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tifftastic87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Violence
amre23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, Gore, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, War, Violence, Grief, Sexism, and Classism
Minor: Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Body horror
ariel790's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.25
This book is about a girl named Tea. Tea experiences loss and then has a re-birth that is comparable of Daenerys Targaryen's of Game of Thrones. Done by trial by fire with everyone questioning her motives. Tea is similar to the beauty and cleverness Daenerys has, but I think is so much stronger. I thoroughly enjoyed this tail of her beginnings, with a glimpse of the terror she may wrought in the future.
Rin Chupeco kept an easy pace with enough detail to imagine Tea's world with ease. Although, not a unique technique, I did enjoy Tea's humble beginning told as if in the past while jumping back to the present at the end of each chapter. This gave a sense of mystery to be solved in how Tea ended up exiled. While this wasn't revealed, enough to keep Tea interesting is. Looking forward to book 2.
Rin Chupeco kept an easy pace with enough detail to imagine Tea's world with ease. Although, not a unique technique, I did enjoy Tea's humble beginning told as if in the past while jumping back to the present at the end of each chapter. This gave a sense of mystery to be solved in how Tea ended up exiled. While this wasn't revealed, enough to keep Tea interesting is. Looking forward to book 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: War and Bullying
Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, and Violence
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Subtle and Powerful, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco wields undeath and beauty to great effect. Tea of the Embers tells her history to the Bard on a lonely and bone-strewn beach, one of great magic; silk and swords; danger, dance, and betrayal.
The Heartsrunes feel at once ingenious and obvious, like someone pointed out a thing I ought to have known forever but never dreamed of before. They're essential to the book without ever feeling like a storytelling shortcut, and the color system was understandable. Tea is believable at different levels of maturity throughout the whole book, she changes a lot and it comes through really well. Her dynamic with Fox feels like a real sibling relationship, their peculiar complication notwithstanding.
There’s a tension and release created by the interstitial sections of the framing device, sometimes warning of emotional beats to come, sometimes cooling down after a stressful chapter. It made for a very soothing reading experience for me, one that addresses the kind of anxiety I have when reading new books that involve a character making social faux pas. It allowed for tiny wind-ups, building a small bit of tension by revealing some information in the interstitial then having it pay off somewhere in the next chapter (or even several chapters later). It's all the comfort of knowing how a book is going to turn out, without actually spoiling the end. The interstitials are complete enough to be their own short story and they strengthen the book overall, separate from being a good fit for my own reading quirks.
Overall I love this book and I'm very excited to read the sequel. I keep trying to describe more things I liked and I'm stymied by the spoilery nature of most of them.
The Heartsrunes feel at once ingenious and obvious, like someone pointed out a thing I ought to have known forever but never dreamed of before. They're essential to the book without ever feeling like a storytelling shortcut, and the color system was understandable. Tea is believable at different levels of maturity throughout the whole book, she changes a lot and it comes through really well. Her dynamic with Fox feels like a real sibling relationship, their peculiar complication notwithstanding.
There’s a tension and release created by the interstitial sections of the framing device, sometimes warning of emotional beats to come, sometimes cooling down after a stressful chapter. It made for a very soothing reading experience for me, one that addresses the kind of anxiety I have when reading new books that involve a character making social faux pas. It allowed for tiny wind-ups, building a small bit of tension by revealing some information in the interstitial then having it pay off somewhere in the next chapter (or even several chapters later). It's all the comfort of knowing how a book is going to turn out, without actually spoiling the end. The interstitials are complete enough to be their own short story and they strengthen the book overall, separate from being a good fit for my own reading quirks.
Overall I love this book and I'm very excited to read the sequel. I keep trying to describe more things I liked and I'm stymied by the spoilery nature of most of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexism and Emotional abuse
CW for sexism, verbal abuse, betrayal, death, major character death.
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