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A review by jupiterlee
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
As morbid as it sounds, I am a sucker for any novel that includes "death" magic.
However, I will admit that there was not a massive amount of it in this novel, but I am willing to put that down to the first novel world building.
This is the first time (I believe) that I have read a book that alternatives between past and present narrative. I found that this kept my interest peaked because you begin to wonder things when reading the present narrative, and you start to wonder if maybe Tea is the villain of the story. However, I did find it slightly confusing as not only was the present time from a different perspective but at times it was all just too much to continuously try and wrap my head around: the different names of the dark items, the different names of the creatures that the dark asha are trained to put down, what each heartglass means and the colours associated with emotions, and the various names of places and people at times was just too much for my head to remember who was who and what the creatures were (but I supposed you can argue that that is not all that important, but it can be frustrating when you cannot visual what you are reading).
I do think that a glossary at the bad with heart glass colours and emotions would have been extremely helpful (others might have found this easier to understand than I did but at times I just gave up remember what silver heartglasses meant and what the colours displayed in them was supposed to represent).
Another thing I will admit is that, for me, it was a very slow paces book, which I am not a massive fan of. While I understand that chapters on Tea's classes and her struggles as a novice are there to build character, I felt that it could be underwhelming at times and it made me not so eager to pick up the book when I had the time.
I will certainly be picking up the next novel due to the ending and the facts that were revealed, but I hope that we get to see Tea using more of her magic and her mischievous nature (which it seems we may with what the information she has decided to withhold from others in the last few chapters). I will also be interested to see what happens with two characters :- one that seems to have went from her forever ally to her enemy, and one that seems to have went from her forever enemy to her ally!
However, I will admit that there was not a massive amount of it in this novel, but I am willing to put that down to the first novel world building.
This is the first time (I believe) that I have read a book that alternatives between past and present narrative. I found that this kept my interest peaked because you begin to wonder things when reading the present narrative, and you start to wonder if maybe Tea is the villain of the story. However, I did find it slightly confusing as not only was the present time from a different perspective but at times it was all just too much to continuously try and wrap my head around: the different names of the dark items, the different names of the creatures that the dark asha are trained to put down, what each heartglass means and the colours associated with emotions, and the various names of places and people at times was just too much for my head to remember who was who and what the creatures were (but I supposed you can argue that that is not all that important, but it can be frustrating when you cannot visual what you are reading).
I do think that a glossary at the bad with heart glass colours and emotions would have been extremely helpful (others might have found this easier to understand than I did but at times I just gave up remember what silver heartglasses meant and what the colours displayed in them was supposed to represent).
Another thing I will admit is that, for me, it was a very slow paces book, which I am not a massive fan of. While I understand that chapters on Tea's classes and her struggles as a novice are there to build character, I felt that it could be underwhelming at times and it made me not so eager to pick up the book when I had the time.
I will certainly be picking up the next novel due to the ending and the facts that were revealed, but I hope that we get to see Tea using more of her magic and her mischievous nature (which it seems we may with what the information she has decided to withhold from others in the last few chapters). I will also be interested to see what happens with two characters :- one that seems to have went from her forever ally to her enemy, and one that seems to have went from her forever enemy to her ally!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Animal death, War, and Violence
Minor: Bullying