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alishav's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The things you love shouldn’t hurt you… You don’t have to hurt yourself to be worthy of pursuing your dream. You don’t have to deny pieces of yourself in order to be good.
An easy-to-read, young adult fantasy with a rivals-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine sapphic romance. But more than that, this book delves into what defines success and touched the heart of this forever recovering perfectionist, overachiever (and music lover). Sofi grapples with her future being upended time and time again as choices and discoveries challenge everything she knew about herself, her world, and her art. Lara and other lovable - and despicable - characters influence Sofi’s journey and help her uncover a new, healthier relationship with herself, her past, her music, and ultimately her future.
I really appreciated Tooley’s ability to weave a story together and immerse readers in an interesting world with a very cool magic system and fantastic characters.
I think there is a parallel that could be drawn between the themes in this book and the current dialogue about the use of AI in art… could be an interesting book club discussion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide
emily_mh's review
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.75
This was a fantastic YA fantasy standalone! It was structured well, beginning with the audition and then proceeding with the stages of the tour - but Tooley makes sure to make each stage a little different, a little more challenging, and works with the characters a little more each time, so that the plot doesn’t feel repetitive. The world-building complemented the story well, being woven into the narrative rather than info-dumped. For example, characteristics of Sofi’s world are the reason behind the inciting incident and also a lot of the personal and interpersonal tension. I liked the perpetual winter setting, and found the magic system of bones intriguing.
It would have been cool to see some kind of exploration of how the papers aided disabled people, as the papers are sort of like the equivalent of tech. Currently tech IS undermining art through the use of plagiarising AI (similar to how the papers give skill to a person without them learning it) - but on the other hand, tech is immensely helpful to disabled people (like a Paper might help treat symptoms if it can influence things like body temperature, or complete tasks for people with dexterity limitations). Please note I don’t find the absence of this exploration problematic, it’s just something I wished was there! It could have also been good to showcase more the effect on society of limiting music performance to five people. However, this is a personal preference, not a critique of quality. I get there are limits to what can be explored in a YA standalone!
The character work was really compelling. You have this MC, Sofi, that’s coming out of an abusive relationship with her father and herself, trying to find goodness but really struggling, too. The biggest lessons Sofi has to learn are that “the things you love shouldn’t hurt you”, and that devotion to your craft doesn’t look like self-flagellation. Tooley also shows Sofi’s love for and knowledge of music rather than just telling us she has these, which seems to be a step authors commonly forget when centring an art form in their book.
The romance was good! It was nothing particularly outstanding, but Tooley really put in the effort to make the reader understand not only the attraction between Sofi and Lara, but their connection, the reasons why they grew to love each other - and they did grow to do this, it wasn’t insta-love.
The themes were interesting. As I mentioned before, a big part of the book is Sofi healing from abusive relationships. Another topic was that art is better with emotion. There was also a really interesting discussion of achievement! The book showed that achieving a goal or title isn’t everything, and that being too focussed on a goal can lead to feelings of worthlessness and burnout. It was also so important to see a YA MC who wasn’t able to achieve her dream, as sometimes we do fail at things or miss the mark! This is a concept you don’t often see in YA, but it’s a really important one for this age group.
I’ll wrap up on a quote that really resonated with me:
“In fact, the Muse’s silence was so loud that Sofi began to fear the voice she had once heard, that whisper of her destiny, had merely been in her own head. Another way that she had forced herself to suffer.”
Rep: lesbian MC (word not used because fantasy), sapphic LI, Achillean SC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Suicide, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: imprisonment Minor: capital punishment, childbirth, self-injury, menstruation, theftwysperias's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The way sofi sees the world and weaves descriptions is so intoxicating, it made me want to write and sing the same songs. She's such an interesting mc because its hard to root for her at times, and others you can clearly see how broken she is. Her perseverance and need to correct whats wrong made me so emotional and even more so when she realizes how her life was wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
a_ab's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
3.5
This book explored interesting concepts, but I found it to be too long and meandering, especially in the middle.
It also suffers from "all fathers are monsters" syndrome - not a single father mentioned in the book (in their fatherly capacity), even in passing, could be described as even a half-decent person. It got a little weird there.
But otherwise this was an interesting young adult fantasy book with some thoughtful observations about talent, excellence and self-discovery.
It also suffers from "all fathers are monsters" syndrome - not a single father mentioned in the book (in their fatherly capacity), even in passing, could be described as even a half-decent person. It got a little weird there.
But otherwise this was an interesting young adult fantasy book with some thoughtful observations about talent, excellence and self-discovery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Toxic relationship
kuurankero's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexism and Suicide
mwager's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, and Child abuse
beautifulpaxielreads's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
Sofi and the Bone Song is a beautifully written tale of love, magic, and music (not necessarily in that order).
Before I begin this review, I will now describe the plot. I don't really consider it a spoiler, given that most of the information can be found in the official blurb. But if you don't want to know anything about the plot at all, I've highlighted in bold where the plot summary begins and ends, so feel free to skip those parts if you wish.
PLOT SUMMARY
In the fantasy kingdom of Aell, the use of magic has run wild, with people using it for just about everything from composing poetry to styling their hair. Only one thing remains sacred and untouched - music. To ensure it remains so, the only people allowed to play music publicly are the five individuals who have been elected to the Guild of Musiks, and the Apprentices of their choosing.
Sixteen-year-old Sofi is the daughter of Frederik Ollenholt, one of Aell's most revered Musiks, and like her father, Sofi is a skilled lutenist. She has been raised by her father to believe that to be anything less than technically perfect is unacceptable.
When it comes time for the Musiks to choose their respective Apprentices, Sofi has no doubt that her father will choose her - so it comes as a terrible shock when after a round of auditions in which Sofi performs flawlessly, her father chooses another. Laravelle "Lara" Hollis is well-connected, beautiful, and charming, and offers up a compelling audition - despite having never played an instrument in her life.
Sofi is outraged at the decision, believing all her years of training were for naught. But worse is to come - the very next day, her father is found deadby his own hand . Lara must now take up his position as Musik, despite having none of the training required. Outwardly, Sofi agrees to help her rival, while secretly planning to expose Lara as a fraud. But as Sofi gets to know the girl who stole her future, the more Sofi doubts everything she thought she knew - about herself, her father, and about music.
END OF PLOT SUMMARY
A love of music infuses every page of Sofi and the Bone Song, which makes sense, given that author Adrienne Tooley is also an accomplished singer/songwriter of indie folk music - and has also majored in musical theatre! I loved how Tooley incorporated this love into the novel, viaSofi's changing attitudes to music . When we first meet Sofi, she believes that great music is only attained through suffering - an attitude honed and shaped by her demanding and manipulative father. How he did so is described in a series of flashbacks, which are literally skin-crawling. I almost couldn't read the part where he taught her that when a musician plays their instrument, they must suppress any emotion whilst doing so . If you are at all sensitive about emotional abuse and manipulation, read this novel with care.
But the more Sofi comes to know Lara (and begins tofall for her ), the more she begins to doubt the lessons her father taught her. Far from being emotionless, Sofi learns, music is all about emotion. Fear, love, joy, sadness, and everything in between can be expressed in music - and the art of creating should be a joyous and inspiring experience. It should not be like working oneself to the bone (pun fully intended) in order to achieve a result.
My reading experience of Sofi and the Bone Song wasn't perfect. I kind of wish I hadn't left such long time gaps in my reading of it, as it affected my ability to follow the plot and character development. I did feel at points that Soficame to her conclusions too quickly , but that may have been on me. There was an issue of pace towards the end, it kind of jarred a bit with me. One day, I will reread this novel more slowly and carefully, so I can better adjust to its rhythm (excuse the musical pun).
Anyway, despite my issues, I did very much enjoy this novel.
Before I begin this review, I will now describe the plot. I don't really consider it a spoiler, given that most of the information can be found in the official blurb. But if you don't want to know anything about the plot at all, I've highlighted in bold where the plot summary begins and ends, so feel free to skip those parts if you wish.
PLOT SUMMARY
In the fantasy kingdom of Aell, the use of magic has run wild, with people using it for just about everything from composing poetry to styling their hair. Only one thing remains sacred and untouched - music. To ensure it remains so, the only people allowed to play music publicly are the five individuals who have been elected to the Guild of Musiks, and the Apprentices of their choosing.
Sixteen-year-old Sofi is the daughter of Frederik Ollenholt, one of Aell's most revered Musiks, and like her father, Sofi is a skilled lutenist. She has been raised by her father to believe that to be anything less than technically perfect is unacceptable.
When it comes time for the Musiks to choose their respective Apprentices, Sofi has no doubt that her father will choose her - so it comes as a terrible shock when after a round of auditions in which Sofi performs flawlessly, her father chooses another. Laravelle "Lara" Hollis is well-connected, beautiful, and charming, and offers up a compelling audition - despite having never played an instrument in her life.
Sofi is outraged at the decision, believing all her years of training were for naught. But worse is to come - the very next day, her father is found dead
END OF PLOT SUMMARY
A love of music infuses every page of Sofi and the Bone Song, which makes sense, given that author Adrienne Tooley is also an accomplished singer/songwriter of indie folk music - and has also majored in musical theatre! I loved how Tooley incorporated this love into the novel, via
But the more Sofi comes to know Lara (and begins to
My reading experience of Sofi and the Bone Song wasn't perfect. I kind of wish I hadn't left such long time gaps in my reading of it, as it affected my ability to follow the plot and character development. I did feel at points that Sofi
Anyway, despite my issues, I did very much enjoy this novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Child abuse
Quoted from the author, Adrienne Tooley in the title pages: "This book contains depictions of emotional abuse at the hand of a parent, death by suicide (off-page), and descriptions of self-harm." I should also note that as well as the MC's fathersaltylane's review
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
I liked this story well enough. The pace was rather slow at times, and there were a lot of monologues, so it almost verged on boring sometimes. The writing style wasn’t my favorite; a lot of inner feelings and thoughts were explained in detail, which is fine in small doses but not so much in such a large amount, imo. The characters were diverse from their sexualities & genders, to their appearances and flawed personalities, which was a nice change of pace compared to a lot of popular literature. The main character was extremely flawed, and she definitely grew throughout the story. I liked the ending, even though certain parts seemed more rushed than I feel they should have been.
<spoiler > I think they kind of left the plot point of the arranged marriage without really addressing it later on, which was a bit strange to me. </spoiler >
<spoiler > I think they kind of left the plot point of the arranged marriage without really addressing it later on, which was a bit strange to me. </spoiler >
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexism, Suicide, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
thecourtofreading's review
adventurous
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i do love a heartwarming sapphic book, especially one of adrienne tooley’s and this was so atmospheric and lovely but again idk it didn’t really live up to my hype. little disappointed but i still very much love the characters and world she creates.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Suicide
catwhisperer's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide