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booknerdery's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Colonisation, Child death, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal death and Cancer
betweentheshelves's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The characters were also really well done. Nhika is such a complicated main character, as are the Congmis and Kochin. Just when you think you might have the plot figured out, Le throws a wrench into things. It hooked me until the end, and I can't wait to read the next one!
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Cannibalism
linhsreadinghour's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this, the representation and worldbuilding was so easy to understand. It was great to see my culture represented in a fantasy world, I loved it. Very apt homage to Vietnamese culture in so many ways.
Inspired by Vietnamese culture, this book has such a unique medical/biological magic system, murder mystery, tension and small romance subplot. It’s underpinned by themes of continuing one’s family legacy and identity.
I enjoyed this so much, a great YA fantasy novel. I was gripped and intrigued throughout the story. Need the second book soon because cliffhanger is HANGING 😫
Check TW warnings though, lots of medical content - if you’re squeamish, take care reading this!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Medical content, Child death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Colonisation, and Grief
mikasana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This originally felt like a fantasy novel but it soon quickly became more of a murder mystery with elements of fantasy set in an old timey city where horses were still occasionally used to pull carriages.
My only main grievances were the romance and the engagement towards the end. The beginning sucks you in so well and you lose a lot of steam in the middle and end. It’s still great, but it could have been so much more if that same momentum kept going or even built up. The romance was very underwhelming. Yes there were some hints that something was blooming but when it did happen it felt like it came out of left field. It felt off.
The story as a whole was as wonderful as it felt it was a dedication. A love letter written not only to culture and family but to the healers of the world and to the commitment they vow to life itself.
And that ending??? Ohhh man. There’s that momentum again. I look forward to the final installment.
Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Torture, Death of parent, Grief, and Drug abuse
runealin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Classism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Cannibalism
roseleebooks's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
The plot is part mystery/thriller, part medical drama in a fantasy setting and I am impressed by how well it all worked in this book. Kochin also was a great counter to Nhika. Their relationship does seem to develop and change very quickly, I was wishing there were more interactions between the two of them.
I would love to read another book in this world. The ending was phenomenal and the characters well developed. A great read!
Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Murder, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Genocide, and Gun violence
elee2013's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
And the ending was oddly drawn out… and then everything all at once! And then the book is over! Artificial suspense with no falling action. For all the explaining the book does (I do think it came across a bit heavy handed) we get to the end and there’s no reflection whatsoever.
It’s disappointing because so much of the rest of the book is so good!! The “magic”, the steampunk, the colonialism, the hints at the upcoming conflict with Nazi-ish standins (don’t think I didn’t notice the Mengele reference), the medical mystery Nhika is working to solve in the first half. Awesome start! But it lost me in the final act. I won’t be continuing with the series.
Moderate: Medical trauma, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Medical content, Animal death, and Colonisation
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Animal death, and War
lexihworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, blood, injury, gore, medical trauma, the use of weapons, and kidnapping.
This book had a ton of the trappings of what I love in a dark fantasy novel. It was well written without being overly flowery in language. It was easy to follow. The characters were interesting. I found the premise intriguing and the fast-paced plot kept me entertained. What set this book apart for me was the setting and atmosphere of the world in which the story took place. I was captivated by this city with its old-world high society classism, and polite smiles hiding mistrust, treachery, and unwarranted fears of the “foreign” or “unknown,” all of which were juxtaposed with futuristic automatons and medical advancements. The influence of Vietnamese mythology on this book kept it from falling too far into the cliches of steampunk but still managed to capture the duality of future tech and antiquated society that most punk-type genres aim for. Along with the protagonist’s modern sense of justice, a mystery plot to solve, and the beautiful lore-rich magic system, this was almost a 5-star read for me.
My only critiques are with some of the interpersonal relationships between the characters. I liked the characters themselves, but some of the dynamics that the heroine had with them just didn’t feel grounded enough for me. The main romance had a great “rivals to lovers” style build-up in the first half, but it felt very rushed after the characters made their first major turning point. The payoff was lessened for me by the way it kind of felt underdeveloped. That being said, this is the first in a duology, so the second may alleviate some of that tension for readers.
Our protagonist’s relationships with her employers also felt underdeveloped. There was a lot of tension about whether or not they were ever going to give her their trust, but I had hoped that tension would feel a little bit more resolved. Their reticence was believable and even sometimes understandable, but I grew more frustrated as the narrative went on that the tension there was neither escalating nor dispersing. It plateaued the plot momentum a bit for me.
The narration of the audiobook was well done. I tend to prefer audiobooks because I sometimes struggle to sit still without anything to occupy my hands. Listening to an audiobook while playing an idle game or doing a craft project is my ideal. Sometimes if a narrator's voice is too monotone or they don’t pause for punctuation. I can struggle to keep focused on the story. I didn’t have that problem at all with this text. However, I did listen to it on 1.5x speed, as the regular narration speed was just a little too slow for me (but I almost always have to speed up narrations, so that’s not really a complaint). I thought the narrator’s voice was a perfect fit for the characters and I never had any trouble discerning which character was speaking.
I rated this book 4.5 stars on Storygraph, and 4 stars on Goodreads. In the system that I use for my reading statistics, I rated “The Last Bonecarver” as 8.9 out of 10.
With that rating, I would recommend this book to readers who love fantasy stories with fast-paced mystery plots, magical adventures, and dark themes.
If that sounds like you, “The Last Bonecarver” by Vanessa Le will be officially published in just a few days– March 19, 2024– so add it to your TBR or order it now.
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Gore, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Animal death
thebookkeepers's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I always enjoy a magic system that comes with a cost to the user like this one did and is one of the many reasons I loved the magic & world building. A few plot reveals I was able to predict but not in an overly apparent way. The ending was wild and definitely increased my overall rating. I don’t necessarily love what the epilogue suggested…but I’ll still read book 2 to see what comes next.
This book does contain blood - think surgery, medical, and gun violence scenes.
LGBTQ + rep: male/male relationship with side characters
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Gore, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death and Animal death
Minor: Cannibalism