Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Bone Shard Daughter

Interesting world and magic system, but not all of the perspectives worked for me. Felt like a couple of different books joined together at times. Saw some of the reveals coming very early on, but the ending teased interesting things for future books, so I'm interested to read the sequel.

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goddessssssssss's review

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adventurous lighthearted 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

3.5

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emilypete17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

One of the most well-done adult high fantasies I've read in ages. Andrea Stewart has woven an incredibly rich and socially complex world, chock full of complicated, incredibly interesting characters. The magic system of this book was equal parts horrifying and compelling, and the plot kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page(I mean this quite literally). The exploration of imperialism and class felt so grounded in our current reality, even in such a fantastical setting. Absolutely pumped to continue this series.

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beehives's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.5

While the pacing at the end was a bit rushed and disconnected, the book overall did a good job of balancing and bringing together its cast of characters. I particularly liked that some characters were given necessary room to grow and change while also recognizing that no one's goals perfectly aligned and no relationships were without strife.

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miak2's review

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adventurous fast-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

5.0

One more life saved. It was a pittance, unutterably small against the scale of the lives lost. But it was there. And one life certainly made a difference to the one living it. p. 35

I know this is a relatively new book, but I'm upset more people haven't read it yet because I'm in desperate need of fanart.

This book started off a little slow. Although I grew to love the different perspectives, it made it hard at first to get invested in any of the character arcs. However, once they took of, they really took off. I'll break down my review by arc, but I want to say that the writing is really well done. Beautiful style, but not so dense that it slowed down my reading.

Lin: Hers ended up being my favorite storyline despite its slow start. It's chalked full of action and twists. The bone shard magic, which is most fully explored in this arc, is really interesting. I wish Lin herself were a little better developed, however. Her backstory is super interesting, but I felt like her personality was fairly generic female protagonist. (view spoiler)

Jovis: *sigh* I love this idiot. Definitely gave me Jesper (Six of Crows) vibes in the best way. His companionship with Mephi is super wholesome. Although his arc is action-packed, it's filled with great character moments as well.

Phalue and Ranami: I love these two. I love their relationship. I love their struggles. I loved hearing both of their perspectives on the realities of the lower class, Phalue having grown up as the governor's daughter and Ranami as a 'gutter orphan.'

Sand: This one was quite the change of pace. Like Sand, the reader has no idea what's going on, but it has really interesting implications in the overarching plot.

Phew, okay that was a lot. This book was a lot of fun and I'm really excited to see where the series goes. Unlike other first-books, I thought it tied up a lot of loose ends. There's absolutely room for more to happen, but I expect the following books to be a pretty dramatic change of pace.

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