Reviews

Bone China by Laura Purcell

lucyharriet's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

rhidee's review

5.0

It was a 4 until the ending, which pushed it over into a solid 5. I thought at times it was a bit slow to get going, but now looking back at the experience as a whole I see an inexorable build of the pieces of the puzzle and the increasing pace. I was so gripped from about 350 pages that I had to do a sprint to the end before I could put it down.

aieshab's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

mav1024reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Forget slow burn. This book dragged on in excruciating dullness, focusing on the main character's self centered, drug muddled dismissal of everyone around her until jumping back in time to yet another eyes-closed, self righteous main character also failing to see a single thing outside of her immediate orb. Not a hint of the "creepy, tense, excitement"  promised of this book until perhaps the last 40 pages only to end with a fade to black/madness exit. 
I want the hours back that I spent forcing myself to finish this book, hoping for anything remotely interesting. 

stormnangel1's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

apeter's review against another edition

Not a fan. Had an old English vibe that I didn’t care for

girlglitch's review

2.0

I was hooked by the opening chapters of Bone China. Purcell is brilliant at location horror, and the remote Cornish setting of Morvoren House is promisingly creepy. I really enjoyed The Silent Companions and I was pleased to see echoes of it here, alongside a fresh gothic concept.

However, the atmosphere seemed to dissipate all too quickly. Bone China is not structurally sound: it's disjointed and poorly paced, all the tension seeping through the cracks of a confused plot. The dual timeline structure that was used to such great effect in The Silent Companions seems clumsy and random here, and the result is that the horror never really hits home.

Bone China was still an enjoyable read, and Purcell is clearly a capable writer - I was just hoping for something more.

*Thank you to ThePigeonhole.com for sharing this story!*

chatoya's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

livres_de_bloss's review

3.0

3.5

This was a good read that was creepy and atmospheric at times; however, I felt the pacing was a bit off and in my view, there’s nothing all that frightening about fairies.

krobart's review against another edition

4.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022/05/09/review-1851-the-house-of-whispers/