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mothie_girlie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Trafficking
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Confinement
lavendera_'s review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
ticktock's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
bertramshotel's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Torture, Violence, and Blood
aliyyah's review
adventurous
challenging
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
4.0
This was such a good fantasy.
The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
I loved the plot of this book. I felt like it started off a little slow but this novel follows five different characters, so I was never bored. The political intrigue was done so well and is definitely one of my favourite aspects of this book.
The Bone Shard Daughter follows Lin, Jovis, Phalue, Ranami and Sand. These characters are scattered on different islands throughout the Empire but are all connected in some way.
Lin is the Emperor’s daughter and she is desperate for her father’s approval and affection. However, she is also determined, clever and compassionate. I highly enjoyed her point of view, as I was extremely intrigued by the concept of bone shard magic.
Jovis is a smuggler, who finds himself running from one island to the next. His wife disappeared seven years ago and he’s been searching for her ever since. Yet, when people keep asking him for his help, he isn’t able to turn them away. I love the way he begrudgingly ends up helping everyone who asks him, because he’s literally like no I don’t have time for this then two seconds later it’s all fine what you need. He’s never seen himself as a hero, but ultimately that is what he becomes.
Phalue is the governor’s daughter on Nephilanu Island. She loves swordplay, her girlfriend and doesn’t share her father’s taste for excess. She tries her best to be a good person but soon realizes that what she does is not enough. She’s stubborn and has a big heart and I just love everything about her.
Ranami is Phalue’s girlfriend. While Phalue loves her sword, Ranami prefers her books. She also cares immensely for the people of Nephilanu Island and desperately wants to make the world a better place.
Sand is a mysterious character on Maila, who soon uncovers secrets about herself.
I really enjoyed the way everything started to come together between these characters as the novel progressed.
The writing in this book was excellent. Andrea Stewart creates such a rich world and I was pulled in from the very start. The concept of this novel with respect to bone shard magic was so unique and interesting.
This was an amazing fantasy and I cannot recommend it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Blood
Moderate: Death and Murder
redthistle's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Confinement
aardwyrm's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
Incredibly well done. Balancing the POV characters and all the plot they have to unfold is particularly impressive, with the shifts from first to third person representing a daring choice that pays off. The worldbuilding and magic system, which are at risk in any undertaking like this of becoming a clunky book of lore, are juggled just on the precipice of mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
- THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER is one of the most beautiful and engaging epic fantasies I've read in a long time. Stewart drops you into the world with little preamble, letting you figure it out on your own, and the world she has created is intricate, sprawling, and filled with vibrant people.
- There are a pretty big number of POV characters, and each time a chapter ended I was like "no wait, what's next!" but then got immediately engrossed by whoever else we were returning to.
- This is also a queernorm world, with a F/F relationship between two of the main characters.
- I did see the big reveal coming, but that didn't make the story any less gripping - if anything, I was reading faster to see how it all turned out. Give me book two now!
- There are a pretty big number of POV characters, and each time a chapter ended I was like "no wait, what's next!" but then got immediately engrossed by whoever else we were returning to.
- This is also a queernorm world, with a F/F relationship between two of the main characters.
- I did see the big reveal coming, but that didn't make the story any less gripping - if anything, I was reading faster to see how it all turned out. Give me book two now!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
catastrophic's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
So much was good in this book and so much...didnt work.
The good? The magic, wow. Very original, never heard of things like it before. It's necromancy, Frankenstein, with so much more depth. I did find it annoying how we're given no framework for this magic - contrast to a system like Sanderson's where there's always strcture built in. A good and evil, or 10 kinds of magic, or the four elements. It meant that some elements (like a talking animal, not really a spoiler) were less shocking. Even have some folklore references seeded through so we understood what it was and could brace for the magic. It would help with the deus ex machina problem, which was super obvious when the boat guy was about to lose to the cartel people and suddenly gets super strength, at the same time that his pet starts talking. that was a horrible plot twist, considering i had no idea that was possible.
The gay stuff was great. A bit hamfisted with their relationship, but it was two queer women who already knew that they were queer having genuine normal relationship problems not related to their queerness with a happy ending . Loved it. Plus all the seeding of different sexualities as being normal in this world?? Incredible.
I also liked the characterisation, especially Lin. I liked that she - and boat guy, forgot the name - was good at certain things but also clearly bad at others, and in ways that I havent seen in other characters. Like obviously they're tenacious, courageous, and ambitious. What protagonists arent? But we so clearly see that boat guy is only good at being a smuggler, so he's not good at other stuff. and his unique skill of lying cleverly is well-portrayed and I really enjoyed that tension. Lin's ability to read people's expressions and, similarly, manipulate, was great. I was sad that there were no grey characters, we had the Good Protagonists and Bad Baddies (they teased with making Lin and boat guy selfish but they never really were).
I almost stopped reading though because of how it was written. Lots of telling not showing, especially in the introduction of boat guy. Problems i mentioned before with how magic was introduced and seeded in. I kind of saw the twists coming. But i pulled through with the incredible magic and unique characters
The good? The magic, wow. Very original, never heard of things like it before. It's necromancy, Frankenstein, with so much more depth. I did find it annoying how we're given no framework for this magic - contrast to a system like Sanderson's where there's always strcture built in. A good and evil, or 10 kinds of magic, or the four elements. It meant that some elements (like a talking animal, not really a spoiler) were less shocking. Even have some folklore references seeded through so we understood what it was and could brace for the magic.
The gay stuff was great. A bit hamfisted with their relationship, but it was two queer women who already knew that they were queer having genuine normal relationship problems not related to their queerness
I also liked the characterisation, especially Lin. I liked that she - and boat guy, forgot the name - was good at certain things but also clearly bad at others, and in ways that I havent seen in other characters. Like obviously they're tenacious, courageous, and ambitious. What protagonists arent? But we so clearly see that boat guy is only good at being a smuggler, so he's not good at other stuff. and his unique skill of lying cleverly is well-portrayed and I really enjoyed that tension. Lin's ability to read people's expressions and, similarly, manipulate, was great. I was sad that there were no grey characters, we had the Good Protagonists and Bad Baddies (they teased with making Lin and boat guy selfish but they never really were).
I almost stopped reading though because of how it was written. Lots of telling not showing, especially in the introduction of boat guy. Problems i mentioned before with how magic was introduced and seeded in. I kind of saw the twists coming. But i pulled through with the incredible magic and unique characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Blood
whatellisreadnext's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳.
𝘌𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
The Emperor utilises bone shard magic, to power the animal like constructs, that help maintain law and order throughout the kingdom. His daughter Lin, is sneaking around trying to harness this magic that he keeps from her, whilst also trying to recover the memories she has lost, but just how far is she willing to go to save her people?
I can't believe this book is a debut, I loved every single second of being swept up in this vast and fascinating world. Andrea Stewart effortlessly grabbed my attention right from the off, after two chapters, I could not put The Bone Shard Daughter down.
From the blurb, I thought this story would have one main protagonist, but it actually has 4. Don't let that put you off, Stewart did a fantastic job of utilising these perspectives, giving us all the right information when we needed it. Plus I found myself binging chapter after chapter, wanting to find out what was happening with each of them.
My favourite character by far was Jovis, who is joined on his journey by a cat/otter creature called Mephi. They had a real Mando and Baby Yoda thing going on. It was SO CUTE. Mephi is a sweet baby angel and I love him so much. Jovis in my eyes, had some of the best lines in the whole book.
I could literally talk about this book all day. If you loved N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy, or After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, I can guarantee you will love this book. Now, excuse me whilst I go and sulk until book two hits the shelves late next year 😭
Thanks so much to Orbit Books for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review 🧡
𝘌𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
The Emperor utilises bone shard magic, to power the animal like constructs, that help maintain law and order throughout the kingdom. His daughter Lin, is sneaking around trying to harness this magic that he keeps from her, whilst also trying to recover the memories she has lost, but just how far is she willing to go to save her people?
I can't believe this book is a debut, I loved every single second of being swept up in this vast and fascinating world. Andrea Stewart effortlessly grabbed my attention right from the off, after two chapters, I could not put The Bone Shard Daughter down.
From the blurb, I thought this story would have one main protagonist, but it actually has 4. Don't let that put you off, Stewart did a fantastic job of utilising these perspectives, giving us all the right information when we needed it. Plus I found myself binging chapter after chapter, wanting to find out what was happening with each of them.
My favourite character by far was Jovis, who is joined on his journey by a cat/otter creature called Mephi. They had a real Mando and Baby Yoda thing going on. It was SO CUTE. Mephi is a sweet baby angel and I love him so much. Jovis in my eyes, had some of the best lines in the whole book.
I could literally talk about this book all day. If you loved N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy, or After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, I can guarantee you will love this book. Now, excuse me whilst I go and sulk until book two hits the shelves late next year 😭
Thanks so much to Orbit Books for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review 🧡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Grief