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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A promising mystery collapses into an endless slew of domestic violence with a sort of unspoken “it’s okay because she was a sex worker”. With a writer who’s just not confident enough to write about a sex worker who actually has sex with people, instead just a never-ending parade of torments.
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
During a treatment program last summer I was recommended No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz to read. To bastardize a summary: the IFS model breaks all of our traumas into 'parts'—different personalities/characters/hurt versions of our past—and helps a person by identifying, mapping, and healing those 'parts' of themselves that were created to survive. Turn on some tunes and The Bone Orchard is basically IFS the musical.
The writing style depends on you paying attention and catching up quick. You're dropped right into the middle of the story and learn the exposition as you go. There are mic drop moments of things clicking together the entire novel. It can feel disjointed, but I think it is satisfying to start figuring out what's going on. I like when a writing style makes me feel smart in the end like I solved the puzzle. I imagine this is a much easier reread (not content wise though, whew) and I would catch a lot I missed the first time around because of how it was written.
The subject matter....y'all this is a TRAUMATIC story. If a trigger exists this book probably needs a warning for it. Is it horror? Is it psychological? I don't know how to classify it but I can say it's hard and dark and deep.
It means a lot to me that the moral of the story wasn't that sex work is bad and has no place in re-building a society. Charm's insistence in keeping Orchard House open and giving workers of all genders the agency to define their own offerings is smart and does justice (shoutout) to the role the house filled in Charm and Mercy's survival.
I have a lot to think about and chew on specifically about the ableist, empire-serving treatment of psychics and empaths, potential repair efforts with other nations under the new emperor, and how Charm shoulders her own pain moving forward.
Sidenote: did I miss Luther's fate?? I can't recall what happened to him after he was diverted. Please fill me in so I don't have to re-read the last couple chapters just to check.
The writing style depends on you paying attention and catching up quick. You're dropped right into the middle of the story and learn the exposition as you go. There are mic drop moments of things clicking together the entire novel. It can feel disjointed, but I think it is satisfying to start figuring out what's going on. I like when a writing style makes me feel smart in the end like I solved the puzzle. I imagine this is a much easier reread (not content wise though, whew) and I would catch a lot I missed the first time around because of how it was written.
The subject matter....y'all this is a TRAUMATIC story. If a trigger exists this book probably needs a warning for it. Is it horror? Is it psychological? I don't know how to classify it but I can say it's hard and dark and deep.
It means a lot to me that the moral of the story wasn't that sex work is bad and has no place in re-building a society. Charm's insistence in keeping Orchard House open and giving workers of all genders the agency to define their own offerings is smart and does justice (shoutout) to the role the house filled in Charm and Mercy's survival.
I have a lot to think about and chew on specifically about the ableist, empire-serving treatment of psychics and empaths, potential repair efforts with other nations under the new emperor, and how Charm shoulders her own pain moving forward.
Sidenote: did I miss Luther's fate?? I can't recall what happened to him after he was diverted. Please fill me in so I don't have to re-read the last couple chapters just to check.
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I think this book has a lot of promise in its concept, but I just ended up being very confused by the end.
it was a lot of information all once with out any explanation and it was just too confusing for me to keep up
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While a little messy in terms of structure and pacing, The Bone Orchard was honestly so unique and interesting that I adored it.
Charm, the emperor's mistress, is tasked with finding his murderer after his untimely death and putting someone other than one of his 4 terrible sons on the throne. What ensues is political turmoil and scheming, as Charm contends with an ongoing war without and within.
This book is strange and meant for readers who don't mind being initially overwhelmed or confused. For me, the slow start and large cast were worth the stunning world-building, unfurling of the mystery and realization of these characters.
Charm, the emperor's mistress, is tasked with finding his murderer after his untimely death and putting someone other than one of his 4 terrible sons on the throne. What ensues is political turmoil and scheming, as Charm contends with an ongoing war without and within.
This book is strange and meant for readers who don't mind being initially overwhelmed or confused. For me, the slow start and large cast were worth the stunning world-building, unfurling of the mystery and realization of these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Utterly enthralling with excellent characters and a fairly intriguing mystery plot. Something about this book just hits home with me - my 2nd favorite standalone novel!
A++ narrator!
Re-read.
A++ narrator!
Re-read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
challenging
dark
sad
Strong character development:
Yes
“I love this me I’ve made myself into. I’m proud of me. And I damn well won’t give me up to you.”
In this book is a dark world of politics, mad princes, and bone ghosts. Where a powerful emperor who controls seemingly everyone with an irons grip is murdered. But in all the chaos that ensues,the underlying story and mystery starts to show through. Not that of the emperor. But that of Charm, Pain, Pride, Desire, Justice, Shame, and the Lady.
And that story of their resilience and their self discovery was not what I thought it would be. But I was invested. And at time seething because of the hurt and trauma that they went through. But by the end thoroughly satisfied by who they became.
In this book is a dark world of politics, mad princes, and bone ghosts. Where a powerful emperor who controls seemingly everyone with an irons grip is murdered. But in all the chaos that ensues,the underlying story and mystery starts to show through. Not that of the emperor. But that of Charm, Pain, Pride, Desire, Justice, Shame, and the Lady.
And that story of their resilience and their self discovery was not what I thought it would be. But I was invested. And at time seething because of the hurt and trauma that they went through. But by the end thoroughly satisfied by who they became.