Reviews with content warning for Death - The Bone Witch

I appreciated the rich culture and world that Chupeco created in this story. It was pretty confusing at first but I did like that it unfurled as the story did. It may have been clearer in physical form and I think I will pick up the books for the rest of the story.

Tea is a necromancy witch in a world where witches are known. Female witches are trained to use their rune magic to both protect and entertain the wealthy and high class. In their training to entertain they are very highly educated in history, dance, musical instruments and song, as well as fighting. Male witches join the military ranks as Death Seekers. Tea discovers her ability as a Dark Asha by accidentally raising her brother, a fallen death seeker when she is only 12. From here the story follows Tea as she is trained in her craft, but the training doesn't come easy and Dark Asha's are more feared and ridiculed than respected.

The story itself was a little slow, but is told in two timelines. When the reveal of why happens the story starts to pick up. As with most YA stories, Tea is incredibly strong and special. But it didn't feel as Mary Sue as it could have. We see her struggle with many things and we see her fail and we see her punished. I did enjoy the aspect of her making mistakes and learning from them, we aren't told she is smart but we see that she is smart. Though that doesn't mean she doesn't make stupid young teen mistakes. Which I greatly appreciated.

The building of the world and weaving of cultures honestly gives it extra points for me.

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

The majority of this book is the world building with small bits of story progression is told through flashbacks to the past. I think it was a neat little plot device because you know where the character ends up. I found the system of Asha very intriguing, some parts magic geisha, some parts magic warriors. I’ll likely keep reading the rest of the series to see where it goes from here.

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bookwyrmknits's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I did not like this book, overall. There are some elements I liked: I like the framing device, where Tea is telling this story to a bard. I liked the way the asha pick clothing based on who they are and what matters to them. I like the way magic is woven into the dances they do. But those things do not make a book. There was not enough plot, not enough character development, not enough motivation for this to work for me. Also, the lack of any sense of time in the middle of the book drove me crazy: there's a big difference between a twelve-year-old (as Tea is when she arrives) and a fifteen-year-old (as she is at the end of the book) but I don't know when she grew up in the middle there, so some of those scenes were really uncomfortable or unrealistic for me.

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qgg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read Sept 2021 and April 2023

On second reading, this is a richly layered YA fantasy novel with a rough coming of age story entwined with the start of a revenge story. The only problem is, that the reader doesn’t quite know the details of what she needs revenge for in book one.

First review: This is a dark tale of a young witch with an uncommon dark power to raise the dead and command monsters. The story is told in two parts, a before (ages almost 13 to almost 16) and after (age 17) and I’m still processing how the book ended. It was very abrupt and unfinished. Turns out, this was the first in a trilogy. I can tell you that the rest of the trilogy will be dark and tragic…but I think I need to see it through.

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