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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
4.5 stars - A creepy, creative standalone fantasy reminiscent of a cross between 'A Memory Called Empire' and 'Gideon the Ninth', but also like nothing I've read before. The protagonist is a madam who has sloughed off aspects of her self into boneghosts, who she births in a vat in her conservatory, to serve as servant-companions and to forget her traumatic past. She's drawn into a mystery with the death of her patron the Emperor, but the twists in her story come more from unraveling her past than from identifying the murderer. Mueller thoughtfully tackles contemporary issues such as the reprecussions of colonialism, mental health, and identity while also weaving an entertaining story. I rarely wish for books to be longer, but I wish this one had a less rushed ending or a sequel forthcoming since I'm so keen to know where the characters end up.
3/5 stars. It was a very unique read for sure. If I had to put it in a box, I’d call it a political intrigue sci-fantasy. There were lots of moving parts to the court and layers of plotting by multiple people.
Instead of a pure magic system there were elements of sci-fi technologies being used in conjunction with the natural gifts of the mind, so to speak.
The reason it’s not ranking higher for me, is that I just never felt that the stakes were that high or entirely real for our main character. It felt like things were happening around them instead of to them. And the prose flowed well but was fairly simplistic, I felt like for this world and concept a bit more of a “purple prose” style would’ve worked better, for me, especially when it came to descriptions of the garden or the world at large.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC, the opinions are entirely my own.
Instead of a pure magic system there were elements of sci-fi technologies being used in conjunction with the natural gifts of the mind, so to speak.
The reason it’s not ranking higher for me, is that I just never felt that the stakes were that high or entirely real for our main character. It felt like things were happening around them instead of to them. And the prose flowed well but was fairly simplistic, I felt like for this world and concept a bit more of a “purple prose” style would’ve worked better, for me, especially when it came to descriptions of the garden or the world at large.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC, the opinions are entirely my own.
I loved this book. The intrigue and politics were perfect, and I'm not generally into books that involve court politics. I connected to the characters and loved the twists and turns.
the political intrigue in this novel was very good and the whole story behind charm and the whole orchard house group is so interesting; i did feel a lil lost thru out this whole book but ya know that happens; i had a particular soft spot for pain and her arc about finding individuality and love thru oram UGH so good
I read this book over a year ago and it was a very confusing book for me at first. This time around I listened to the audio while following along in the physical book and it was so much better of a read. This was a wildly unique story unlike anything I’ve read before.
“A fascinating whodunit set in a lush, gothic world of secrets and magic―where a dying emperor charges his favorite concubine with solving his own murder, and preventing the culprit, which undoubtedly is one of his three terrible sons, from taking control of an empire.”
Charm is a witch, a whore, and a mistress and she’s also just a woman trying to survive. This was part historical, part necromantic high fantasy, part sci-fi with some political intrigue and a hefty mystery to solve; murder and otherwise.
Mueller has an eye for detail and a vivid imagination to bring this entirely fictional world together so intricately. She also has developed some really complex characters from Charm and the Lady herself to the Boneghosts and Firedrinkers. Her world building is slow but it all comes together in time. I enjoyed this book but it was entirely different than what I initially expected when I first picked it up. It’s also a book that is very hard to discuss without spoiling anything but also so confusing that it needs to be discussed in detail.
“A fascinating whodunit set in a lush, gothic world of secrets and magic―where a dying emperor charges his favorite concubine with solving his own murder, and preventing the culprit, which undoubtedly is one of his three terrible sons, from taking control of an empire.”
Charm is a witch, a whore, and a mistress and she’s also just a woman trying to survive. This was part historical, part necromantic high fantasy, part sci-fi with some political intrigue and a hefty mystery to solve; murder and otherwise.
Mueller has an eye for detail and a vivid imagination to bring this entirely fictional world together so intricately. She also has developed some really complex characters from Charm and the Lady herself to the Boneghosts and Firedrinkers. Her world building is slow but it all comes together in time. I enjoyed this book but it was entirely different than what I initially expected when I first picked it up. It’s also a book that is very hard to discuss without spoiling anything but also so confusing that it needs to be discussed in detail.
Thank u to Tor for this ARC via my local indie!
5/23/22
This story pulled me back to my high fantasy roots and I loved every second of it!! It follows a plot of political intrigue and uses empathy and telepathy magic to very creepy and ingenious effect. It explores themes such as bodily and mental autonomy, gender fluidity, and disability adeptly and earnestly. The characters in this novel are multidimensional, with each facet of a person portrayed in such a way that asks you to examine it as its own being, which then opens up possibilities of identity fluidity that is fascinating and even radical in how frankly and matter-of-factly these possibilities are dealt with. I loved getting to know these characters and figuring out how their persons interconnect, and there was an ever-present danger and tension throughout that made this story hard to put down. I can see this being a very fun book to revisit many times, which is less common in my reading these days. How exciting! I am excited!
5/23/22
This story pulled me back to my high fantasy roots and I loved every second of it!! It follows a plot of political intrigue and uses empathy and telepathy magic to very creepy and ingenious effect. It explores themes such as bodily and mental autonomy, gender fluidity, and disability adeptly and earnestly. The characters in this novel are multidimensional, with each facet of a person portrayed in such a way that asks you to examine it as its own being, which then opens up possibilities of identity fluidity that is fascinating and even radical in how frankly and matter-of-factly these possibilities are dealt with. I loved getting to know these characters and figuring out how their persons interconnect, and there was an ever-present danger and tension throughout that made this story hard to put down. I can see this being a very fun book to revisit many times, which is less common in my reading these days. How exciting! I am excited!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chilling, modern horror wherein “Inside Out” meets “the Handmaids Tale.” Not only a story of femininity in a patriarchal society, but the roles our emotions play inside ourselves. In a rich, terrifying world where one must kill or be killed to survive… would you choose others or yourself?
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Bone Orchard while the magic and setting were intriguing, it did fall flat with the pacing and the limited connections to the characters.
I loved the magic that was explained throughout the book, the idea of being able to grow bodies and create something out of nothing was very fascinating to me. I also liked the main character and her girls, how the girls were just extended parts of Charm. That was a great idea and concept that not too many books have nowadays.
The only things that I didn't like were the pacing and the lack of connection towards each of the characters in this book. I felt like the pacing could have been better and the beginning felt really slow to me in particular. Also I wished we could have gotten more of a connection to the characters, I really wanted to know more about them and i didn't like the fact that certain characters who were interesting seemed to disappear from the book until the very end.
This book did help me complete my goal and was sort of an underwhelming end to the story. It was still a nice read even for the magic and world alone.
I loved the magic that was explained throughout the book, the idea of being able to grow bodies and create something out of nothing was very fascinating to me. I also liked the main character and her girls, how the girls were just extended parts of Charm. That was a great idea and concept that not too many books have nowadays.
The only things that I didn't like were the pacing and the lack of connection towards each of the characters in this book. I felt like the pacing could have been better and the beginning felt really slow to me in particular. Also I wished we could have gotten more of a connection to the characters, I really wanted to know more about them and i didn't like the fact that certain characters who were interesting seemed to disappear from the book until the very end.
This book did help me complete my goal and was sort of an underwhelming end to the story. It was still a nice read even for the magic and world alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, War