A review by nytephoenyx
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

The Bone Witch is an immediately dark and stunning book, filled with powerful characters and a world stubbornly set in its ways. I liked Tea from the early pages of the book, and fell in love with Lady Mykaela the moment she was introduced. As a whole I enjoyed this story, though it is very much a setup story with greater things to come.

I’ve only read one other book (series, really) with the same storytelling style as The Bone Witch – the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. While I think it’s a style that only maintains its charm if used sparingly, I like the way the layers of storytelling peel back history in a race to get to the present. For some people, it’s the end of the book that drives them forward. As a longtime fan of fantasy and especially epic fantasy and magic-driven tales, I am just as interested in the journey as I am in the end. There’s certainly a lot that has happened between fledgling Tea and the graceful, powerful, confident woman we see sharing her story with the bard. How did she come to be? Read more and find out.

While I found it easy to fall into The Bone Witch as I read it, there are parts that have sunk in after completion that leave me a bit aggravated. The biggest of these things is the simplicity with which Tea wields her magic. We only ever see her draw dark runes for something big and powerful. While each incident drains her, she is otherwise left with no consequences for her actions, and although she’s technically in training, we see little to none of this. Tea is all chaos and good fortune in her casting. She does what she wants in life and has no consequences. She’s a “chosen one” trope and while that’s fine… I’m not feeling the struggle she needs to overcome in order to earn her status. It’s a bit of a pet peeve for me when characters essentially snap their fingers and have everything they need. Make me root for Tea because she’s strong and relentless, not just because she’s powerful.

This wasn’t a big enough annoyance to keep me from enjoying the book, but it’s one that I can’t stop thinking about now. There are a lot of moving pieces in The Bone Witch and other characters to be interested in as well – not to mention that I’m always interested in a book about necromancers. Although the term “Dark Asha” is used, in common speak Tea and Lady Mykaela are necromancers. They’re reviled by the other people of the world, or so w’re told. We see a couple instances early in the book where Tea is insulted, but for the most part, the Dark Ashas are revered where this particular book takes place. It’s possible that the prejudice comes into play later in the book, but it’s not something Tea faces frequently or affects her growth in any way. I mention this because a good chunk of the book blurb suggests prejudice takes a larger role than it did in actuality.

The Bone Witch didn’t follow the path I expected. There was more action and less schooling than I anticipated given the early storytelling and the patterns for similar books in this genre. It wasn’t so much surprising as it was extra interesting for this point. The pacing was a little rocky – it starts up steady then speeds up dramatically to the point where I had to go and rewind the audiobook to make sure I didn’t miss something. I don’t know that this would be as much of a concern in the physical copy, but something to be aware of. It’s funny – all the reviews I read said this was slow paced, but I didn’t feel that was the case. Maybe I read a lot of really slow paced books and comparatively this was fine?

I have some criticisms, but I can’t deny The Bone Witch was an interesting book and that I enjoyed it. I liked the threads of darkness that wove through the story, I liked the world, and I liked Tea’s cast of supporting characters. I will be going on to read The Heart Forger. Unless the series goes horribly wrong somewhere – which I doubt – I anticipate enjoying the trilogy and believe The Bone Witch is a book I’d read again. I recommend it.

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