Scan barcode
bookishgia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
3.0
zorya04's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
ecnadkins's review
adventurous
dark
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Ugh - where to start…
This was a really interesting concept - a fantasy world modelled after pre-revolution Russia and containing a lot of Eastern European folklore. The dead often come back to life, the nobility wield magic with pride, the common folk wield magic too but are branded as witches because of classism. The Tsar has been dethroned and one of these “witches”, Koschei, has stolen the Tsar’s magic.
Toma lives in a rural area with an undead family and after her sister is stolen to be taken to Koschei, she and the Tsar team up to… travel to him. That is the best way to summarize this story.
I had 2 big problems with this story. First, I think the main character was severely under-utilized. Toma has this really cool skill; she can heal people by sewing runes into their skin with sutures. And we get to see for a bit at the beginning and end of the book, but in the middle she doesn’t get to do anything. She stuck following 2 boys around while sometimes trying to chase after her sister.
Which leads me to the second problem - Toma’s motivations are very muddled. I think all 3 main characters suffered from this actually. Toma wants to rescue her sister. Mikhaïl wants to get his power back from Kochei. I don’t know what Vanya wants… to see the Tsar restored to power? They’re just out there existing and not making any sense. It made the pacing really slow in spots and left me confused.
The 2.5 stars (rounded up for goodreads) are purely for the world building and Vanya. The world was really cool; I loved the way the author interspersed the mythical creatures in Toma’s journey. And Vanya, even though I didn’t understand his motivations, ended up being the most interesting character.
This was a really interesting concept - a fantasy world modelled after pre-revolution Russia and containing a lot of Eastern European folklore. The dead often come back to life, the nobility wield magic with pride, the common folk wield magic too but are branded as witches because of classism. The Tsar has been dethroned and one of these “witches”, Koschei, has stolen the Tsar’s magic.
Toma lives in a rural area with an undead family and after her sister is stolen to be taken to Koschei, she and the Tsar team up to… travel to him. That is the best way to summarize this story.
I had 2 big problems with this story. First, I think the main character was severely under-utilized. Toma has this really cool skill; she can heal people by sewing runes into their skin with sutures. And we get to see for a bit at the beginning and end of the book, but in the middle she doesn’t get to do anything. She stuck following 2 boys around while sometimes trying to chase after her sister.
Which leads me to the second problem - Toma’s motivations are very muddled. I think all 3 main characters suffered from this actually. Toma wants to rescue her sister. Mikhaïl wants to get his power back from Kochei. I don’t know what Vanya wants… to see the Tsar restored to power? They’re just out there existing and not making any sense. It made the pacing really slow in spots and left me confused.
The 2.5 stars (rounded up for goodreads) are purely for the world building and Vanya. The world was really cool; I loved the way the author interspersed the mythical creatures in Toma’s journey. And Vanya, even though I didn’t understand his motivations, ended up being the most interesting character.
bonniegracebing's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Se questo libro fosse una persona sarebbe lə studentə che “è intelligente ma non si applica”.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, and Gore
Moderate: Murder, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Content Warnings (by the author) • On page murder and violence, including decapitation and gun violence • Off page dismemberment • Reference to the mutilation of corpses • Religious and ethnic prejudice/oppression • Death of a parentlynnreadsmanybooks's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
booksbakesbikes's review
adventurous
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
3.5 stars.
What beautiful worldbuilding. Set in a world inspired by Russian and eastern European folklore and mythology, Bone Weaver follows a young woman named Toma as she tries to save her sister. Along the way, she makes some new friends and becomes embroiled in a political conflict larger than any of them.
The story shines where it focuses on Toma, her interactions with the various undead and with her new friends. The introduction of the larger political topics were a little hard to grasp initially - perhaps not unrealistically, for a teenage girl isolated from the world, hearing about the conflict for the first time from those living it. Still, I felt much more invested in Toma finding her sister than I did in whether the tsarists or those who opposed them triumphed.
I would love to see more set in this universe, but the book tells a complete story on its own. If you enjoyed the Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden or the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo, give this one a try.
What beautiful worldbuilding. Set in a world inspired by Russian and eastern European folklore and mythology, Bone Weaver follows a young woman named Toma as she tries to save her sister. Along the way, she makes some new friends and becomes embroiled in a political conflict larger than any of them.
The story shines where it focuses on Toma, her interactions with the various undead and with her new friends. The introduction of the larger political topics were a little hard to grasp initially - perhaps not unrealistically, for a teenage girl isolated from the world, hearing about the conflict for the first time from those living it. Still, I felt much more invested in Toma finding her sister than I did in whether the tsarists or those who opposed them triumphed.
I would love to see more set in this universe, but the book tells a complete story on its own. If you enjoyed the Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden or the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo, give this one a try.
the_lawyer_librarian's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
anasazilevy's review
dark
emotional
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? No
3.5
ravensandlace's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-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
Title: Bone Weaver
Author: Aden Polydoros
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Format: my own hardback book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: injury, blood, execution, death, assault, implied sexual assault, strangulation
A few years ago, Aden reached out to me. This was after I had read his Project Pandora series thanks to Entangled Teen publishing. We had been friends on Twitter for a while and talked about books every so often. Usually, it was just me fangirling over his books. He asked if I was interested in beta-reading a part of this book he was working on. It happened to be this book. I remember because I was pretty deep into Russian books at the time. I think it was called something else at the time. I read it and fell in love. Well, I fell out of the book scene for a while. When I came back, I discovered that Aden was publishing this book. I was so excited and decided to order it immediately. It was just as amazing as it was when I beta-read it.
This book was incredibly impressive. It was even better than when I had beta-read part of it. Granted, I had only read a chapter or so. Aden put a lot of heart and soul into this book and I felt it. It’s a journey book but it’s so much more than that. Sure, there is a quest that the main characters, Toma, Mikhail, and Vanya, try and achieve but the characters themselves go on a self-change journey. Each character grows and finds themselves. Toma especially goes through a change that is truly impressive. Y’all know I am an absolute sucker for character growth in books.
One thing to know about this book is that it is very Russian. It is set in Russia with what I’m pretty sure is Russian folklore. Luckily, Aden has included a glossary of all the terms used in the book. It was super handy to have and refer back to. But there were a few times that I was confused about what was what but once I referenced back to the glossary a few times, I was able to keep things straight. I do wish that there was a pronunciation guide. I like being able to pronounce what I read correctly.
Overall, this book was another excellent one from Aden. I probably sound like such a fangirl but it’s been a while since I have come across an author where every book I’ve read by them is a hit. And the fact that they aren’t problematic is a huge plus. Do yourselves a favor and check out this book and Aden’s other work today. I highly recommend the Project Pandora series along with this book.