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kathrynleereads's review
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco begins the story of Tea, a young girl who is brought to the city of Ankyo to be trained as an asha after accidentally bringing her brother back from the dead.
-
In my mind, this book can be split into two very distinct parts, the first being the majority of the book, and the second being the last 100 pages.
For most of the book, the pace is slow, the plot basically nonexistent, and the character development mild.
The last 100 pages, however, tell a whole different story. All of a sudden the pace turns nearly frantic, and the characters are challenged in new and difficult ways.
-
Tea- While reading, I constantly forgot that Tea is only 14 years old. She has the air of a much older and more experienced person, which I believe is one of the reasons that she is so powerful and (potentially) dangerous.
Fox- I’m not sure why, but I never completely trusted Fox. He obviously loves Tea very much and is there to protect her, but the whole time I was reading, there was some part of me that felt as if he’s got the potential to derail things for Tea.
Lady Mykaela- Despite having to deal with the daeva on her own for the most part, and without the presence of her heartsglass, Lady Mykaela is such a calming and positive presence. I do wish that she fought back against the kingdoms using her basically as a tool though.
Zoya-
Likh- I wish Likh had been a little more present in this book. I love his character and the debate that his presence brings up about tradition.
Polaire & Althy- I love these two. They’re so different but also so genuine. Despite everything, they love Mykaela and Tea and do everything in their power to keep them both safe.
-
Flash-Forwards & the Bard- The presence of the Bard in the flash-forwards was ingenious in so many ways.
Having Tea explain things to the Bard was a seamless way to foreshadow, and to fill readers in on things they may have overlooked, but I think the Bard’s reactions to Tea’s stories are so much more valuable.
Fictional worlds are sometimes hard for readers to grasp because even with different customs and traditions explained through world-building, it is not always easy to gauge the level of difference between that world and our own.
Seeing how the Bard, who only knows the world of the Eight Kingdoms, reacts and responds to the information he is learning from Tea gives readers insight into the mindset of the people there.
Putting aside the Bard and the added world-building element that they provided, I enjoyed the presence of the flash-forwards because of the intrigue they created.
Obviously, there are some slight spoilers released through the flash-forwards, but they are so far-fetched from the current direction of the story that it only builds the suspense more.
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World-building- In my opinion, world-building is what makes or breaks a book. I love seeing fictional worlds brought to life and reading about all the cultures and traditions that exist in each one.
I’ve never read a book about which I could say there was too much world-building.
Until now.
The Bone Witch has an amazing world that I loved learning about, but I think the reason it dragged so much for so long was because of the over-abundance of world-building.
There was so much information thrown at the reader so quickly that I got lost in the details numerous times.
It took me most of the book to determine that there is just one of each deava, and I’m still trying to sort out the major differences between the eight kingdoms (the guide at the end of the book would have been very helpful had I discovered it before finishing the book).
This book taught me that it is not world-building alone that makes or breaks a book, but world-building that is well-paced.
Despite this, and even though the book did drag for a majority of the story, I do think The Bone Witch is worth reading.
Rin Chupeco has built an intricate and beautiful world and has set the story up for great second and third books.
I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Tea in the rest of the trilogy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Sexism
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
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
sankta_aleena's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Misogyny
britgirlreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Alcohol and Body horror
ellereadsbookslike's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
4.0
When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead she discovers that she holds powers that are both incredibly rare and widely feared. Tea is then taken away to train as an asha and learn how to use and control her powers as well as what it takes to be a dark asha.
I didn't know much about this book going in, apart from the fact that it is about necromancy (which is a genre of magic that I very much enjoy). I absolutely loved the concept of this book. A girl discovers she has a rare and powerful ability is probably my favourite trope of them all and this book delivers the goods. It also very much gave me Grishaverse vibes as the asha's powers are elemental. So if you're looking for a series like Shadow and Bone, I very much recommend this!
The book is told through flashback so you are given glimpses of what Tea is to become. Bard narrates the present day and Tea narrates the flashbacks. And I really liked the difference between past and present Tea and it made me want to keep reading so I could find out what made her change. Although this being a trilogy, not all questions are answered. But that just made me want to pick up the next book straight away.
It's probably a good thing I listened to this as an audiobook though, as Tea (pronounced Tee-a) is spelt like the hot beverage and I definitely would have called her said beverage the entire time (for reference I've only ever seen is spelt like Tia)
The Bone Witch is a great start to the story and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. (I'm currently half way through book two and I'm loving it!)
I didn't know much about this book going in, apart from the fact that it is about necromancy (which is a genre of magic that I very much enjoy). I absolutely loved the concept of this book. A girl discovers she has a rare and powerful ability is probably my favourite trope of them all and this book delivers the goods. It also very much gave me Grishaverse vibes as the asha's powers are elemental. So if you're looking for a series like Shadow and Bone, I very much recommend this!
The book is told through flashback so you are given glimpses of what Tea is to become. Bard narrates the present day and Tea narrates the flashbacks. And I really liked the difference between past and present Tea and it made me want to keep reading so I could find out what made her change. Although this being a trilogy, not all questions are answered. But that just made me want to pick up the next book straight away.
It's probably a good thing I listened to this as an audiobook though, as Tea (pronounced Tee-a) is spelt like the hot beverage and I definitely would have called her said beverage the entire time (for reference I've only ever seen is spelt like Tia)
The Bone Witch is a great start to the story and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. (I'm currently half way through book two and I'm loving it!)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
madarauchiha's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.75
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
This isn't a review, it's more like my notes via moonreader pro [yes i'm have money :)] collated into a single document. Enjoy future me, and I guess other people.
Monologues! So many goddamn monologues! And infodumping! Most of the world building is in monologues or infodumping.
▪ The brown of my skin was paler now due to my frequent bloodletting, "
Hmmmm. Really. So the MC is brown, but I'm going to bet it's a light brown. A brown that can pass as a tan white person. Just based on how horny the author is for racial features that aren't, like, not white.
It also irritates me how much of the auxiliary characters are all blue eyed. Why is the author so self hating of brown eyes? Sad.
Don't take this too seriously but sometimes this book feels like a fucking race traitor. Like green eyes blue eyes pale skin red hair golden hair!!! Every hair and eye color but brown. And she also described someone, a single person, as having angular eyes. Which feels derogatory in a fantasy genre way towards asian ppl and idk if I'm over sensitive or what.
It feels just a tiny bit infodump-y but I wont complain. The magic system, so far, is pretty interesting. The constant flashbacks are irritating. Like I'm already hooked, you know? No need to tease me with what's going to happen in the following chapter.
Actually, what's irritating about the flashbacks is that they could've served a better purpose for the narrative. Emphasize the difference between mc and the mc back then. Indicate how the world itself has changed since mc had come into her full power. Anything except "Hey you know that thing you did? True or false? Yeah lemme tell you about it in the next chapter."
"Michaelmas"
Why is there christianity in this book...? Is this not fantasy? Wh-?
If the girl grew up poor why does she compare things to expensive minerals? Eg the princes eyes with emeralds. The girl is poor, shed be thinking of greenery or smt imo. Like, it'd feel more in character, you know?
Theres weird recurrent sexual harassment of the mc and I dont like it. Also things just kinda happen around her. How boring.
This book hits a lot of cliches and I dont think it does it well enough to be interesting. Like 14 chapters in and we've gotten to the harry potter magic school section of the adventure. It's like the author is throwing everything into the pot and hoping something sticks for the variety of readers who will pick up this book. Also I hate the feminine schooling. God I thought we left the sexist fantasy tropes back in the eighties.
I'm right about hating how much this is just fucking sexist fantasy because hello they're not even teaching thisdumb bitch anything about dark bone magic. I feel like I'm wasting my time reading this.
Ok so this girl who feels like she's 14 yo gets taken away to be a student. Except not really, she'san indentured slave made to serve the magical school as a servant. She's not taught anything until chapters later when, by sheer luck, she gets in trouble and someone forces her to reveal her super mary sue levels of power. At which point the magic school owners are liek 'oh fuck. I guess it's worthwhile to teach this dumb bitch some magic'. Because literally her mentor, the one who whisked her away at the start of the book, was away doing magical missions.
But even then that feels like my time is being wasted because it's not really magical learning. No, the MC is taught feminine trades. Dancing. Playing musical instrument. How to be a party host.
So this is basically magical geishas meets harry potter. Minus voldemort and magic fascists.
THEN. Then she doesn't even learn much about this bone magic until she gets in trouble AGAIN and the magical school owners are liek 'oh fuck. I guess it's worthwhile to teach this dumb bitch some magic, but for reals this time'.
Oh also there's a scene that's repeated twice in the last few chapters. It's the one where the MC remembers she was bullied in a crowd by a strange boy because he thinks her bone witch people killed his mother. It felt almost word for word, or hit the same beats as the first time it was brought up. And it was only a few chapters apart! Please, I remember, I don't need this beat into my head. I wonder if this was missed in editing or what.
I think there's bad guys? Like the main bad guyis a fellow student who wants to overthrow the government. I think. But who cares about that. That's not really a big part of the plot, most of it's about growing up in magic school and also the love triangle. The love triangle which, so far, is only hinted at.
There's a love triangle, btw. I think. It's between a prince and a nobleman. Or another prince, I forget. Like Idk how a prince who is supposed to be helping run the kingdom and learn how to be kings / nobility has the time to fuck around with a junior geisha [maiko? what's the term?] but alright sure. It's ya, it's fantasy, I'll live with it. Though I think it's not purely romantic love, as she has to pick between her romantic interest and her brother. But for reasons which aren't unveiled yet. I assume it'll be in book two.
Which I will be skipping. The plot in this book feels like dragging a very heavy stone across a field for several hours, to load it into a catapault, firing it into a wall that's only 5 feet away. If this book took a route that was actually scenic and interesting, I'd forgive it. But it doesn't. The writing is serviceable and doesn't make me want to burn the book after reading. So there's that.
I'm going to give reading the third [and final?] book just to get some closure. Judging by the cover blurb, this dumb girl hasn't accomplished jack shit since the first book.
content warnings:
minor xenophobia, misogyny, infidelity, q slur in historical context, wars, death,
major sexual assault? forcible disrobing, transmisogyny, xenophobia, misogyny, honor killing, body horror, death,
This isn't a review, it's more like my notes via moonreader pro [yes i'm have money :)] collated into a single document. Enjoy future me, and I guess other people.
Monologues! So many goddamn monologues! And infodumping! Most of the world building is in monologues or infodumping.
▪ The brown of my skin was paler now due to my frequent bloodletting, "
Hmmmm. Really. So the MC is brown, but I'm going to bet it's a light brown. A brown that can pass as a tan white person. Just based on how horny the author is for racial features that aren't, like, not white.
It also irritates me how much of the auxiliary characters are all blue eyed. Why is the author so self hating of brown eyes? Sad.
Don't take this too seriously but sometimes this book feels like a fucking race traitor. Like green eyes blue eyes pale skin red hair golden hair!!! Every hair and eye color but brown. And she also described someone, a single person, as having angular eyes. Which feels derogatory in a fantasy genre way towards asian ppl and idk if I'm over sensitive or what.
It feels just a tiny bit infodump-y but I wont complain. The magic system, so far, is pretty interesting. The constant flashbacks are irritating. Like I'm already hooked, you know? No need to tease me with what's going to happen in the following chapter.
Actually, what's irritating about the flashbacks is that they could've served a better purpose for the narrative. Emphasize the difference between mc and the mc back then. Indicate how the world itself has changed since mc had come into her full power. Anything except "Hey you know that thing you did? True or false? Yeah lemme tell you about it in the next chapter."
"Michaelmas"
Why is there christianity in this book...? Is this not fantasy? Wh-?
If the girl grew up poor why does she compare things to expensive minerals? Eg the princes eyes with emeralds. The girl is poor, shed be thinking of greenery or smt imo. Like, it'd feel more in character, you know?
Theres weird recurrent sexual harassment of the mc and I dont like it. Also things just kinda happen around her. How boring.
This book hits a lot of cliches and I dont think it does it well enough to be interesting. Like 14 chapters in and we've gotten to the
I'm right about hating how much this is just fucking sexist fantasy because hello they're not even teaching this
Ok so this girl who feels like she's 14 yo gets taken away to be a student. Except not really, she's
But even then that feels like my time is being wasted because it's not really magical learning. No, the MC is taught feminine trades. Dancing. Playing musical instrument. How to be a party host.
So this is basically magical geishas meets harry potter. Minus voldemort and magic fascists.
THEN. Then she doesn't even learn much about this bone magic until she gets in trouble AGAIN and the magical school owners are liek 'oh fuck. I guess it's worthwhile to teach this dumb bitch some magic, but for reals this time'.
Oh also there's a scene that's repeated twice in the last few chapters. It's the one where the MC
I think there's bad guys? Like the main bad guy
There's a love
Which I will be skipping. The plot in this book feels like dragging a very heavy stone across a field for several hours, to load it into a catapault, firing it into a wall that's only 5 feet away. If this book took a route that was actually scenic and interesting, I'd forgive it. But it doesn't. The writing is serviceable and doesn't make me want to burn the book after reading. So there's that.
I'm going to give reading the third [and final?] book just to get some closure. Judging by the cover blurb, this dumb girl hasn't accomplished jack shit since the first book.
content warnings:
minor xenophobia, misogyny, infidelity, q slur in historical context, wars, death,
major sexual assault? forcible disrobing, transmisogyny, xenophobia, misogyny, honor killing, body horror, death,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Death
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