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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
4/5stars
*I was provided with an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I really enjoyed this!! It's been a while since I read fantasy, and this was such a fun way to get back into it. One of my biggest qualms with fantasy recently is that it all feels very similar - similar characters, tropes, etc. But this was SO unique. The character of Charm is honestly enough to read this book - talk about a strong female character! She is, as I saw another reviewer say, she is "lost, a madam, a whore, a witch but also a warrior." She is so complex and interesting and shows so many sides of women and what it means to be a woman. Her story is both so inspiring but also absolutely heart breaking - this has quite a few trigger warnings for sexual assault/rape. Charm is made even more complex by her necromantic creations of her boneghosts who appear to be little piece of her soul that she has given their own body.
I really loved the atmosphere of this book. Especially the beginning, when first meeting Charm and "The Lady" and their creations of Pain, Justice, Desire, Shame and Pride, it weirdly reminded me of a Tim Burton movie. The atmosphere was just very gaunt and grey and the inclusion of the necromancy and creation of the boneghosts, it weirdly reminded me of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Sally. Considering I love Tim Burton and TNBC, that's a big compliment from me!!
The reason I docked a star was a problem I have with a lot of fantasy and most likely because I'm so out of practice reading it so I apologize - but I found the writing of this kept me at a bit of an arms length. I really liked the characters, but I didn't always CARE about them, if that makes sense? I find it really difficult to truly love and care about characters in fantasies, and unfortunately this one had the same problem. I'm also just too dumb to read fantasy nowadays and kept getting a bit confused about the plot/politics and confused a few characters. But these are things I'm sure fantasy readers won't be bothered by.
Thank you again to Tor for this ARC and the opportunity to read this wonderful debut early!
*I was provided with an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I really enjoyed this!! It's been a while since I read fantasy, and this was such a fun way to get back into it. One of my biggest qualms with fantasy recently is that it all feels very similar - similar characters, tropes, etc. But this was SO unique. The character of Charm is honestly enough to read this book - talk about a strong female character! She is, as I saw another reviewer say, she is "lost, a madam, a whore, a witch but also a warrior." She is so complex and interesting and shows so many sides of women and what it means to be a woman. Her story is both so inspiring but also absolutely heart breaking - this has quite a few trigger warnings for sexual assault/rape. Charm is made even more complex by her necromantic creations of her boneghosts who appear to be little piece of her soul that she has given their own body.
I really loved the atmosphere of this book. Especially the beginning, when first meeting Charm and "The Lady" and their creations of Pain, Justice, Desire, Shame and Pride, it weirdly reminded me of a Tim Burton movie. The atmosphere was just very gaunt and grey and the inclusion of the necromancy and creation of the boneghosts, it weirdly reminded me of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Sally. Considering I love Tim Burton and TNBC, that's a big compliment from me!!
The reason I docked a star was a problem I have with a lot of fantasy and most likely because I'm so out of practice reading it so I apologize - but I found the writing of this kept me at a bit of an arms length. I really liked the characters, but I didn't always CARE about them, if that makes sense? I find it really difficult to truly love and care about characters in fantasies, and unfortunately this one had the same problem. I'm also just too dumb to read fantasy nowadays and kept getting a bit confused about the plot/politics and confused a few characters. But these are things I'm sure fantasy readers won't be bothered by.
Thank you again to Tor for this ARC and the opportunity to read this wonderful debut early!
Loved this.
Intriguing with an unpredictable ending. The author conveys how the world in the book works without turning it into an intro list, showing her skill as a writer.
Intriguing with an unpredictable ending. The author conveys how the world in the book works without turning it into an intro list, showing her skill as a writer.
I honestly don't know who I would recommend this book to. The characters were amazing, the story was convoluted, the language was interesting... I'm not sure who this book is for, but it was a marvelous book just the same.
And ghost sex workers. In a necromancer's brothel.
And ghost sex workers. In a necromancer's brothel.
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Child death
I’m not even going to rate this because I honestly have no idea what happened. Like I remember some of the characters names, and some things that happened. But then again I don’t. I just couldn’t get into enough to focus on what was actually going on.
adventurous
dark
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
This book is interesting and clever. I liked the characters and the intricacy of the plot. However, there were some stylistic/editorial choices that I didn’t enjoy.
Worth the read, i’ve never read another book like it!
Worth the read, i’ve never read another book like it!
The Bone Orchard is slow starting. I really thought I might DNF it but I’m glad I didn’t. It picked up and just TOOK OFF around chapter 10.
Definitely old gothic who-dun-it type of book which is
I just couldn’t keep putting all my energy into trying to follow and keep track of all the characters and how they were all the same but not the same and yeah. On top of the politics. I was reminded how much I *don't* like political fantasy. Interesting concept though!!!!