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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really didn't enjoy about the first third of this book. We get shifting POVs in an unknown fantasy world with unknown magics (and two of them, the smuggler Jovis and the Emperor's daughter Lin) kept confusing me because their voices were so similar.
In this story we get a world of floating islands. There's a reclusive Emperor shut up on his Imperial isle creating constructs-- magic animated chimera sewn together with different animal parts. His daughter, Lin and his foster-son Bayan scurry along the halls with keys to different doors within the palace trying to learn enough about the constructs to please the Emperor.
The making of those constructs slowly becomes apparent to the reader as a horrible, tragic awful thing done in the name of "defense" against the magics of a long-vanquished (Alanga) race.
Meanwhile, there's the daughter of a governor on another isle who is in love with a girl who is part of the resistance-- the Shardless Few who are trying to overthrow the Emperor and set all citizens free of his tyranny. (Their whole story didn't add enough for me and I think should have been told through the eyes of Jovis who was ten times more interesting and definitely more intriguing especially once he acquires the mysterious "pet" Mephi).
And then there's also Jovis, a smuggler who is also in search of a mysterious blue ship that took away his wife many years ago. He is on an island that sinks and amongst the wreckage acquires a small swimming kitten-like creature who is much more than he seems.
When the storylines start to converge, and the Emperor's secrets are uncovered by Lin, finally this book hits its pace. All of a sudden I no longer was bored and skimming, although the problem of the similarity of Linn/Jovis remained, alot of the hand to hand combat involved people "setting their teeth" onto a shoulder or ankle, and wondering how yet another POV (a woman named "sand" on another island coming out of a foag and questioning her life) fit into the story.
So while it doesn't necessarily end on a cliffhanger, the ending does leave a bunch of unanswered questions hanging in the air as well as sets up Jovis/Mephi for a quest at the most interesting point in their relationship. So despite considering a 3 at the start of the book, I probably would go on to read the second book just because of the Jovis/Mephi POV. I just wish the author and spent more time with the and less with the goveernor daughter/rebel.
The floating islands, names, and small details evoked more Asian/pacific islander culture although not overly so-- I think more of that would have also made the earlier part of the book interesting.
In this story we get a world of floating islands. There's a reclusive Emperor shut up on his Imperial isle creating constructs-- magic animated chimera sewn together with different animal parts. His daughter, Lin and his foster-son Bayan scurry along the halls with keys to different doors within the palace trying to learn enough about the constructs to please the Emperor.
The making of those constructs slowly becomes apparent to the reader as a horrible, tragic awful thing done in the name of "defense" against the magics of a long-vanquished (Alanga) race.
Meanwhile, there's the daughter of a governor on another isle who is in love with a girl who is part of the resistance-- the Shardless Few who are trying to overthrow the Emperor and set all citizens free of his tyranny. (Their whole story didn't add enough for me and I think should have been told through the eyes of Jovis who was ten times more interesting and definitely more intriguing especially once he acquires the mysterious "pet" Mephi).
And then there's also Jovis, a smuggler who is also in search of a mysterious blue ship that took away his wife many years ago. He is on an island that sinks and amongst the wreckage acquires a small swimming kitten-like creature who is much more than he seems.
When the storylines start to converge, and the Emperor's secrets are uncovered by Lin, finally this book hits its pace. All of a sudden I no longer was bored and skimming, although the problem of the similarity of Linn/Jovis remained, alot of the hand to hand combat involved people "setting their teeth" onto a shoulder or ankle, and wondering how yet another POV (a woman named "sand" on another island coming out of a foag and questioning her life) fit into the story.
So while it doesn't necessarily end on a cliffhanger, the ending does leave a bunch of unanswered questions hanging in the air as well as sets up Jovis/Mephi for a quest at the most interesting point in their relationship. So despite considering a 3 at the start of the book, I probably would go on to read the second book just because of the Jovis/Mephi POV. I just wish the author and spent more time with the and less with the goveernor daughter/rebel.
The floating islands, names, and small details evoked more Asian/pacific islander culture although not overly so-- I think more of that would have also made the earlier part of the book interesting.
emotional
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
Spoiler recommendation:
Am I easily won over by East Asian themed stories because of the sweet, sweet representation? Yes.
But that's mostly window dressing and a small smidge of what makes this book good. (Though there is a very 'only Asian kids will understand' radicality to Lin's journey as she disobeys her father's rules and grows into her own person, defying her father's manipulation of the woman he wants her to be.)
There's magic - the bone shards of the title - that works a little bit like computer code written with Chinese characters and can be used to animate biological constructions. Constructs that come across as a mix between Chinese mythological creatures and Frankenstein's animal experiments - slightly horrific but absolutely fascinating.
There's a dragon, though it isn't obviously one from the start, which seems tied to the land, which moves according to years long seasons, and the magic of this world that allows bone shard magic to work.
There's politics, a growing discontent and rebellion brewing against the Emperor which Lin will have to tackle in the sequel. There is also a very frank discussion about class and privilege - blunt (and confronting) enough to be both exasperating and uncomfortable.
Lastly, thanks to one of the secondary perspectives, there's a clear general acceptance of same-sex couples and full rights given to adopted kids.
Overall a very layered story with depth and a promise to explore those depths in the sequel.
Spoiler
Like Murderbot finding out what it likes and becoming a person through developing a unique identity? You might enjoy The Bone Shard Daughter for Lin, who also develops her own personality independent of what her 'father' programmed, no need to have been an Asian kid to understand how radical that is.Am I easily won over by East Asian themed stories because of the sweet, sweet representation? Yes.
But that's mostly window dressing and a small smidge of what makes this book good. (Though there is a very 'only Asian kids will understand' radicality to Lin's journey as she disobeys her father's rules and grows into her own person, defying her father's manipulation of the woman he wants her to be.)
There's magic - the bone shards of the title - that works a little bit like computer code written with Chinese characters and can be used to animate biological constructions. Constructs that come across as a mix between Chinese mythological creatures and Frankenstein's animal experiments - slightly horrific but absolutely fascinating.
There's a dragon, though it isn't obviously one from the start, which seems tied to the land, which moves according to years long seasons, and the magic of this world that allows bone shard magic to work.
There's politics, a growing discontent and rebellion brewing against the Emperor which Lin will have to tackle in the sequel. There is also a very frank discussion about class and privilege - blunt (and confronting) enough to be both exasperating and uncomfortable.
Lastly, thanks to one of the secondary perspectives, there's a clear general acceptance of same-sex couples and full rights given to adopted kids.
Overall a very layered story with depth and a promise to explore those depths in the sequel.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i don’t have a problem with this book, i just feel a little bit underwhelmed with all the five star reviews. the characters were interesting but i didn’t truly connect to any of them, and i think that the short chapters and constant POV switches meant that i didn’t relate or grow close enough to any of them to care about them.
also some of this seemed a bit strange tonally - like some of the dialogue was very YA and the first person POV often had elements of YA themes but it was generally an adult book which i found a bit confusing and there were some vague plot holes.
i also would have liked a lot more delving into the history and backstory and world building of this universe - which seemed fascinating but was only vaguely referenced. i enjoyed the magic system too - i thought that it was really well constructed and very interesting.
all in all - it was fine. i appreciated the representation of poc and queer characters but it could have been better
also some of this seemed a bit strange tonally - like some of the dialogue was very YA and the first person POV often had elements of YA themes but it was generally an adult book which i found a bit confusing and there were some vague plot holes.
i also would have liked a lot more delving into the history and backstory and world building of this universe - which seemed fascinating but was only vaguely referenced. i enjoyed the magic system too - i thought that it was really well constructed and very interesting.
all in all - it was fine. i appreciated the representation of poc and queer characters but it could have been better