Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Bones of Ruin

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

10 reviews

jose_kg's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I really wanted to love this book, magical realism in Victorian London sounded amazing and many of the ideas that Raughley had are very interesting. The problem was the execution, the pacing was odd, very slow in parts and a lot of unnecessary repetition of characters back stories to the point I wondered if she'd set herself a high minimum word count. There was a lot of telling instead of showing and characters having deep feelings for each other with no reason. There was a fair amount of mind-reading going on, where Iris would question something in her mind and then a character would helpfully supply the answer without being asked. Iris was a surprisingly boring MC despite a really interesting back story, I think the author wanted her to be too perfect and that made her boring and the plot had to drive the story completely. The love triangle wasn't very believable and I don't know what was meant to be going on with Adam.

I found the final big battle with the other 'fanciful freaks' really silly. Firstly these people were meant to be her friends, we'd been told over and over how much their friendship meant, but the second they perceived her as a possible threat they try to kill her. Secondly they try to kill her, a person they explicitly know cannot die, so what on earth did they think they were going to achieve? Piss her off so she'd kill them faster? Thirdly, they heard her story of all the pain she'd gone through, the fact she didn't want to kill anyone and now that she knows what she can do she won't accidentally kill anyone else, so as a group that has multiple murderers in it, they decide she's the worst for accidently killing someone? It just seemed so contrived and took any emotion from the realisation that many of them probably died when the club burnt down.

Overall I found this a hard book to finish and I won't be reading the rest of the series. I have given some stars because the premise is really interesting, I just wish it had been executed better.

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arsenelouppain's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I wanted to like this book so bad! It's got a great premise, and I loved the writing style. I also think the author is really cool!

My main complaint is about the protagonist, Iris. I found her largely unlikeable and her behavior was downright erratic at times. I lost it when

she decided to make out with a dude in the middle of a mission where lives hung in the balance.

It took me five months to get through this just because I hated Iris so, so much.

I was also not a fan of the love triangle (love square? Love pentagon? Maybe even a hexagon.) It was unnecessary and annoying to read through. Perhaps just Jinn and Adam would have been fine. But

Max?

They barely even knew each other! I understand that it's possible to fall in love at first sight, but there was way too much going on

between all the fighting and mysteries and drama for them to form any kind of connection. Especially after he abandonned her and Jinn in the first round of the tournament.

One thing that also bothered me was when

all of the Fanciful Freaks acted like the apocalypse was somehow impossible. Like, you went to a fair in South Kensington and can now breathe fire, but you don't think it's possible that the world might end one day?

Seriously?

I liked the ending. I was actually surprised when

Max was revealed to have betrayed them. In hindsight, it's painfully obvious, but please remember that I read this book over the course of five months.

It was a nice set up for the sequel.

I also approve of the way Raughley addressed the issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

In the end, this book was not for me, but if you're interested, I recommend giving it a go!

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gillianalice's review

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 because I liked the premise a lot, but the execution was...lacking somehow. The romance felt really forced and was not at all relevant to the plot. It was distracting and more than a little frustrating. And can we please stop having love interests that get all weird and jealous when the main character doesn't pay enough attention to them, even though there is no established relationship yet?

Jinn almost sabotaged a mission in progress because he walked in on Iris, who is not his partner, making out with another guy, and I think we were supposed to feel sorry for him? I definitely did not. He acted like he was entitled to her and I hate it.

The tournament of freaks was a cool idea, but I think there were too many players in the game. I had a really hard time keeping track of who was on what team and who was on whose side.

That being said, I would like to read the next book and see where the story goes.

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lvjysunday's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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readingsitaaras's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

What a wild novel! Such a fascinating premise and for the most part it delivers on it. I actually liked Iris, found it hilarious how everyone just falls in love with her as soon as they meet her. I think overall most of the characters were well developed but they could use just a bit more work. The plot was complex, interesting and full of twists. I could’ve done with maybe one less plot line since the story got a little hard to follow sometimes. Overall, I’m intrigued enough to read the next book, especially since that ending was so chaotic that I have to know what happens afterwards.

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

Read with the B2 Weird book club on Discord as our February book pick!

This was amazing!! Also so bloody and violent, lived for it all.

Rep: African cishet female MC, BIPOC cishet male side character, BIPOC female side character, MLM side pairing.

CWs: Violence, murder, death, racism, mentions of eugenics, torture, non-consensual medical experimentation, cannibalism, blood, gore, gun violence, injury/injury detail, fire, medical trauma. Moderate: sexism, misogyny, slavery, trafficking, mentions of sex work. Minor: suicide attempt, xenophobia, sexual harassment.

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clairedinn's review

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

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starlessnights's review

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2.0

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redthistle's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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jenny_librarian's review

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 days in of 3+ hours reading and I'm still not halfway through despite everything going on. Hell, the "tournament" hasn't even started yet.

It's a good idea, but there's just way too many characters and way too much worldbuilding that doesn't ultimately give us anything. It's all so complicated that you get lost in between what is historical and what's fantasy. And it just keeps building up. Every time you think you'll get an answer, it's just more questions popping up that left me unsatisfied as a reader. I wanted to keep going, but after reading other reviews it doesn't seem to get any better and I have too many books to read to spend another 4-5 days on this one.

This is prime example of why the first book in a series should NOT be 500+ pages...

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