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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
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:
Complicated
I'm floating somewhere between 2.75-3 ⭐️ The bones of a story are here and I feel like if it was written differently it has a lot of potential. But as is, it kind of fell flat for me. The ending, however, has me intrigued so I may continue the series just to see what's going on. BUT, as a whole, the world building is unique but also poorly done. A lot of this book felt confusing, and some characters seemingly popped up out of nowhere. I liked the dual narrative structure but that's about it.
Tropes:
-Necromancy
-Coming of Age
-Magic School/Training
-Dual Timelines
-The Chosen One(s)
-Mentor/Mentee
Smash or Pass? Pass.
Tropes:
-Necromancy
-Coming of Age
-Magic School/Training
-Dual Timelines
-The Chosen One(s)
-Mentor/Mentee
Smash or Pass? Pass.
So I'm torn between 4 and 5 stars on this one. Chupeco is incredibly descriptive...it can sometimes be a little bothersome. I can imagine it all but at the same time I'm like get on with it already. It was also a little slow paced BUT I can tell this is going to be a series...and I can tell it's going to be EPIC. It's like when the ending rolled around I could hear some intense, suspenseful orchestra music that you hear in really epic adventure movies. So for the ending alone with the great cliffhangers, it gets a higher rating. I'll be keeping an eye out for what happens next with Tea and I really liked that little plot twist there at the end...nicely and slyly done!
I enjoyed it. Sure it was 90% description and 10% story but the story holds promise. Skip the descriptions if you want but it's still part of the story. I do hope the author would kindly cut down on them on the next book. I'm looking forward to it!!!!
I don’t know? Some things were great, some things were really not (looking at your, binary rep), and the audiobook narrator - although great with narration and every other character - was super annoying when reading Tea’s dialogues. She’s a teen alright, but does she have to be whiny the second she opens her mouth when she never is while inner monologuing?
Anyway I have all three books so book 2 will make it or break it I guess.
Anyway I have all three books so book 2 will make it or break it I guess.
Rating: 3.5, rounded off to 4
Review to come, but a quick note for now: I don't know why this book has gotten so many bad reviews; it's really not as bad as people make it out to be, and it was refreshing to read fantasy drawn from Asian culture.
Review to come, but a quick note for now: I don't know why this book has gotten so many bad reviews; it's really not as bad as people make it out to be, and it was refreshing to read fantasy drawn from Asian culture.
I received an advanced copy for an honest review from netgalley.com.
Rin Chupeco’s Bone Witch introduces the reader to a fascinating world of Geisha-like fighters with various elemental magics at their fingertips. We’re guided through this world of magic and politics via our main character Tea. Tea is brought into the fold of the Asha when she reveals herself as a wielder of Dark (necromantic) energies - which she does by bringing her recently deceased brother back from the grave.
Much of the book is spent exploring the world and taking us through Tea’s Asha training. We watch Tea rise from servant to Asha novice and into her debut as a full fledged Asha. I enjoyed taking this journey with the main character, but if you find these kind of detailed training stories boring and tedious this may not be the book for you. Most of the more riveting action happens in the last 8-10 chapters, so this first book is very much a set up for the book to come. I wouldn’t go into this book expecting all your questions to be answered immediately.
I found the world building for this story to be it’s best selling point, so if that comes as high priority to you as a reader, I think you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of this series. Everything from Asha, to nobility, to the common folk, to politics, to agriculture is addressed in this book at some point. Asha use their geisha-like entertaining as a means of subtle politics. This means they must know a lot about the cultures of the surrounding countries, therefore as Tea learns about them, so does the reader. The entirety of Tea’s Asha training serves as one huge introduction to the world and its people.
If world building is at the top of the priority list with this book, then the characters come in second. There’s something lacking for the first quarter of the book in terms of connecting to the characters, but I can’t seem to pin point what it is. They seem a bit distant from the reader. However, by the middle of the book, I found myself more invested. It may take a little while to really warm up to them, but I’d say give them time.
All this being said, I did actually enjoy reading this book regardless of the apparent split in the pacing between the first and second half of the book. It was a little like pacing yourself at the beginning of a race and then dashing to the finish line. I would recommend this book to people who love world-building most. However, if you’re easily bored with slower plots, I’d give this one a second thought. When it does speed up, it’s fine, but if you don’t have much patience, you won’t make it that far. I am very interested in reading the second book to see where the plot goes from here.
Rin Chupeco’s Bone Witch introduces the reader to a fascinating world of Geisha-like fighters with various elemental magics at their fingertips. We’re guided through this world of magic and politics via our main character Tea. Tea is brought into the fold of the Asha when she reveals herself as a wielder of Dark (necromantic) energies - which she does by bringing her recently deceased brother back from the grave.
Much of the book is spent exploring the world and taking us through Tea’s Asha training. We watch Tea rise from servant to Asha novice and into her debut as a full fledged Asha. I enjoyed taking this journey with the main character, but if you find these kind of detailed training stories boring and tedious this may not be the book for you. Most of the more riveting action happens in the last 8-10 chapters, so this first book is very much a set up for the book to come. I wouldn’t go into this book expecting all your questions to be answered immediately.
I found the world building for this story to be it’s best selling point, so if that comes as high priority to you as a reader, I think you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of this series. Everything from Asha, to nobility, to the common folk, to politics, to agriculture is addressed in this book at some point. Asha use their geisha-like entertaining as a means of subtle politics. This means they must know a lot about the cultures of the surrounding countries, therefore as Tea learns about them, so does the reader. The entirety of Tea’s Asha training serves as one huge introduction to the world and its people.
If world building is at the top of the priority list with this book, then the characters come in second. There’s something lacking for the first quarter of the book in terms of connecting to the characters, but I can’t seem to pin point what it is. They seem a bit distant from the reader. However, by the middle of the book, I found myself more invested. It may take a little while to really warm up to them, but I’d say give them time.
All this being said, I did actually enjoy reading this book regardless of the apparent split in the pacing between the first and second half of the book. It was a little like pacing yourself at the beginning of a race and then dashing to the finish line. I would recommend this book to people who love world-building most. However, if you’re easily bored with slower plots, I’d give this one a second thought. When it does speed up, it’s fine, but if you don’t have much patience, you won’t make it that far. I am very interested in reading the second book to see where the plot goes from here.
A lot of set up for no pay off, very very slow. I'm assuming the second and third book will include more action, but this one was a bit hard to get through.
I didn't feel any chemistry between the characters, so the ending did not have the impact the author was going for.
I might read the second, I'm just very neutral about it.
I didn't feel any chemistry between the characters, so the ending did not have the impact the author was going for.
I might read the second, I'm just very neutral about it.
The end is the beginning.
This is a literary device where the beginning of the story is set after the events of the central story. It can draw in the reader using their sense of wonder as they seek to understand how the main character go from where they were to where they are.
It seems for the Bone Witch that this is the main hook for the audience. And how well it works is...arguable. But more on that later.
For the meat of story, there is a lot of good things going for it. The world is fascinating and weaves a culture that is, unfortunately, rarely seen in fantasy works. The characters are interesting and varied ensuring that at any point in the story there is an interesting dynamic going on. Of course the story is written in the first person perspective so most of the story is colored by the main character, Tea's, point of view.
This brings me to the main difficulty I have with the story. Not spoiling anything, the format of the story is that each chapter has a couple pages of future Tea telling this story to another character. As a result of this I felt as if I never got know either past Tea or present Tea. The switch in perspective seemed to be to introduce concepts and to demonstrate the vast gap between the two Teas. While it worked for the most part, in several instances I was left confused and disoriented because either I didn't understand what happened or the author dropped in a bombshell of information and didn't leave me the space to process it.
Now the twists and turns that the author places near the end work well, but there are so many details and bits that get left along the way. I think I would have enjoyed it more had the switches in perspective come much less frequently and I had gotten a chance to fully understand the mindset of each Tea. Additionally, I think it would have helped the twists and revelations that came in the middle of the story. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading this story if the format remains the same.
The end is the beginning. Or more appropriately, the whole story is the middle.
The beginning of the story shows a Tea that is powerful, mysterious, feared, and alone. She is at the end of a journey. Contrasted by how the tale of her origin begins where she is weak, friendly, and surrounded by loved ones.
Throughout the story we learned who Tea was and who she is so that by the end we will understand her. But most importantly we learn who Tea will be, both in the past and, at the very end of the novel, the present.
Here, in this story, death isn't an end. Death isn't a constant, finite stop. It's the next stage and, to borrow from a million eulogies, is the next chapter. The story begins with a girl raising her brother from death and finishes with her ready to bring death upon others.
I can't possibly imagine what this series has in store, but I do know this much.
The end is the beginning.
This is a literary device where the beginning of the story is set after the events of the central story. It can draw in the reader using their sense of wonder as they seek to understand how the main character go from where they were to where they are.
It seems for the Bone Witch that this is the main hook for the audience. And how well it works is...arguable. But more on that later.
For the meat of story, there is a lot of good things going for it. The world is fascinating and weaves a culture that is, unfortunately, rarely seen in fantasy works. The characters are interesting and varied ensuring that at any point in the story there is an interesting dynamic going on. Of course the story is written in the first person perspective so most of the story is colored by the main character, Tea's, point of view.
This brings me to the main difficulty I have with the story. Not spoiling anything, the format of the story is that each chapter has a couple pages of future Tea telling this story to another character. As a result of this I felt as if I never got know either past Tea or present Tea. The switch in perspective seemed to be to introduce concepts and to demonstrate the vast gap between the two Teas. While it worked for the most part, in several instances I was left confused and disoriented because either I didn't understand what happened or the author dropped in a bombshell of information and didn't leave me the space to process it.
Now the twists and turns that the author places near the end work well, but there are so many details and bits that get left along the way. I think I would have enjoyed it more had the switches in perspective come much less frequently and I had gotten a chance to fully understand the mindset of each Tea. Additionally, I think it would have helped the twists and revelations that came in the middle of the story. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading this story if the format remains the same.
The end is the beginning. Or more appropriately, the whole story is the middle.
The beginning of the story shows a Tea that is powerful, mysterious, feared, and alone. She is at the end of a journey. Contrasted by how the tale of her origin begins where she is weak, friendly, and surrounded by loved ones.
Throughout the story we learned who Tea was and who she is so that by the end we will understand her. But most importantly we learn who Tea will be, both in the past and, at the very end of the novel, the present.
Here, in this story, death isn't an end. Death isn't a constant, finite stop. It's the next stage and, to borrow from a million eulogies, is the next chapter. The story begins with a girl raising her brother from death and finishes with her ready to bring death upon others.
I can't possibly imagine what this series has in store, but I do know this much.
The end is the beginning.