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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just could not get into this, I procrastinated picking it up every time I wanted to read, and I don't wanna waste my time
medium-paced
I almost put this book down a couple times but finally gave in. The core characters were not written with enough distinguishing features, so I couldn't keep track of who was who, and thus couldn't really get into their story. Pain was my favorite character but she wasn't featured enough to make me want to stick with the book. The world building is a bit obtuse; I couldn't get into it, and there was a lot of disjointed politicking going on. I had also been looking for more feminine rage, which I did not find. There's lots of abuse and everyone is just kind of terrible. Life is too short and if I'm not enjoying it by this point, I might as well move on.
dark
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Yes
The Bone Orchard is a beautiful and complex tale about survival and trauma. The story features a unique take on psychics, political strife, despicable royalty, a murder mystery, and war.
Personally I was a bit confused starting out, since it’s an intricate fantasy world with layered characters who are good at manipulating one another. But as more of the world and the characters’ histories are revealed, the story becomes more and more satisfying to read. It does include a lot of heavy & sensitive topics, including sex work and war trauma. But in my opinion, it takes these topics seriously and takes an interesting look at how past traumas have affected the main character.
Personally I was a bit confused starting out, since it’s an intricate fantasy world with layered characters who are good at manipulating one another. But as more of the world and the characters’ histories are revealed, the story becomes more and more satisfying to read. It does include a lot of heavy & sensitive topics, including sex work and war trauma. But in my opinion, it takes these topics seriously and takes an interesting look at how past traumas have affected the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War
Minor: Child death
This teeters at 3.5 but I’m rounding it up because it is pretty unique. Dark fantasy with Fugue states and witches and sex workers in a pretty wild, difficult to explain setting. Mostly because of the soft world building, which is just a preference of mine, I find I much prefer hard world building with settings that depart from “default”. Otherwise you are just rolling with stuff continually, only some of which is explained and deemed important, but all of it impacts your understanding of the world, typically.
Interesting character concepts and setting didn’t quite rescue this from the prose work and premise that manifested to be a bit dull, and the actual characterization. Its just not for me stylistically, which made it hard to get invested. That said, it really is filled with atypical dark fantasy, and a few things do strike a chord. Maybe a book to revisit in the future when I’m in a more amiable mood, but typically in my reading journey I get harder to impress in particular with prose styling and characterization, so I don’t know. Clearly, I’m conflicted.
Interesting character concepts and setting didn’t quite rescue this from the prose work and premise that manifested to be a bit dull, and the actual characterization. Its just not for me stylistically, which made it hard to get invested. That said, it really is filled with atypical dark fantasy, and a few things do strike a chord. Maybe a book to revisit in the future when I’m in a more amiable mood, but typically in my reading journey I get harder to impress in particular with prose styling and characterization, so I don’t know. Clearly, I’m conflicted.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
Wow, what a book! So different from anything I've read before, and it made me cry a lot, which is always a plus!
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes