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erickabdz's review against another edition
2.0
"When people cut us, we are expected to do only two things: smile and bleed."
I'm so utterly devasted. I have been following Rin Chupeco in social media for a while, only because she is a very cool person, and I was excited about the prospect of reading something of her finally. Lots of people I follow have also loved The Bone Witch and gave it high ratings, so I guess I had a little too many expectations for it. I'm so very sad I couldn't love it as much as I had anticipated I would.
Firstly, I wasn't expecting this many parallels with Japanese geiko. At first, I didn't know the asha were inspired in them, but it became evident as the lecture advanced. Inspired, though, feels like an inadequate word when literally everything in the asha has its counterpart in the geisha, from the dances to the accounting to okiya and ochaya. All of Tea's life as an asha felt straight out of [b:Memoirs of a Geisha|929|Memoirs of a Geisha|Arthur Golden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409595968l/929._SY75_.jpg|1558965] or, being more culturally accurate, [b:Geisha, a Life|522534|Geisha, a Life|Mineko Iwasaki|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359402937l/522534._SY75_.jpg|18133]. The kingdom being called Kion even sounds like the geiko district Gion.
The only significant differences were the martial arts the geisha were part of and, of course, the dark asha. While I liked both of these aspects, they felt irreconcilable for me with the other parts of the asha culture; it is not that they couldn't be, but that I was not given just enough reasons to believe they should. There was nothing that tried to blend these two concepts: mastering arts and fighting monsters and work as bodyguards. I could have totally understood that men were expected to go and fight while women had to use their powers to entertain, but the reason why women were expected to do both without negative connotations in any is beyond me.
Dark ashas were a very cool concept, though, and part of the reason I didn't dislike this book. I've heard that they are based on Filipino mangkukulam, and I did enjoy to read about them doing their witch thingies.
I think the reason I couldn't bring myself to like this book was mostly Tea. Try as I might, I couldn't like her. Everybody and everything in the narrative was trying to sell me this idea that she was oh so powerful and poor girl only bad things happen that I just couldn't stand it. Dark asha can command the death, the living, destroy monsters... and Tea is the only current dark asha and also most powerful that most of them and I'm sorry but it's just... too OP for me.
I actually didn't especially like any character in the book... there were so many pages with descriptions of clothes and architecture but I couldn't get attached to any of the characters. And the apparent love triangle- I'm just-
Anyhow, I think I'm going to read the next books. Everybody says they're better than this one, and I'm a little bit interested in what is going to happen (mostly because the framing device keeps insisting that some interesting is going to happen and it never happens and I'm tired of the teasing but it also worked
Spoiler
and I please want to know that all of what Tea is doing is for selfish reasons and she's actually darkened pleaseceena's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
*I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
What did I think about this book... for starters, let me clear the air by saying (typing?) that this is not my kind of book. It is too descriptive and detail oriented for my tastes.
The world-building is absolutely amazing and their is a bit in the back which describes even more about countries, their rulers, and such. It truly is amazing.......but, being who I am all the building with little action made me bored.
OTHER POSITIVES:
I enjoyed how reminiscent the ashakas were of (at least what I know of) Geisha houses.
I thought some of the relationships were interesting, although I would have preferred more interaction between people, especially Fox and Tea.
The magic system was interesting as well as people's hearts (even if I don't completely understand it).
OTHER NEGATIVES:
Romance-- nonexistent, but there... so like insta-love, but it won't be and honestly, I wasn't surprised at the ending.
I was confused by a lot of the book. "You have [insert thing with Fox] yet?" with surprise and then turn around and say "Oh, you can do it after you are made an asha" ?????? what? And some people get new hearts all the time, just by doing the spell, but other times a whole new heart needs to be made.... <-- this one I probably just wasn't understanding.
Pacing: Slow, but honestly I wasn't bothered by it too much, what really got me was the different narratives/ times switch which completely jolted me out of the story. Is it mysterious? Yes. Is it informative? Not really, could do with 5 of them, not every chapter. I would notice myself getting somewhat drawn in and then the time would switch and I would get pulled out again.
In the end, the concept is interesting and the world building is phenomenal. I do see why people would like this book. Will I read the sequel? It is probable, because I see action coming, but I probably won't at the same time because it might still be slow to me.
You should try this book is you like details and being lost in a different world as well as not needing action or fighting, just an interesting tale, to keep you going.
*I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
What did I think about this book... for starters, let me clear the air by saying (typing?) that this is not my kind of book. It is too descriptive and detail oriented for my tastes.
The world-building is absolutely amazing and their is a bit in the back which describes even more about countries, their rulers, and such. It truly is amazing.......but, being who I am all the building with little action made me bored.
OTHER POSITIVES:
I enjoyed how reminiscent the ashakas were of (at least what I know of) Geisha houses.
I thought some of the relationships were interesting, although I would have preferred more interaction between people, especially Fox and Tea.
The magic system was interesting as well as people's hearts (even if I don't completely understand it).
OTHER NEGATIVES:
Romance-- nonexistent, but there... so like insta-love, but it won't be and honestly, I wasn't surprised at the ending.
I was confused by a lot of the book. "You have [insert thing with Fox] yet?" with surprise and then turn around and say "Oh, you can do it after you are made an asha" ?????? what? And some people get new hearts all the time, just by doing the spell, but other times a whole new heart needs to be made.... <-- this one I probably just wasn't understanding.
Pacing: Slow, but honestly I wasn't bothered by it too much, what really got me was the different narratives/ times switch which completely jolted me out of the story. Is it mysterious? Yes. Is it informative? Not really, could do with 5 of them, not every chapter. I would notice myself getting somewhat drawn in and then the time would switch and I would get pulled out again.
In the end, the concept is interesting and the world building is phenomenal. I do see why people would like this book. Will I read the sequel? It is probable, because I see action coming, but I probably won't at the same time because it might still be slow to me.
You should try this book is you like details and being lost in a different world as well as not needing action or fighting, just an interesting tale, to keep you going.
zellreads's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting lore but this felt detached and like there wasn't much substance there. Tea is an interesting enough character but it feels like she is kept at arms length even though she is the main character.
bnryan95's review against another edition
4.0
Took a while to get in to this one, but definitely worth it!
cwolf83's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
3.75
mzvasquez's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning of the book really sucked me in. I was in love with the book already. I absolutely loved how they had it broken from Tea's POV for her past and unnamed man for the present. The middle of the book was a bit slow. It was hard to get through. I understand it was a workup for the ending of the book. It was a good way to see how she grew into becoming an asha. Even though the middle did drag on, it was nice to learn more about the different runes, how many each asha could do, and how many were not yet known. As the story went on, I think Fox is my favorite character. He is very protective of his sister, joining the army to further protect and being able to help Tea when she needs it the most. The ending had me speeding up my audiobook so I could finish it faster. When Tea goes to fight the daeva, obviously, she survived since she's in the present - but I thought we would have seen the end of one of her friends or her brother. Finding out who the Faceless was a surprise, it was just the maid. I thought she was going to kill Fox once she got into his head. Finding out Tea and Fox had a falling out broke my heart AND that Kalen died & is now Tea's familiar. I am ready to read about her revenge and hear more of her story.
Quotes:
When it raised its head, I saw that it had my brother’s face, drawn and bloodless and dead.
“Tea,” the figure said.
But then it smiled, and it was Fox’s smile, quiet and kind.
"You have cheese on your cheek." I said sourly.
Quotes:
When it raised its head, I saw that it had my brother’s face, drawn and bloodless and dead.
“Tea,” the figure said.
But then it smiled, and it was Fox’s smile, quiet and kind.
"You have cheese on your cheek." I said sourly.
karionie's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. This one fell flat for me. It started strong, but got lost in a sea of minutiae. When Tea starts her asha (think geisha, with magic) training, you get subjected to endless, pointless descriptions of dance moves and what everyone was wearing. Intense focus is given to describing a hair pin, while important plot points are thrown in as seasoning. Interactions between the characters are so stiff that it's difficult to care about them, but man, do you ever get a good feel for their wardrobes. The last few pages are basically exposition: "Here's what really happened while you were reading about garment fittings." In what I can only assume was an effort to keep the Big Bad of the story, the Faceless, dark and shadowy, so little was said that it was impossible to feel they were any threat. The big reveal at the end then felt pointless and contrived. In fact the whole ending felt disconnected from the rest of the story. We're supposed to buy that Tea loved Kalen so deeply that she will destroy the world to avenge him? Seriously? She didn't seem to notice much more about him than he was always wearing black.
motterbine's review against another edition
I honestly kept going back and forth with this audiobook so I got a little confused in some parts but it was really well done