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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Overall I enjoyed this book. The writing style was melodic and evocative. I thought the narrative structure was interesting and useful.
My favorite thing about this book was the deeper look into the stigma of death/blood magic. A lot of other stories just use "death magic = bad" as a trope without showing any nuance. This story definitely gave the magic usage some nuance.
What I liked the least was that the story had two timelines that didn't meet in the end. We still do not know how Tea ended up where she is seen in the first chapter. In addition, there was no real progression towards a climax. The pacing was a slow coming of age experience with action suddenly thrust in from time to time. The climactic "battle" felt like a side story thrown in to keep the book in genre. Because of these two things, it felt like this novel doesn't stand on it's own.
Also, the description of the clothing was evocative in the first chapter. The descriptions became more and more grating as they went on. This is perhaps a personal critique, as I don't care much about fashion in my personal life.
My favorite thing about this book was the deeper look into the stigma of death/blood magic. A lot of other stories just use "death magic = bad" as a trope without showing any nuance. This story definitely gave the magic usage some nuance.
What I liked the least was that the story had two timelines that didn't meet in the end. We still do not know how Tea ended up where she is seen in the first chapter. In addition, there was no real progression towards a climax. The pacing was a slow coming of age experience with action suddenly thrust in from time to time. The climactic "battle" felt like a side story thrown in to keep the book in genre. Because of these two things, it felt like this novel doesn't stand on it's own.
Also, the description of the clothing was evocative in the first chapter. The descriptions became more and more grating as they went on. This is perhaps a personal critique, as I don't care much about fashion in my personal life.
At 304 pages I had to throw in the towel. I’m infuriated that a book with a captivating premise and enticing magic system could flop so bad. I wanted something to happen, ANYTHING, but all I got was 100 pages of mundane everyday tasks and unnecessarily LOOOOONG descriptions. The writing is beautiful but if I had to read one more thoroughly in depth description of the characters clothing or a detailed description of her lessons I was going to explode. The characters were stagnant, and the story went no where. I tried to push through the end because I could not believe that a book with such an enticing premise could deliver absolutely nothing to the readers. I’m incredibly frustrated with The Bone Witch and have decided to call it quits.
2.5
I'm interested in this story enough to want to read the next book, perhaps even the whole trilogy. But...
It feels as though for everything I liked - the setting, style of storytelling, system of magic, and the grotesque yet fascinating creatures - there were odd little things that jarred me from the enjoyment. The strange take on 'diversity' was probably the main one, where cultures clearly taken from our world were superimposed on a fantasy one in a way that didn't quite fit. And the way the seemingly 'middle-eastern counterpart' was singled out as the 'worst' nation looked down upon by others (I'm very nearly quoting the book's actual glossary here) reeeally didn't sit right with me, it's those parts especially that would jar me out of an otherwise immersive experience, and I could find no logical reason why the author would repeatedly insist on this. Other criticisms are comparatively minor, like some of the characterisation and pacing and writing choices, though it did accumulate to affect my overall enjoyment.
So this ended up being among the dime-a-dozen 'it had potential' but with a weird problematic twist.
I'm interested in this story enough to want to read the next book, perhaps even the whole trilogy. But...
It feels as though for everything I liked - the setting, style of storytelling, system of magic, and the grotesque yet fascinating creatures - there were odd little things that jarred me from the enjoyment. The strange take on 'diversity' was probably the main one, where cultures clearly taken from our world were superimposed on a fantasy one in a way that didn't quite fit. And the way the seemingly 'middle-eastern counterpart' was singled out as the 'worst' nation looked down upon by others (I'm very nearly quoting the book's actual glossary here) reeeally didn't sit right with me, it's those parts especially that would jar me out of an otherwise immersive experience, and I could find no logical reason why the author would repeatedly insist on this. Other criticisms are comparatively minor, like some of the characterisation and pacing and writing choices, though it did accumulate to affect my overall enjoyment.
So this ended up being among the dime-a-dozen 'it had potential' but with a weird problematic twist.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved the world-building in this. The prose is delicate and beautiful, the characters are all the sort you love instantly and I am eager to find out how it all shakes out. That said, this really felt like the introduction to a much larger plot and so the story itself doesn't really go much of anywhere. Everything interesting gets set up in this book, but I wish there had been a clearer thread of a storyline to follow from beginning to end in this book.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Do not do the audiobook!! I switched to just reading this with my eyes and this book is absolutely amazing! Great world building, beautiful descriptions, political intrigue, and an excellent plot. I will be continuing this series and reading more from Chupeco
This book felt like it was all exposition for the real story. I hope that reading the next book will make reading this one worth it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
The Bone Witch comes with an intriguing setup: out protagonist Tea will become the bad guy in the end and she wields the power to resurrect the dead and banishing/ controlling dangerous mythological monsters called daeva.
What I found a bit surprising how much this book fit into the YA category of a fantasy story with a sort of chosen one/ typical hero's arc, but just reversed through the chapters that show present day Tea.
Some of the beginning especially is going through your typical stuff, being low-key banished from the village, coming into a place where she's supposed to learn to become an asha (a sort of magic geisha) and being treated badly by the headmistress, petty fights with other asha etc etc. It can feel a bit been here done if it wasn't for the setup and the genuinely intriguing world building.
The ending is cool, but feels more like a first proper step into the role Team would take later. The trilogy must have actually been planned out like that... Or so I hope. Let's see what I think about the rest of the series
What I found a bit surprising how much this book fit into the YA category of a fantasy story with a sort of chosen one/ typical hero's arc, but just reversed through the chapters that show present day Tea.
Some of the beginning especially is going through your typical stuff, being low-key banished from the village, coming into a place where she's supposed to learn to become an asha (a sort of magic geisha) and being treated badly by the headmistress, petty fights with other asha etc etc. It can feel a bit been here done if it wasn't for the setup and the genuinely intriguing world building.
The ending is cool, but feels more like a first proper step into the role Team would take later. The trilogy must have actually been planned out like that... Or so I hope. Let's see what I think about the rest of the series
challenging
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes