has several threads, following each of the main characters. The blurb implies that Lin is the only main character, but Jovis plays an enormous role (meeting all but one of the other main characters at various points), and the romance between Phalue and Ranami felt complex and real. Lin is the daughter of the emperor, trying to get her father's approval by getting back memories she lost in a sickness several years ago. Jovis is a smuggler who is trying to find his wife who was kidnapped five years ago. He ends up rescuing children from having their shards taken. Phalue is the daughter of a governor on one of the islands, and Ranami is her girlfriend who keeps turning down Phalue's marriage proposals because Phalue doesn't seem to understand the enormity of her privilege in comparison to everyone on the island. There's a woman called Sand who is trying to escape her current situation, I don't want to spoil anything about her but she seems set up to do much more in the sequel.
Lin has spent years trying to get her father's approval, and is frustrated by his ableist insistence that she's not whole unless she can get back the memories she lost. Desperate to get him to pay attention to her as she is and not as she was, Lin starts copying his keys to get access to rooms that might hold knowledge of the magic he should be teaching her. She's in competition with her foster brother Bayan since he regained more of his memories and seems to continually be one step ahead of her in getting the emperor's attention.
The relationship between Phalue and Ranami briefly dips into some toxic territory as Phalue doesn't seem to understand or know how to take seriously Ranami's concerns. It definitely helps that both of them are narrators, so their perspectives are shown directly at various points.
Jovis ends up with an animal companion after he saves it from the water during a disaster early one. Mephi is pretty cool and not annoying, which is a relief because sometimes I end up detesting animal sidekicks.
The magic system is based on using bone taken from the empire's citizens as children. The shards can be used to power constructs, and once in use they slowly drain the life force of their original owner. The emperor uses an elaborate array of constructs to do all the imperial bureaucracy which could be done by people, but he doesn't trust anyone else to do it right. This setup means that the way the lower classes are exploited is more than just cruelty and resource hoarding by the rich, but that their very lives can be taken, slowly, by an emperor they'll never see, if he happens to pick their shard from a drawer and use it to fuel a construct. I love the way the magic system is inseparable from the political structure and brewing uprising.
The plot has several threads, following each of the main characters. The blurb implies that Lin is the only main character, but Jovis plays an enormous role (meeting all but one of the other main characters at various points), and the romance between Phalue and Ranami felt complex and real. Lin is the daughter of the emperor, trying to get her father's approval by getting back memories she lost in a sickness several years ago. Jovis is a smuggler who is trying to find his wife who was kidnapped five years ago. He ends up rescuing children from having their shards taken. Phalue is the daughter of a governor on one of the islands, and Ranami is her girlfriend who keeps turning down Phalue's marriage proposals because Phalue doesn't seem to understand the enormity of her privilege in comparison to everyone on the island. There's a woman called Sand who is trying to escape her current situation, I don't want to spoil anything about her but she seems set up to do much more in the sequel.
Lin has spent years trying to get her father's approval, and is frustrated by his ableist insistence that she's not whole unless she can get back the memories she lost. Desperate to get him to pay attention to her as she is and not as she was, Lin starts copying his keys to get access to rooms that might hold knowledge of the magic he should be teaching her. She's in competition with her foster brother Bayan since he regained more of his memories and seems to continually be one step ahead of her in getting the emperor's attention.
The relationship between Phalue and Ranami briefly dips into some toxic territory as Phalue doesn't seem to understand or know how to take seriously Ranami's concerns. It definitely helps that both of them are narrators, so their perspectives are shown directly at various points.
Jovis ends up with an animal companion after he saves it from the water during a disaster early one. Mephi is pretty cool and not annoying, which is a relief because sometimes I end up detesting animal sidekicks.
The magic system is based on using bone taken from the empire's citizens as children. The shards can be used to power constructs, and once in use they slowly drain the life force of their original owner. The emperor uses an elaborate array of constructs to do all the imperial bureaucracy which could be done by people, but he doesn't trust anyone else to do it right. This setup means that the way the lower classes are exploited is more than just cruelty and resource hoarding by the rich, but that their very lives can be taken, slowly, by an emperor they'll never see, if he happens to pick their shard from a drawer and use it to fuel a construct. I love the way the magic system is inseparable from the political structure and brewing uprising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Confinement, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Vomit
leona's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.5
I've been struggling recently to feel excited and inclined to pick up a book and read, I feel like nothing has really been 'gripping' me recently.
I found this book to have a rather slow start, and I did struggle a bit to really get into it. After a while though, I was fully engrossed and flew through this book so quickly.
Jovis was probably my favourite character in the story. He's witty and determined and just a very likeable character. His desperation to find his wife feels raw and realistic, I really sympathise with his struggles. The mystery of the blue-sailed ship is intriguing, as well as the mystery of 'what the hell is Mephi?' I love Mephi. He really adds some hope and love in this story. Especially as there is definitely some romance in the story, but mainly from relationships that have already been established - so it was nice to see Jovis have such a caring / parental love for Mephi (and have a new relationship established). Jovis really is a well-moralled and decent person at heart, with a tough exterior.
Lin was also pretty cool. Her chapters were some of the more captivating of the story, especially in the last half of the book. She wasn't my favourite character but I really enjoyed getting to see the way that Bone Shard magic could be used, especially first-hand from someone learning it for the first time. I think this was a very intelligent way to introduce readers to the magic system (a magic system which is quite frankly brilliant, one of my favourites since allomancy!) And wow. Those plot twists and cliff-hangers at the end... Just excellent. I mean I did call a few of the twists such as Lin being a construct, however the end... That Lin was a construct made to look like her mother - most likely out of at least some of Jovis' wife's remains! Just disturbingly, excellently chilling. I can't wait to get to book 2 and see how much darker it could get.
Another main POV is that of Phalue and Ranami. Their chapters were interesting although not my favourites because I wasn't really all that interested in the uprising / rebel side story. However, I think Phalue and Ranami are one of the best lesbian relationships I have read in fantasy recently. I appreciated the way that different sexualities / sexual preferences were completely integrated and unquestioned in society, they aren't token characters, but feel very realistic. They aren't treated any differently to a straight couple, and the challenges they face in this already established relationship feel very realistic, and I imagine are probably quite relatable. There is also some interesting exploration of classism, and how economic status can effect someone's life opportunities and happiness. I'm hoping we get a bit more depth from them in future installments.
I liked some of the side characters a fair amount as well, especially Sand, and the other people on that island. I loved the element of mystery around the whole book, and the revelations were most definitely worth it!
I find the whole concept of this book so utterly fascinating, and I really enjoyed the philosophical elements (almost sci-fi esque), with themes such as what it means to be human / alive, whether it is worth sacrificing some to potentially save the many, etc. The world building was excellent and I really enjoyed the Asian inspiration.
Overall, I just really loved this first book, and I genuinely think it has the potential to become a new favourite trilogy of mine! 4.5 stars. Highly recommend.
I found this book to have a rather slow start, and I did struggle a bit to really get into it. After a while though, I was fully engrossed and flew through this book so quickly.
Jovis was probably my favourite character in the story. He's witty and determined and just a very likeable character. His desperation to find his wife feels raw and realistic, I really sympathise with his struggles. The mystery of the blue-sailed ship is intriguing, as well as the mystery of 'what the hell is Mephi?' I love Mephi. He really adds some hope and love in this story. Especially as there is definitely some romance in the story, but mainly from relationships that have already been established - so it was nice to see Jovis have such a caring / parental love for Mephi (and have a new relationship established). Jovis really is a well-moralled and decent person at heart, with a tough exterior.
Lin was also pretty cool. Her chapters were some of the more captivating of the story, especially in the last half of the book. She wasn't my favourite character but I really enjoyed getting to see the way that Bone Shard magic could be used, especially first-hand from someone learning it for the first time. I think this was a very intelligent way to introduce readers to the magic system (a magic system which is quite frankly brilliant, one of my favourites since allomancy!) And wow. Those plot twists and cliff-hangers at the end... Just excellent. I mean I did call a few of the twists
Another main POV is that of Phalue and Ranami. Their chapters were interesting although not my favourites because I wasn't really all that interested in the uprising / rebel side story. However, I think Phalue and Ranami are one of the best lesbian relationships I have read in fantasy recently. I appreciated the way that different sexualities / sexual preferences were completely integrated and unquestioned in society, they aren't token characters, but feel very realistic. They aren't treated any differently to a straight couple, and the challenges they face in this already established relationship feel very realistic, and I imagine are probably quite relatable. There is also some interesting exploration of classism, and how economic status can effect someone's life opportunities and happiness. I'm hoping we get a bit more depth from them in future installments.
I liked some of the side characters a fair amount as well, especially Sand, and the other people on that island. I loved the element of mystery around the whole book, and the revelations were most definitely worth it!
I find the whole concept of this book so utterly fascinating, and I really enjoyed the philosophical elements (almost sci-fi esque), with themes such as
Overall, I just really loved this first book, and I genuinely think it has the potential to become a new favourite trilogy of mine! 4.5 stars. Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, and Child death
Minor: Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, and Racism
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
A very fun fantasy read! It reminded me a lot of reading Black Sun. All of the characters were great, especially Mephi! The island world was great, and Lin dealing with her dad’s boneshard magic and experiments was compelling. I did kind of wish the three characters who were barely featured had more POV chapters, because I kept forgetting about them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, Torture, Grief, Child death, and Body horror
Memory loss, earthquake, natural disasterthewordsdevourer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
this isnt a bad read, but i simply expected more. the bone shard daughter has an interesting premise, but the execution leaves more to be desired.
my fav things abt this book are its unique and compelling magic system - w/ constructs and bone shard magic, one that contains very real consequences for the common folk, w/ real political implications - and, imo, its star character, jovis, a reluctant hero w/ humanity, heart and depth, and whose rapport w/ his 'pet' mephi i find very cute.
other aspects, however, i find a lil lacking still. the worldbuilding comes in stops and starts, glimpses that dont quite yield real depth. many things that would shed more light on the empire and its workings are glossed over, such as how, exactly, the constructs communicate back to imperial, what their relationships w/ real soldiers are like. in short, the world seems like quite a big one, but the setting and story feels surprisingly spare, sparse, and narrow in scope.
im also impartial to many of the characters, particularly lin, whose story isnt as exciting esp considering she's the titular character. this thereby affects my emotional investment, leaving me unaffected by the story. often, i also find the characters' actions illogical and frustrating; esp the weird not-killing-despite-knowing-they'll-come-back-to-bite-your-a55-later reasoning, and poorly planned fights, esp the one in the palace w/ the emperor. basically i feel like the characters dont use their heads enough even though they def should.
though i seem to have quite many complaints, it cant be denied that this book has its high points, and it can get very fun and adventurous. for that - and its interesting magic system - i might check out the sequels.
my fav things abt this book are its unique and compelling magic system - w/ constructs and bone shard magic, one that contains very real consequences for the common folk, w/ real political implications - and, imo, its star character, jovis, a reluctant hero w/ humanity, heart and depth, and whose rapport w/ his 'pet' mephi i find very cute.
other aspects, however, i find a lil lacking still. the worldbuilding comes in stops and starts, glimpses that dont quite yield real depth. many things that would shed more light on the empire and its workings are glossed over, such as how, exactly, the constructs communicate back to imperial, what their relationships w/ real soldiers are like. in short, the world seems like quite a big one, but the setting and story feels surprisingly spare, sparse, and narrow in scope.
im also impartial to many of the characters, particularly lin, whose story isnt as exciting esp considering she's the titular character. this thereby affects my emotional investment, leaving me unaffected by the story. often, i also find the characters' actions illogical and frustrating; esp the weird not-killing-despite-knowing-they'll-come-back-to-bite-your-a55-later reasoning, and poorly planned fights, esp the one in the palace w/ the emperor. basically i feel like the characters dont use their heads enough even though they def should.
though i seem to have quite many complaints, it cant be denied that this book has its high points, and it can get very fun and adventurous. for that - and its interesting magic system - i might check out the sequels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death, and Violence
Minor: Kidnapping, Racism, Child death, and Physical abuse
literarypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
If you are looking for an immersive character-driven plot or an intense new magic system then this book might be the right fit for you! The Bone Shard Daughter is the first book in a new fantasy series by Andrea Stewart. It takes you to a place called The Empire where new magic called Bone Shard Magic is used by the Emperor to construct animal-like constructs to handle his tasks while he hides behind the palace walls. His daughter Lin yearns to learn this magic from her father but is repeatably denied in favor of her foster brother Bayan. The only way she can begin to learn about this magic is to answer her father’s questions about her past and earn a new key. This is difficult for her because a sickness took her memories away and she can’t remember years of her life. Lin wants to find these lost memories but she may also find more than she ever thought she would. I have heard many good things about this book from multiple people and fantasy readers. They praised the fascinating magic system and the characters. When I finished the book my first thought was how much I wanted to pick up the second book and find out what happens next. I still had so many questions that needed answers! Fantasy is one of my favorite genres of books to read and this in my opinion is a great addition to the genre.
The book is written from multiple points of view with different characters in different places in the world. I think this writing worked very well for the book and allows the reader to get a different perspective of what’s going on in the world around them. Eventually, these characters’ points of view did come together with other characters and more things started to come into place. The pace didn’t drag at any point and flowed very well between POV. I loved how the author wrote scenes and described the towns, the people, and the food. As most of the towns were islands, the people relied a lot on fishing and trade. You could feel the difference between the people living in the lower class part of the island like the fishermen and the shopkeepers and the higher class people like the governors and the Emperor. The author wanted to establish a clear divide between how one side lived in comparison to the other. It also became a driving factor in parts of the story.
The plot revolved a lot around bone shard magic, a magic system in this world that involved using pieces of bone to make constructs. It also involves inscribing bone shards with commands so the constructs you build obey said commands. This system reminded me of coding and it was interesting to see that system being applied with magic. I think that was very clever and one of my favorite parts of the plot! Another big part of the plot was the rebellion forming among the lower class and the officials. How the people wanted to stop the use of bone shard magic as it caused the person whose bone shard was in use to slowly start to feel bouts of exhaustion leading to sickness and in most cases unexpected death. Because the story had multiple perspectives we got to see how this conflict effected those in the higher class and those who were in the lower class. That was one of the stories greatest strengths. Another strength was the mystery and how it kept you thinking until it was revealed. Some of the twists I genuinely didnt see coming!
The book follows five main perspectives. Lin, the Emperor's daughter who is desperately trying to win her father’s approval and prove to him that she is fit to rule in his place. Jovis, a smuggler who wants to find his wife but keeps finding himself in situations where people are in need of his help. Phalue, a governor's daughter who would do anything to be with the woman she loves. Ranami, a bookseller that wants to help make the world a better place to live in for her and people like her. And finally Sand, a mysterious character that lives on a island with others like her. Lin’s tenacity and relentless need to find out who she is and what she is capable of was offset by her need for approval and people too care and love her. Through her would could see just how high her father’s expectations were for her and how she realized she would never be able to reach them. She had to make her own expectations for herself and not what her father wanted for her. Jovis was such a delight of a character and Mephi is one of the best magical sidekicks ever! His love for his wife and his memories of her like when they first met to their marriage was so sweet! Jovis definitely had a wanting to save everybody complex and learning from his past you could see why. Phalue and Ranami were such a cute couple and seeing the little moments in their relationship added much more to their romance. They sort of reminded me of a Romeo and Juliet situation. They both came from different worlds but their love brought their worlds together. Sand well to be honest honest I cant say to much without giving too much away.
The worldbuilding was expansive and well detailed. From islands that floated and traveled along a route to seasons that would last for years. How each island was different with how the people lived. There was also a underlining threat of a ancient people returning to power that some feared and others welcomed. I loved the world and I could believe a world like this could exist outside of this book.
There were a lot of themes this book explored including inequality between classes, child abuse and placing unreasonably expectations on children and identity and finding out who you truly are. Lin finding out her identity and becoming her own person outside of her father’s shadow. Jovis finding the person he wants to be and learning to live without his wife. Phalue wanting to be more than her status and Ranami wanting happiness not just for people like her but for herself as well. Sand discovering more than just a routine. This book explores so many themes in a mature and well handled way.
What I hope people take away from this is this book can look intimidating and the multiple perspectives can be a bit much at first but once you get past that this book is worth reading! It is a great addition to the fantasy genre and a great debut to a series. I hope i can read the second book very soon and then read the third when it releases next year. If your a fantasy lover or want to explore a new magic system or even if you want fully fleshed out characters you should give this book a read!
The book is written from multiple points of view with different characters in different places in the world. I think this writing worked very well for the book and allows the reader to get a different perspective of what’s going on in the world around them. Eventually, these characters’ points of view did come together with other characters and more things started to come into place. The pace didn’t drag at any point and flowed very well between POV. I loved how the author wrote scenes and described the towns, the people, and the food. As most of the towns were islands, the people relied a lot on fishing and trade. You could feel the difference between the people living in the lower class part of the island like the fishermen and the shopkeepers and the higher class people like the governors and the Emperor. The author wanted to establish a clear divide between how one side lived in comparison to the other. It also became a driving factor in parts of the story.
The plot revolved a lot around bone shard magic, a magic system in this world that involved using pieces of bone to make constructs. It also involves inscribing bone shards with commands so the constructs you build obey said commands. This system reminded me of coding and it was interesting to see that system being applied with magic. I think that was very clever and one of my favorite parts of the plot! Another big part of the plot was the rebellion forming among the lower class and the officials. How the people wanted to stop the use of bone shard magic as it caused the person whose bone shard was in use to slowly start to feel bouts of exhaustion leading to sickness and in most cases unexpected death. Because the story had multiple perspectives we got to see how this conflict effected those in the higher class and those who were in the lower class. That was one of the stories greatest strengths. Another strength was the mystery and how it kept you thinking until it was revealed. Some of the twists I genuinely didnt see coming!
The book follows five main perspectives. Lin, the Emperor's daughter who is desperately trying to win her father’s approval and prove to him that she is fit to rule in his place. Jovis, a smuggler who wants to find his wife but keeps finding himself in situations where people are in need of his help. Phalue, a governor's daughter who would do anything to be with the woman she loves. Ranami, a bookseller that wants to help make the world a better place to live in for her and people like her. And finally Sand, a mysterious character that lives on a island with others like her. Lin’s tenacity and relentless need to find out who she is and what she is capable of was offset by her need for approval and people too care and love her. Through her would could see just how high her father’s expectations were for her and how she realized she would never be able to reach them. She had to make her own expectations for herself and not what her father wanted for her. Jovis was such a delight of a character and Mephi is one of the best magical sidekicks ever! His love for his wife and his memories of her like when they first met to their marriage was so sweet! Jovis definitely had a wanting to save everybody complex and learning from his past you could see why. Phalue and Ranami were such a cute couple and seeing the little moments in their relationship added much more to their romance. They sort of reminded me of a Romeo and Juliet situation. They both came from different worlds but their love brought their worlds together. Sand well to be honest honest I cant say to much without giving too much away.
The worldbuilding was expansive and well detailed. From islands that floated and traveled along a route to seasons that would last for years. How each island was different with how the people lived. There was also a underlining threat of a ancient people returning to power that some feared and others welcomed. I loved the world and I could believe a world like this could exist outside of this book.
There were a lot of themes this book explored including inequality between classes, child abuse and placing unreasonably expectations on children and identity and finding out who you truly are. Lin finding out her identity and becoming her own person outside of her father’s shadow. Jovis finding the person he wants to be and learning to live without his wife. Phalue wanting to be more than her status and Ranami wanting happiness not just for people like her but for herself as well. Sand discovering more than just a routine. This book explores so many themes in a mature and well handled way.
What I hope people take away from this is this book can look intimidating and the multiple perspectives can be a bit much at first but once you get past that this book is worth reading! It is a great addition to the fantasy genre and a great debut to a series. I hope i can read the second book very soon and then read the third when it releases next year. If your a fantasy lover or want to explore a new magic system or even if you want fully fleshed out characters you should give this book a read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Racism
katloupet's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Racism
iamsammie27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, and Gore
Moderate: Trafficking, Kidnapping, Violence, Gaslighting, and Body horror
Minor: Racism, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child death
honeyreads1066's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I seem to be on a roll with brilliant fantasy books because this one also did not disappoint. I came into this with big expectations since this book was heavily spoken about and God was it brilliant.
This book is about identity, what makes a person good or bad and how far someone is willing to go to fix what is broken and find what is lost.
It begins with Lin, the daughter of an emperor who has become as paranoid as he is powerful. Lin competes with the Emperor's foster son Bayan for keys to opening the palace's many locked doors and eventually knowledge that will allow her to take over as emperor.
As this is going on we also follow Jovis, a smuggler who ends up with a strange companion when the island he's on sinks. This leads him further on a journey to find his missing wife with a lot of detours on the way.
The setting is so complex yet so realistic. Each island has its character and all feel like real places because of the people that reside on them. Even when you're only on an island for a moment, you're able to understand just how that island functions.
The characters themselves were incredibly complex. Every one of them was not wholly good or evil and they make decisions you don't necessarily agree with but this makes them significantly more human. Each character is full of depth and you understand just why every decision was made.
Despite this, the narrative changes I found a little irritating at times. This does usually happen when you have multiple narrative voices except here it was the opposite. Usually one of the stories isn't as interesting as the others but here I was so hooked on all of them that I got annoyed at times when there were large breaks of a specific narrative voice.
I love that the politics are not so black and white. Decisions that hurt some characters, save others and vice versa. It's nice to read something where judgements truly don't always end up with the outcome everyone wants. It's not all happy and that's brilliant.
One thing that did bother me was the magic system, though I found it unique and interesting in the end, it took a little longer than I would have liked to understand how it worked and who could do it etc. Despite that, I think it's well built and quite detailed.
I liked here how normalised things like sexualities were here, especially since it's in a fantasy setting. It's refreshing to see people being themselves and allowed to be themselves without the cliche hardships that are usually added in books.
Overall, I enjoyed this, I enjoyed all the stories and I'm excited to see where else each of the characters and decisions leads them to. I would recommend this and am eagerly awaiting the next one.
This book is about identity, what makes a person good or bad and how far someone is willing to go to fix what is broken and find what is lost.
It begins with Lin, the daughter of an emperor who has become as paranoid as he is powerful. Lin competes with the Emperor's foster son Bayan for keys to opening the palace's many locked doors and eventually knowledge that will allow her to take over as emperor.
As this is going on we also follow Jovis, a smuggler who ends up with a strange companion when the island he's on sinks. This leads him further on a journey to find his missing wife with a lot of detours on the way.
The setting is so complex yet so realistic. Each island has its character and all feel like real places because of the people that reside on them. Even when you're only on an island for a moment, you're able to understand just how that island functions.
The characters themselves were incredibly complex. Every one of them was not wholly good or evil and they make decisions you don't necessarily agree with but this makes them significantly more human. Each character is full of depth and you understand just why every decision was made.
Despite this, the narrative changes I found a little irritating at times. This does usually happen when you have multiple narrative voices except here it was the opposite. Usually one of the stories isn't as interesting as the others but here I was so hooked on all of them that I got annoyed at times when there were large breaks of a specific narrative voice.
I love that the politics are not so black and white. Decisions that hurt some characters, save others and vice versa. It's nice to read something where judgements truly don't always end up with the outcome everyone wants. It's not all happy and that's brilliant.
One thing that did bother me was the magic system, though I found it unique and interesting in the end, it took a little longer than I would have liked to understand how it worked and who could do it etc. Despite that, I think it's well built and quite detailed.
I liked here how normalised things like sexualities were here, especially since it's in a fantasy setting. It's refreshing to see people being themselves and allowed to be themselves without the cliche hardships that are usually added in books.
Overall, I enjoyed this, I enjoyed all the stories and I'm excited to see where else each of the characters and decisions leads them to. I would recommend this and am eagerly awaiting the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Minor: Racism
fennel's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism, Gore, and Animal cruelty
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