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A review by tatyanavogt
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
3.5
The cover is misleading. This is the story of a young woman who finds out she is a bone witch and is sent off to train under another famous bone witch in the city. The Training customs is very similar to Japanese Geisha training, with elaborate robes, entertainment skills like preforming, music work and spending time with clients in tea houses. Among other things.
(its not Geisha culture tho, as all of the terms are different and someone pointed out that japan colonized a bunch of different areas so their traditions probably influenced the traditions of other cultures which is ACTUALLY what this is inspired by, but as someone who personally has more knowledge of the Geisha customs thats what I was constituently reminded of which is why I mention it. But its NOT Geisha or Japanese culture in this book.)
All of this traditional training is important for the magic users of this fantastical world so we do get a little fantasy sprinkled in as all of this is happening. This book is mostly in a very civilized traditional city location so the feral looking girl on a cliff side in the cover is VERY confusing. Its true that we're following two timelines one of which is out in the middle of no where as our main character is preparing for something big that we slowly learn over the course of the three books. The second timeline is her past and everything leading up to this moment which she is telling to a bard who is with her in the now timeline. I hope this is making sense. lol.
I did like the story and hope to re-read it in the future as I feel like a lot was going on and plenty of things were missed during my first read. I also will say that you should expect to read the full trilogy together as they are all one big story and I didn't really feel like they were separated in a satisfying way. It was a little bit of a disappointment cause I was hoping to like it way more than I did, BUT it was still a good time in the grand scheme of things.
I'm hoping the rating will go up during my future second read since I know what to expect now.
(its not Geisha culture tho, as all of the terms are different and someone pointed out that japan colonized a bunch of different areas so their traditions probably influenced the traditions of other cultures which is ACTUALLY what this is inspired by, but as someone who personally has more knowledge of the Geisha customs thats what I was constituently reminded of which is why I mention it. But its NOT Geisha or Japanese culture in this book.)
All of this traditional training is important for the magic users of this fantastical world so we do get a little fantasy sprinkled in as all of this is happening. This book is mostly in a very civilized traditional city location so the feral looking girl on a cliff side in the cover is VERY confusing. Its true that we're following two timelines one of which is out in the middle of no where as our main character is preparing for something big that we slowly learn over the course of the three books. The second timeline is her past and everything leading up to this moment which she is telling to a bard who is with her in the now timeline. I hope this is making sense. lol.
I did like the story and hope to re-read it in the future as I feel like a lot was going on and plenty of things were missed during my first read. I also will say that you should expect to read the full trilogy together as they are all one big story and I didn't really feel like they were separated in a satisfying way. It was a little bit of a disappointment cause I was hoping to like it way more than I did, BUT it was still a good time in the grand scheme of things.
I'm hoping the rating will go up during my future second read since I know what to expect now.