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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
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
Deeply creative book. I love the richness to the world and how the author delves into the idea of splitting/removing parts of yourself you don’t wish to deal with. All the powers and weird science of growing bone ghosts was wild and wonderfully gothic. That being said there was too much going on for the story to always feel coherent (secret sons, palace intrigue, conquest driven armies, old love affairs, high society decorum, mind control, a brothel, poisoning attempts). I wish it had been able to be a little simplified which I think would have let some of the really strong elements shine through farther.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
dark
mysterious
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
This story starts off on a learning curve. I’m used to reading at a skim sort of pace but for the first part I really had to get the details to understand what’s going on, which was honestly pretty difficult for how my brain works. I understand why this type of start makes the book not for everyone, but the setting is so brilliant that I think it's worth sticking through the initial confusion, especially since details get explained more and more frequently later on.
Charm, the Lady, and the boneghosts working under them were incredibly great characters. I think there’s something so brilliant with the idea of a bone fragment from one’s body being planted in the soil to then grow trees with new bones, and using the skeletons made from those bones to make bodies that house the consciousness of your traumas. Rejuv, empathy fluid, and mindlocks were really fascinating fantasy concepts that showed us how dark the world Charm was living in is. This book has inherently very dark and heavily traumatic themes throughout, but it treats them with respect due to being written with enough sensitivity. The four princes were just... extremely evil, but mad and accurate to how tyrannical monarchs were back in the period that this book takes place in. Above all else I really just love how imaginative this story is. Charm is very likeable in her first POV chapters, but after the POV shifts we see how flawed she is because of how her decisions affect other people - especially when she is acting with less of her soul intact. It's like the other character POVs are each a Cham character study. It makes her very interesting when her POV comes back and those consequences aren't focused on because they're something she doesn't think about.
*mild spoilers*
I do think that the ending was a little rushed because it felt like it happened so fast, it would be nicer if events like Ylsbeth’s masquerade ball were placed earlier in the book to build up to what happens in the ending. Also a lot of the villainous characters seemed to die on the same day which was kind of anticlimatic but maybe that's just me.
Overall I really loved this one, 4.8/5
Charm, the Lady, and the boneghosts working under them were incredibly great characters. I think there’s something so brilliant with the idea of a bone fragment from one’s body being planted in the soil to then grow trees with new bones, and using the skeletons made from those bones to make bodies that house the consciousness of your traumas. Rejuv, empathy fluid, and mindlocks were really fascinating fantasy concepts that showed us how dark the world Charm was living in is. This book has inherently very dark and heavily traumatic themes throughout, but it treats them with respect due to being written with enough sensitivity. The four princes were just... extremely evil, but mad and accurate to how tyrannical monarchs were back in the period that this book takes place in. Above all else I really just love how imaginative this story is. Charm is very likeable in her first POV chapters, but after the POV shifts we see how flawed she is because of how her decisions affect other people - especially when she is acting with less of her soul intact. It's like the other character POVs are each a Cham character study. It makes her very interesting when her POV comes back and those consequences aren't focused on because they're something she doesn't think about.
*mild spoilers*
I do think that the ending was a little rushed because it felt like it happened so fast, it would be nicer if events like Ylsbeth’s masquerade ball were placed earlier in the book to build up to what happens in the ending. Also a lot of the villainous characters seemed to die on the same day which was kind of anticlimatic but maybe that's just me.
Overall I really loved this one, 4.8/5
3 stars for being a little confusing, plot-wise. I didn't nail down all of the characters until 3/4ths the way through and the rules to the world were never clear to me. 5 stars for the really interesting and important social commentary. 4 might be a bit generous, but I appreciated what she was trying to accomplish.
DNF at 28%.
I really wanted to enjoy this book as the premise sounded really interesting, but I felt confused most of the time and ended up totally uninvested in it.
I really wanted to enjoy this book as the premise sounded really interesting, but I felt confused most of the time and ended up totally uninvested in it.
I definitely wanted more of the gruesome bits: namely the construction of bone ghosts, the manufacturing of rejuve, the messiness of adapting to a mind lock, etc. And I feel like our big reveals and other revelations all tumbled out at once rather than appearing in pieces throughout the story.
However, Charm, Pain, and The Lady serve as such brilliant foils for each other, and the play of their different characters as they all strive for their goals was a delightful dance of each doing what they believed was right - in ways that the others might not approve. It was also very clever to give each of these three different levels of access to knowledge, people, and the world outside the house. I think with a little bit more time exploring through Pain's perspective, we could have gotten a much richer view of the larger world.
Also, we love a genderfluid side character who gets asked for their pronouns (and then has those pronouns respected) even in this Victorian-esque setting. Plus they were a dynamic and interesting character - who was less present than I would have liked but it fit the boundaries of the story.
{Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; all thoughts are my own}
However, Charm, Pain, and The Lady serve as such brilliant foils for each other, and the play of their different characters as they all strive for their goals was a delightful dance of each doing what they believed was right - in ways that the others might not approve. It was also very clever to give each of these three different levels of access to knowledge, people, and the world outside the house. I think with a little bit more time exploring through Pain's perspective, we could have gotten a much richer view of the larger world.
Also, we love a genderfluid side character who gets asked for their pronouns (and then has those pronouns respected) even in this Victorian-esque setting. Plus they were a dynamic and interesting character - who was less present than I would have liked but it fit the boundaries of the story.
{Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; all thoughts are my own}
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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